feature: The Mechanic (2011)

Those who know me – or follow the blog on facebook or twitter – will know that I’m a big fan of Jason Statham. So much so that I bought my 2010 office Secret Santa gift-receiver* a Jason Statham calender because he once said he liked one of his flms. Damnit, Statham’s just plain cool.

Obviously so, I’m happy to see he’s got a new film coming out and as far as I can tell he’s sticking to the same “elite assassin who finds himself needin’ to dole out an ass-kickin'” formula. The film I’m talking about is The Mechanic, due for release on January 28th 2011.

If you look at IMDb it turns out there’ve been well… a few films called The Mechanic. This particular one is a remake of the 1972 movie starring Charles Bronson. On it’s reissue in the US it was apparently renamed as Killer of Killers. Sounds promising on the ass-kickin’ front.

The film is about a top assassin (Statham, naturally) who takes on a determined young apprentice. I don’t know how exactly this apprentice is connected to him, as internet sources differ on that… but I’m sure it’s very important for the plot. Probably not for the enjoyment of the film though. Judging by the trailer – which you can have a look at below – the main focus of this film is… well. I’ve said it a couple of times now…

.. ok, I’ll say it again. Ass-kickin’.

Ben Foster stars as the apprentice. I vaguely remember him as the guy in Pandorum who reminded me of Jack Noseworthy’s character in Event Horizon. I think. I may be thinking of Cam Gigandet there… I definitely remember him as Angel in X-Men: The Last Stand though. The massive amazing looking wings ensured that.

For those of you in the UK there’s actually a pretty cool looking promotion running with the launch of this film. I’ve never been paint-balling but I always thought it looked like class fun. Course I’ve also heard it’s quite painful… but then again, getting shot is bound to hurt right?

If you go to themechanicoffer.co.uk and type in the code “mechanic” and register with First4Movies.com then they will give you a voucher for you and a mate to go paint-balling for free at a UK Paintball site. I’m not entirely sure of the terms and conditions but I’m sure they apply.

Anyway, let me know what you think about The Mechanic, I think it looks fun but I’m sure there are those of you out there who will disagree.

Also – I’m just gonna keep putting this at the end of articles until the voting is over – don’t forget to vote for Average Film Reviews in the 2011 Total Film Movie Blog Awards. Go on. I know you want to.

BTW as far as I can tell, it’s one vote per IP address. Not that I’m like, encouraging you to vote more than once, at home, in your office, on your phone, at your friends houses… I’m just telling you for, you know, information purposes.

Thanks so much if you do vote by the way – it really is appreciated!

* Is there a name for that person? If you’re the Secret Santa then they are the…?