The Mechanic - Two words: `Jason' and `Statham'

Question 1: Have you watched a Jason Statham film in the last few years? If the answer is yes, then you have basically seen The Mechanic. If the answer is no, then you have to like you action films gritty and violent, but without the big budget that were synonymous with the action stars of the eighties.

Question 2: If you have seen a recent Statham movie, did you like it? If the answer is `yes' then you will probably like this one, too. If the answer is `no' then move on.

Sometimes it feels like `the Stath' never sleeps. He seems to churn out these sorts of films on a thrice-yearly basis. They all look the same. They all follow the same basic story. And they're all called something like `The Mark, Sold,' or `Bullet.'

`The Mechanic' is a remake of an old Charles Bronson film (which I haven't seen, so I can't compare the two). The Stath is an assassin (or `mechanic' as they call them in this film) who takes on a protégé, played by Ben Foster, in order to - reluctantly - teach him the trade. This he does. And carnage follows.

I'd love to give this more than 6/10, but the fact that it just blurs into every other Jason Statham film kind of makes it not really that deserving of much more. It's just a typical Statham film. It's getting to the stage that if you've seen one then you've seen them all. Personally, I don't mind a mindless action film here and there, so if I'm in the mood for one then a Statham film does the job.

The Mechanic: Enjoyed and forgotten.

6/10 May just keep you awake if Freddy Krueger was haunting your nights