I recently finished watching the 2011 version of the original 1972 movie” The Mechanic,” which was a reboot that I could sink my teeth into and get excited about. Even though the original starring Charles Bronson and Jan Michael Vincent came out almost 40 years ago I could still watch it today. After viewing the new version I’m disappointed that it’s not more than it is. Don’t get me wrong, the new version is a solid action piece. It’s just there is nothing new here. It’s essentially the same exact story with bigger guns and newer gadgets.

When it came out in 1972, “The Mechanic” was mostly known for having no dialogue the first 15 minutes of the film. It was pure character development without saying a word. You felt like you knew who Arthur Bishop ( Bronson ) was with just watching him. With Statham’s version it always felt like there was so much more to the character that we don’t get to see.

The ending of the original film played out like a “whoa, that was cool” moment. Even in apparent death Arthur Bishop had won. With the new film I felt like you could see it coming a mile away. If you had never seen the original,  I could see it working out better. The problem here is that it goes back to Hollywood thinking sequel vs. a good movie, whichI guess was their idea of updating the story a little.
 
Neither film really did excellent at the box office. In fact the new film lost quite a bit of money for the studio. I think they were expecting a little more. I can’t argue with the casting. I think both leads in both films are top notch. One issue I have is the length of the newer film. As I spoke out earlier I think there were more stories that needed to be told. I’m still screaming for more character development with Statham’s Arthur Bishop. The original had a running time of about 15 minutes longer and I think it makes a difference here.

In closing, I think both films are solid action pieces. I know what the studio was trying to do with the reboot; they just failed in my opinion. So go out and grab the original if you can find it and give it a viewing.

The Mechanic (1972) – 7.0 ( out of 10 )
The Mechanic (2011)- 6.0

That’s how I see it. Let’s just hope after reading this you don’t blow up!

Tad Wymer