Metacritic reviews

The action is entertaining enough, and it's kind of fun to follow the intricate plotting and planning of the jobs.

Mostly, The Mechanic creaks and groans as it goes through the motions, and not even its lavish violence - which includes much smashing of heads and a nasty screwdriver stabbing - is particularly electrifying.

Adequate light entertainment for those who enjoy thrillers, but it is uneven and the underwhelming ending will disappoint those who enjoyed the delicious irony served up by its predecessor.

Better than "The Transporter" but not as much fun as "Crank".

Jason Statham bares his six-pack before speaking his first line in this humorless, efficient remake of the 1972 Charles Bronson hitman movie.

In essence, this one is the equivalent of the "B" movies that flourished during the original's era -- and it proves middling, and occasionally muddled, on almost every level.

The Mechanic runs on violence, and when no one's being riddled with bullets or getting their hand shoved into a garbage disposal, it lags. That said, the "action" sequences are so frequent and bloody that they render plot nearly obsolete.

Like many action stars, Statham is good at cool brooding, but West's frantic style works against this.

It's a pleasure to watch the granite-faced action star do his own stunts, particularly a death-defying leap from a bridge. Yet everything feels hurried.

It's a modestly effective but jaw-droppingly violent picture.