A remake of the 1972 Charles Bronson movie of the same name (which Donald Sutherland says “doesn’t compare” to this movie), The Mechanic stars Jason Stahtam (The Expendables) as a prolific, and expertly efficient, hitman at the top of his game, until his whole world gets shaken up.
Hitman Arthur Bishop’s (Stahtam) world gets rocked when his next designated target turns out to be that of his friend and mentor Harry McKenna (Donald Sutherland, The Pillars of the Earth); leading him to kill the one friend he had in the world, and reluctantly agree to train Harry’s son Steve (Ben Foster, 3:10 to Yuma) to be a mechanic (whilst obviously trying to conceal the fact that he had just offed Steve’s father).
While seeing Arthur train Steve, and eventually go after the people who ordered the hit on Harry does play out very predictably, The Mechanic has some of the most tense, most engrossing, and most hard-hitting action seen in recent years, and actually contains some surprisingly good acting.
As always Jason Statham does a great job of playing the titular action hero, but succeeds largely due to the superb relationship held between him and Ben Foster’s character, the awkward connection they build up, and the surprisingly strong and gripping action scenes within which they find themselves.
Despite the strong acting, emotional undertones, and revenge theme, The Mechanic fails to elevate itself far above the escapist popcorn flick it was predicted to be, but is more than a success on exactly the same merits; meaning it’s an easy to watch movie with some superb action, that has a massive re-playability factor, and is sure to be a massive hit with any action fan.
You can find our full movie review of The Mechanic here.
Picture:
Coming to Blu-ray with a near reference quality 1080p transfer that sports a spectacular level of fine detail (evident in any number of textures, the stubble of the leading men, or Donald Sutherland’s beard), superbly inky blacks that provide a great sense of depth, a thin layer of grain that provides a cinematic look and doesn’t hinder the detail in any way, and a colour palette that while edging slightly towards the warm end of the spectrum (and consequently making skintones look just a touch warm; but no more so than the image as a whole), and only a couple of slightly softer shots marring an otherwise pristine picture, The Mechanic looks fantastic on Blu-ray, and should delight any action fan watching.
Audio:
Similarly strong is The Mechanic’s impressive 5.1 DTS-HD MA audio mix; which faithfully reproduces just about everything it needs to; having perfect dialogue reproduction, weighty bass (which often lets its presence be known), and impressively natural sounding ambience that provides a realistic experience everywhere from an empty apartment, to a bustling restaurant, or a hotel room full of gunfire; with every sound being not necessarily over loud (but cranked up just enough to satisfy action fans who like a bit of oomph for their money), yet remaining crisp, clear, and exactly how an action should sound.
Extras:
Unfortunately, while the picture and audio quality set such a high bar for the Blu-ray release of The Mechanic, it’s special features don’t quite live up to the rest of the disc’s attributes; coming with a selection of deleted scenes (well they’re called deleted scenes, but actually consist mainly of slightly extended or altered scenes that aren’t all that worthy of a watch), the film’s theatrical trailer, and a promotional interview with some of the cast discussing the film in general, it’s appeal, and some of the stunts that were performed for it; a disappointing display that only provides a snippet of background information, and not much else.
The Bottom Line:
While the bonus materials may have let the disc down somewhat, there’s no denying that not only are the picture and audio quality on The Mechanic Blu-ray near reference quality (though probably still unlikely to be used as a store demo disc due to the high level of violence on display), but the film itself is just what any action fan craves; Jason Statham headlining a solid cast, with some fantastic action, plenty of guns, a dollop of soul, and even a Swedish supermodel thrown in for good measure; a film that’s more ass-kicking than Leon, easier to watch than The American, and an all-out action movie that’s guaranteed to give your movie night an adrenaline shot to the heart.
