24. The Mechanic (2011)

Remake of the 1972 Charles Bronson thriller. Statham plays a hitman who teaches the tricks of the trade to the son of his old friend.

I really like the original film. It’s a slow burning thriller and has a great payoff at the end. This version amps up the action and set pieces and pretty much keeps the storyline and payoff,with only a ‘slight’ change.

There are some brutal fist and gunfights,but unfortunately using CGI bloodspurts (which SUCK!) and the rooftop fight goes a bit OTT on the dreaded ‘shakeycam’.

Loved the scene where Statham and co-star Ben Foster fall from a 33 storey building attached to cables without the use of stunt doubles and also the dustbin truck and bus vs cars stunt. Very impressive.

I enjoyed this quite a bit. One quibble is that everyone mumbles or talks in a whisper and i had to have subtitles on for most of the running time! Or maybe i’m just going deaf in my ‘old’ age… :)