Mechanic: Resurrection (2016)

Pretty Good

Memorable, crazy movie

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

If London Has Fallen came out last year instead of this year, Mechanic: Resurrection would be considered the London Has Fallen of 2016. Three months from now, I probably won't remember much of this other than the fact that Statham was in it and a bunch of boats explode, and not just because it's forgettable and incredibly stupid. The story was pretty weak and despite the fact that I just saw this like three hours ago, I've already forgotten the villain's name.Oh yeah, and I guess Jessica Alba was in it.Luckily, the stupidity this film proudly wears on its forehead is one of the many types of stupidity I can thoroughly enjoy if done right, and I can safely say that Mechanic: Resurrection was both pleasingly stupid and probably the most decent a film with 'Resurrection' in the title could possibly be. The reason why I keep mentioning this and London Has Fallen is because both movies pretend to take themselves seriously and feature protagonists that are so humourless that they essentially become the opposite. Just look at those frowns on their faces. They are deadpan comedy acts, scowling their way through over-the-top carnage and jump-edited fight scenes. While Gerard Butler has shown some range in his other films (including a couple other action films), Jason Statham continues to prove that he's only got one act--which I'm sure he's well aware of, given that the Crank films utilized his knack for uber-seriousness to full comedic effect. This act of his is actually one of the reasons why his fans (including me) find him so entertaining to watch. He's like a lowkey Schwarzenegger with a British accent.So when I mentioned that the story was weak, I meant that it involves some dude from Arthur Bishop's past kidnapping his girlfriend and then telling him that he has to do three impossible assassination jobs in a specific number of hours in order to get her back. Oh, and they have to look like accidents.But see, here's my problem with that plan. I don't usually do this, but anyway; if you consider these spoilers, you can skip the next three paragraphs, and I've set the spoiler button on just in case, but since they happen in the first twenty minutes of the movie and set the whole plot into motion, I don't really count them as spoilers, so whatever.Our villain wants Bishop to do these jobs before he even kidnapped his girlfriend, but he refused because he wants to stay "dead" after the events of the first movie and then flees to Thailand like every sensible action protagonist does when they need to live a new life under the radar. The villain's solution? He kidnaps Jessica Alba and sends her to the island Bishop is hiding with an "abusive boyfriend" whom Bishop kills and saves her from. But if it weren't for a horribly misplaced Michelle Yeoh (seriously, Ms. Yeoh, why would you let them do this to you?) with whom Bishop is also friends with noticing the scuffle on a boat floating a good distance away from the island, Bishop would've never even known about it. And if poor Ms. Yeoh didn't turn his attention to it and give him a quick moral motivation sentence to get him to change his mind about minding his own business, he wouldn't have gotten involved even if he DID know about it. And since our villain knew him since childhood, one would think he would've seen the flaw in the first step of that plan.But it gets even better: the villain not only expects Bishop to save Random Jessica Alba, but he also expects him to fall in love with her in such a short amount of time so that when he eventually sends his goons to kidnap her, he'll be too scared for her life to say no. His entire plain hinges on this cold professional assassin falling in love with a random stranger in the course of two days. He didn't stop to consider that maybe the man he blames for leaving him behind in a war zone so many years ago wouldn't care about what happens to Jessica Alba when he kidnaps her? He didn't think the amount of time he gave Bishop to fall for Jessica Alba might not be enough? What if Bishop didn't care what happened to Jessica Alba? Would he let his goons try to use brute force to persuade him like they failed to do in the opening scene? Why wouldn't he just try this honeypot thing with Jessica Alba first so that he could get Bishop when his guard is relatively down instead of trying it when he's already chased him off to Thailand with his guard raised to maximum? And why Jessica Alba? Was Eva Green too busy?It would make a little more sense if he mentioned that Bishop still has some kind of moral code that would keep him from letting Jessica Alba die, but throughout the whole movie, he goes on about how he would do anything to save Jessica Alba because he's so in love with her or something. He's THAT convinced that part of his plan worked. The rest of the movie's preposterousness at least makes sense compared to this one stupid detail. This plan should've already failed before it even started! The best thing about this is that the villain died believing that his plan actually worked, and never once was corrected by Bishop or anyone else with any shred of common sense.Anyway, the three jobs Bishop has to do are fairly clever in a low rent Jason Bourne/James Bond kind of way. They're probably the few highlights the film actually has, aside from the boat battles and the hilariously stupid glider scene at the beginning of the film. It's a good thing this movie didn't take itself so seriously, or else I might not have had nearly as much fun as I did. The action scenes are entertaining, but not all that engaging, and the music is serviceable at best. Tommy Lee Jones stuck out a bit as an eccentric gun runner with far too little screentime, and despite this being intentionally deadpan-comedic in its presentation (I hope), I feel as though they missed an opportunity to explore some of Bishop's background to make him seem a bit more human and add a more personal connection to the villain whose name I've unregrettably forgotten. Because of the nonexistence of that element, the villain just comes off as a whiner with a big boat and a chip on his shoulder. "You left me to die" is about as fleshed-out as his character gets, and that does a service to the film's short runtime, but a disservice to its already shallow, unoriginal plot.Having caught this on closing night, I felt kind of lucky, because I didn't even know that this was showing in my local theatre until I walked by it earlier today and saw "ENDING THURSDAY" slapped across its poster. Lucky me! I went in with low expectations and came out a happy man knowing that Jason Statham hasn't changed a bit since his last movie and probably never will!

The stunning views & Tommy Lee Jones are about the best things in this movie & really his character could have been more. Story line & action started off great then it fell apart once Bishop made it to the island. Love Jason Statham but this one fell flat for me.

Why doesn't someone come up with a good script for Jason Statham, who is definitely the best action movie actor around?

This is what happens when people do things exclusively for the money. Jason Stratham the star is a player in the movie industry and has made some impressive films based on his ability to make fighting look good. I remember him in an interview emphasizing how he is in it for the money or something to that affect and I thought nothing wrong with that as long as it is a win-win. He managed to hold my attention steadily until this movie. At first, I was intrigued expecting to see him do his thing but then I saw how he took his niche and just maxed it out as in more bang for the buck in a shoot it all up anything goes yahooooo I was disappointed.. Of course the viewers get the bang he gets the buck. It starts to get a little old when you get into the movie as we are asked to believe that anything he wants to do he does and mind you, he has no super powers either! That's taking it a bit too far but it manages to hold your attention until 2/3 into the movie where you might find yourself wishing he dies or the movie ends. In other words, overload on the premises of super-fighter never gets a scratch and always wins. I couldn't help think about Daniel Craig's James Bond who doesn't push it too far and he still needs luck to come out and not just movie magic even though you wonder but its done in a subtle way. The Bonds prior to that sort of got corny and comic bookish only because they couldn't do martial arts. Here, he does martial arts until you wonder how long can you keep this up? That's where the viewer gets tired and wants out. Perhaps Stratham wants out too but with all the movie money he can garner? How about leaving with class? Give us some fine performances, good story and memorable scenes so we can have fond thoughts of your career. You already have the money. Here's an idea. Time-out may help Jason here. He may get bored, want to do another flick and insist on quality or no deal. Lets hope so. Is this worth seeing? Yes only because he does do a nice fight scene but if he always wins against all odds without effort and never gets a scratch or can't be stopped, maybe he should start his own comic book. The woman in the movie doesn't capture your heart and I find it hard to believe it captures his on screen too. Story is weak and well enough said...See it so you can say ...Yes, I saw it. Popcorn will help here to keep you satisfied when the movie doesn't plus a tasty drink