The Mechanic: Resurrection

While you get what you would expect from the next installment in the franchise, the biggest let down isn’t the terrible script, cringe worthy dialogue or how appalling reliant it is on CGI – the real bugbear is just how boring it is!Arthur Bishop (Jason Statham) is pulled out of retirement and back into the game when a familiar face from the past threatens to kill new love interest, Gina (Jessica Alba). Forced to take on 3 contracts, Bishop is given 3 seemingly impossible tasks but are they even too difficult for The Mechanic to solve?A film like this is always hard to review as you only ever get what it says on the tin. You won’t see a Best Picture contender or Oscar nominated performance here, just full grown preposterous action on the background of a basic, ‘kill the baddies’ plot. So, when all is said and done, how can something so seemingly simple have issues? Well, this one can!Although there are a plethora of issues ingrained in the production, there are two glaring faults that stand out more than any of the others – a shocking script and atrocious CGI sequences. B-movie actioners have always been around in cinema but in the last few years, it would seem that these have upped their game a little. With The Raid and Raid 2 making the rounds as well as John Wick last year, The Mechanic simply feels cheap and outdated compared to its superior counterparts. The first half, while trying to start strong, is slow and pointless while the second is a rushed mess. A single layered plot isn’t necessarily a bad thing but when you consider how insane other in the genre are, it’s a little disappointing.Adding fuel to the lightly smoking embers is the appalling CGI. Its bloody everywhere! Boat scene – CGI, prison scene – CGI, fight scene – CGI....it might as well just be animated. While this is an issue that pops up a lot, the over-reliance on the method is distracting rather than absorbing and given that many of these types of films don’t need to rely on it, disappointing.Overall, The Mechanic will appeal more to the fans of the franchise and the standard ‘Statham’ action flick. While the pitfalls are easily noticeable before even sitting down in the cinema, the issues are way too obvious to ignore. 1.5 out of 5