The Mechanic

A remake of one of themore obscure ’70s action movies, here Jason Statham takes over for Charles Bronson as the eponymous distributor of mayhem. After reluctantly fulfilling an assignment to whack his mentor, a posh hitman (Statham) takes the man’s son under his wing. Because, hey … we can’t think of anything that could go wrong with that scenario, can we? So the bromance of blood goes through a few action setpieces of targets being dispatched until the not-entirely-unsuspected complication arises. And so it goes. As the go-to guy for contemporary action heroes, Statham almost seems resentful in a role that pretty much seems written for a direct-to-DVD release. Which is kind of a disappointment, considering that it was directed by Simon West (of the deliriously satisfying Con Air). With everyone involved seemingly intent on providing nothing more than 90 minutes of AV stimuli, The Mechanic does provide a workmanship product. But for what it is, it delivers with the slam-bang but never really adds enough to the source material to justify the remake. Cinemark 14, Feather River Cinemas and Paradise Cinema 7. Rated R