Your Entertainment Ticket

Professional tough guy Jason Statham’s new movie SAFE , new to DVD, Blu-ray and digital this week, is not a very good movie. But it’s not a bad one either, and it illustrates nicely the many reasons that Statham is the best action movie star working today.

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DVD+Digital: In defense of the Jason Statham movie

If there’s one thing we know about British action star Jason Statham, it’s that he’d just as soon break your face as look at you, especially if you are a goon, a thug, an enforcer or some other nefari

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Movies Hot Ticket: A 'Safe' haven for action fans

Review by Alyn Darnay

Directed by: Simon West (Con Air)

Starring: Jason Statham (The Transporter), Ben Foster (The Messenger), Donald Sutherland (The Italian Job)

Here you go, a slam bam summer action movie, right in the middle of winter. Is there any better way to heat up the screen? Jason Statham is back tearing up the bad guys as an elite hit man in this excellent re-envisioning of the 1972 Charles Bronson/Jan-Michael Vincent film of the same name

Arthur Bishop (Statham) is the epitome of the precision hit man; so precise is he that you never know he’s been there, his targets always appear to have met an accidental death. When his mentor Harry (Sutherland) meets an untimely death, at his hands, Bishop’s quietly ordered life is turned upside down and he winds up seeking vengeance against the assassination corporation who ordered up the hit. Joining him in this quest is Harry’s son Steve (Foster), who pleads with Arthur to teach him the business in the same way he was taught. What follows is mayhem, destruction, double crosses, and lots of expended bullet casings.

Simon West shows us that he still knows how to keep the action coming, and it’s non-stop. Between the high-tech and low-tech assassinations, the steamy sex scenes, and the cat and mouse game subplot, there’s so much testosterone flying around you’ll grow a beard just watching the movie.

If you’re an action fan you’re going to like this film, it’s not “Gone with the Wind”, but it does keep you moving along with it. It’s a great winter’s night diversion.

Rating: (C+)

“The Mechanic” is rated R (for strong brutal violence throughout, language, some sexual content and nudity.)

“EXPLOSIVE THRILLER”

Starring: Jason Statham, Ben Foster, Donald Sutherland, Tony Goldwyn and Mini Anden

Directed by: Simon West (Laura Croft: Tomb Raider, Con Air)

MPAA Rating: R for strong brutal violence throughout, language, some sexual content and nudity

Genre: Action, thriller

Running Time: 1hr 32min

Release Date: January 28, 2011

Distributed by: CBS Films

By John Delia

Explosive, vicious and exhilarating, all the things that men like in a film are jammed into the 92 minutes of The Mechanic. The no-stop assassin drama kept me on the edge of my seat while bombs exploded, bullets flew, death defying stunts performed, knife fights, well you know what Crank was like, but count on double here. If you want to up your testosterone levels, then this is your kick-ass thriller.

Jason Statham as hit-man Arthur Bishop

The Mechanic’s plot surrounds Arthur Bishop (Statham), a hired assassin who makes a very good living knocking off drug lords and political dictators.  He lives a very dangerous life but the perks are great.  His hideaway in the New Orleans Bayou has all the amenities one could ask for and he manages to spend nights with some exciting girls.  One day he gets assigned a hit on his very close associate Harry (Donald Sutherland), a job he cannot refuse or put his own life in jeopardy.  At the funeral he runs into Harry’s son Steve (Ben Foster) who tells Arthur that he wants to get his dad’s killer.  Thus starts an unusual bond, one that takes them on a cringing death ride.

Statham plays his brilliantly usual tough guy who’s relentless on getting his score no matter what it takes.  I am a huge fan of his and he has never let me down on the screen.  Here he makes me even more devout. Ben Foster expels a nasty persona as Steve making a great sidekick to Arthur.  You can see in his face that every fight Steve gets into more fuel gets added to his hatred.

Simon West on the set of The Mechanic

That said how could the two stars go wrong under the direction Simon West (Con Air, Laura Croft: Tomb Raider).   The man has a mind of a maniac creating one brutal scene after the next.  I was amazed at how real the action looked, explosive the story rolled out and the intrigue that was woven within.

The Mechanic is rated R for strong brutal violence throughout, language, some sexual content and nudity.  Although the target audience is males, I could see a lot of women in the audience getting thrilled by it as well.

FINAL ANALYSIS:  A killer an action thriller. (B+)