Hey everyone. Capone in Chicago here.
Some people refer to the Coen Brothers' TRUE GRIT as a remake, which isn't entirely wrong, but it's far from entirely correct. If you would like to do a side-by-side comparison of a film and its exceedingly faithful remake, you need look no further than Simon (CON AIR, LARA CROFT: TOMB RAIDER, and the pilot of "The Cape") West's remake of the Michael (DEATH WISHs I, II & III) Winner-directed, Charles Bronson-starring actioner about an stoic professional killer who takes a young man (in the original, it was Jan-Michael Vincent) as his protege after killing the young man's father. Other than West's slicker directing style and some newer, cooler weapons, there is very little different in the details of this remake, starring Jason Statham and Ben Foster as the killer/killer-in-training combo.
Statham's Arthur Bishop is a man of few words and even fewer personal connections. One of his only friendships is with Harry McKenna (Donald Sutherland), the man who usually gives him his killing assignments and the occasional bit of advice. But when Harry's boss Dean (Tony Goldwyn, playing the villain a little too much by the book) tells Bishop to take out Harry, Bishop does so begrudgingly. Primarily out of guilt, Bishop befriends Harry's son Steve, who's aware of what his dad and Bishop did and wants to learn the tricks of the trade. Bishop tries to teach him to be stealthy and quick, but Steve has a lust for loud, messy and bloody. Foster excels in these kind of roles, where he gets to play a character who can be quiet and charming, then suddenly launch into a complete fucking maniac.
His complete counterweight, Statham, isn't trying to engage in a tough-guy contest with Foster. Bishop is meant to be emotionless, collected and professional. While Statham pretty much can't help being a supreme badass, what you see in his eyes in THE MECHANIC is thought and consideration, not anger. He doesn't possess bloodlust the way Steve does. Killing is his job and nothing more. Once Bishop realizes that Harry was killed for no good reason, he sets out to murder those responsible, which of course makes Bishop their next target. Thank goodness Steve is a fast learner with a mean streak.
There aren't too many surprises in THE MECHANIC. Even if you've never seen the original, you know that eventually Steve is going to find out that Bishop offed his father; the only question remains how long is he going to wait to try and get revenge. But before that, Statham and Foster have believable chemistry that goes beyond the usual older teacher-young sidekick banter, and gets into a surface level of still-satisfying character development. This shallow-end depth might be more a result of good acting than anything on the written page, but it still comes through. Still, the payoff is spectacular, and the movie's mix of wholly original kills, fight sequences, and fun double-crosses makes this 90 minutes Stathamazing.
-- Capone
capone@aintitcool.com
Follow Me On Twitter
