First Hit: I liked the first film with Charles Bronson and I fully enjoyed this one with Jason Statham.
Charles Bronson had the look and feel of someone who was very tough with hidden intelligence.
Jason Statham as Arthur Bishop plays The Mechanic as intelligent first and physically tough second but when required he is tough really tough.
Bishop gets misled into killing his best friend Harry McKenna (played by Donald Sutherland) and mentor based on fabricated evidence. When he learns that he was tricked, he decides to mentor McKenna’s wayward and intense son Steve (played by Ben Foster) to be a mechanic. Together they do a couple of jobs and then go after Dean (played by Tony Goldwyn) who put out the hit on Harry.
Not all the kills involve bombs or guns. Many of them are stealth in nature and require lots of planning. This film does it well and Statham does it very well.
Statham is perfect as the quiet, straight forward, intelligent and focused mechanic. Sutherland is believable as Statham’s mentor. Foster is really good as the wayward mixed up son who needs to find a life path. Goldwyn is good as the ego driven guy who thinks he’s got everything under control but finds his ending commensurate with his actions. Simon West directed this with effectiveness.
Overall: Although the film is about killing effectively, it was enjoyable and well done.