Anyone who loves Jason Statham’s films for their uncompromising action should watch out for today’s TV broadcast of Mechanic: Resurrection’ to make a wide berth. RTL Zwei only shows the film by “Die Welle” maker Dennis Gansel in a shortened form.
Action veteran Simon West (“Con Air”) tried his hand at remaking a classic in 2011 – with moderate success. The remake “The Mechanic” only had limited enthusiasm for fans of the original from 1972 (“Cold Hauch” with Charles Bronson), received mixed reviews from the trade press, and recorded just enough for Millenium Films to be in the black with the film. All of this didn’t exactly scream for a sequel, though. And yet, five years later, lead actor Jason Statham returned in Mechanic: Resurrection back as hitman Arthur Bishop. In favor of a German filmmaker who took the opportunity to make his Hollywood debut with it.
Statham, who was once again ripe for a title role after numerous supporting roles in films such as “Fast & Furious 7”, “The Expendables 3” and “Spy – Susan Cooper undercover”, trusted Dennis Gansel. The Hanoverian, who was known at the time for films such as “Girls, Girls” or “The Wave”, was ultimately supposed to give the action star a veritable hit at the cinema, but neither critics nor the public was overly enthusiastic about the surprise sequel. RTL Zwei shows “Mechanic: Resurrection“ on May 13, 2022, from 8:15 p.m – but it’s not the best opportunity to get an idea of the action film for yourself.
Then, Unfortunately, “Mechanic 2” only runs in the abridged version during prime time. The film, which is quite rough in places and is also about a contract killer, was approved by the FSK for ages 16 and up and can therefore only be shown in full on television after 10 p.m. As an alternative, there is a repetition on Saturday night (from 2.05 a.m.), DVD and Blu-ray as well as the stream. “Mechanics: Resurrection“ is currently included in the Starzplay channel on Amazon Prime Video, which you can test completely free of charge.
This is “Mechanics: Resurrection”
Arthur Bishop is back! The hit man is actually already retired, but when his archenemy Riah Crain (Sam Hazeldine) kidnaps his girlfriend Gina (Jessica Alba) one day, he has no choice but to take up arms again. If he ever wants to see Gina again, Crain will require him to travel across the globe to commit three murder contracts designed to look like accidents. He only has 36 hours…
Part 1 wasn’t exactly one of the great moments in Jason Statham’s career for us. Critic Florian Koch was awarded 2.5 out of 5 possible stars in the DashFUN review at the time for the acceptable off-the-shelf action thriller. For “Mechanics: ResurrectionIn the end it was even enough for only 2 stars.
Apart from a few isolated strong scenes, like when Bishop climbs up a glass skyscraper, Dennis Gansel’s Hollywood debut is pretty mixed. The start is lame, the end confused – and in between, there are a lot of hectic action sequences and a romantic relationship that remains pure assertion to the end. Conclusion: Dennis Gansel can do better – and so can Jason Statham.
