The Mechanic (2011)

This remake of the 1972 film of the same name is entirely predictable, including its choice of a different ending to the Bronson original. This version stars Jason Statham as Arthur Bishop, the long time assassin from whence the movie gets its name, Ben Foster as the apprentice, Steve, and Donald Sutherland as Steve’s father, who is targeted for assassination early in the movie. The action sequences are generally well choreographed, and there is more emphasis upon making the killings look like accidents. Statham plays this role as he does every role – taciturn, almost wincing at having to engage in conversation, not a trace of humor or twinkle – while Foster buries himself in the role; he always seems on the verge of losing control, a combination of resentfulness and exhilaration as he is initiated into the assassin’s trade. It is a perfectly acceptable action flick.

I rewatched the original yesterday since it is available instantly on Netflix, and I had remembered it as a better film. Perhaps it was the images of Bronson padding around a grotesque bachelor pad in a red dressing gown, or Jan Michael Vincent playing the obligatory hippy freak, but I think I wanted the “man with no name” Bronson of Once Upon a Time in the West rather than this surprisingly garrulous version. There is an interesting difference in Bishop’s motivation between the two movies. Bronson recruits Vincent because he is lonely; he wants someone to share the pleasure of planning and carrying out the killing, and Vincent seems to have the requisite indifference to death. But Statham recruits Foster out of guilt at having killed his father. The result is that Bronson opens up when working with Vincent, while Statham closes down around Foster. The ending of the original is clearly better, but we can discuss that if anyone else watches this.

The other tonal difference lies in the relationship between Bishop and the prostitute he frequents, Jill Ireland in the original, Mini Anden in the remake. In the original, all the emotion is bought and paid for – Ireland asks for another $100 for making up a poem in which she claims to love Bishop. In the remake, the relationship is meant to transcend money, and one imagines Anden hoping to settle down with her client. Which is just to say that the early 1970s was that rare period when Hollywood could, albeit briefly, set aside fantasy.