The Mechanic (2011)

Good judgement comes from experience.  Experience comes from exercising bad judgement.  I was glad to see a version of this, one of my favorite old quotes, in this movie.  I remember seeing the original with Charles Bronson when I was a kid.  This is a worthy remake.

Jason Statham plays the top dog assassin amongst a company set up hire out their services.  When the company president tricks him into killing his best friend and mentor, Statham's character takes his revenge.  Bronson played this character back in the 70's and Statham is as quietly confident and efficient as the original.  Well played.

Ben Foster steps up his range a notch while still managing to play the loser trying to make good. Donald Sutherland is warm and fuzzy as the mentor and friend.  The rest of the cast fit well and play nice together.  Ha.

With only a few continuity and factual problems, this movie is fast-moving and often suspenseful.

Watch this movie with someone who think vengeance is their mission.

Crank: High Voltage

At the risk of repeating myself, again, this sequel is not as good as the original. Jason Statham is back as Chev Chelios, the seemingly superhuman tough guy who survives everything. This time he is back from the dead.

This movie goes from the ridiculous to silly to almost plausible. It will certainly appeal to the younger male crowd and it earns a very hard R-rating. The entire story could have been told in 30 minutes, but with all the unnecessary and sometimes bizarre scenes, it goes on for 3 times that amount.

Country music's Dwight Yoakam returns as the good doctor who keeps the main character alive. There are several other kinds of stars here too. Porn stars, UFC stars, rock stars, and real gang stars. Over 300 hours of HD digital time was shot. If this 96 minutes was the best of the lot, it was probably a lot of fun, but a huge waste of time.

Watch this movie only if you don't expect much and don't mind soft-core porn, gang-related violence, and outrageous unrelated scenes.

Death Race (2008)

No more violent than Braveheart. No noisier than Days of Thunder. No more outrageous than any of the Mad Max movies. In fact, this story felt a bit like Thunderdome. The smarts behind "the machine" is an evil woman. The hero is a bad boy who bends the rules in his favor. If you liked Thunderdome I predict you will like Death Race.

Jason Statham takes his Transporter character to a different level with this one. He is smarter than the average bad guy and just a little bit tougher. As usual.

Joan Allen is a bit of a surprise as the evil warden of a very unusual prison. If cold and expressionless can be called acting, then she does a great job. I wish she had put more relish into the role. It would have given more credibility to the crazy behind her make-up.

Ian McShane is much more enjoyable here than in his role in HBO's Deadwood. Much less potty mouth and much more brains. Just as plotting and evil though.

The movie had much more story than I expected and was actually as interesting as it was entertaining. You may actually find yourself cheering for the "bad guys" in the end a bit like The Longest Yard.

Watch this movie with someone who will be patient enough for the good bits.

The Bank Job

Yet another Jason Statham movie you might ask. Yes, is the answer. It appears Mr. Statham is on a tear to catch up to Michael Caine's record for making more movies in one lifetime than a body ought to. Since Statham plays basically the same character in each film however, I predict either he or the viewing public will get bored and give up. Statham has a head start however; Caine did not start making movies until he was the same age as Statham is now.

This movie is a bunch smarter than the average Statham movie. Perhaps being based on a true story helped? Despite that there are a couple of scenes which did not help the credibility of the script. Not to spoil anything, but not all post-heist residences were equally covered by the police or the thugs, which is a mystery to me. If it happened that way, so be it, but I find that very difficult to believe.

The characters in this story are so real, and the acting so good, that I found myself talking to the screen and telling them how stupid they were be behaving. I usually talk about them, not TO them. This was fun. Nevermind and the skin scenes, this was fun to watch.

Watch this movie with this someone who enjoys a good heist movie and can keep up with the unexpected twists.

Revolver

To say that Guy Ritchie does odd stories in an odd way would be an understatement. To say that nobody tells a story quite like him is a bit more like it. If you have seen his other 2 landmark films, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, you know a bit of what this movie might be like. However, this goes beyond the others with mixed animation and much better sound.

I like Jason Statham generally speaking. He usually plays pretty much the same character in most his work. Just the story changes. His persona and delivery don't. In this movie however, he branches out into some real acting. He plays his usual quiet tough guy, but he also plays his alter-ego. That little voice in his head has some real emotions even if the character does not. Very interesting stuff. And, there is some serious psychology to go along with this story. You have to be very patient or watch it a time or two to totally get it.

Ray Liotta has become a caricature of himself, and I love it. Because he has been type cast so many times, what choice does he have but to make fun of those casting choices. He is brilliant as the flawed bad guy in this movie. His final scene is Oscar worthy but I doubt anyone in the academy stayed long enough to see it. It's amazing acting and appears to have been done in one take. Mr. Liotta WAS ready for his close-up.

André Benjamin is one smooth character. I liked him in Four Brothers, and I like him more after watching this film. He has a unique look, a silky voice, and timing that speaks of far more work than his resume shows.

Okay, now I'll stop gushing about this movie and tell you a few more things. It's a very violent, gory, skin-filled, foul-mouthed script. And now the Guy Ritchie fans can all say in unison: "#$^*#$ **+#%%## #$&((%^%& right" and they are correct in doing so.

Watch this movie with someone who has a strong stomach for this sort of thing.