tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149411832127844385.post5881077202875369682..comments2024-03-22T14:34:39.101-04:00Comments on MONDO 70: A Wild World of Cinema: THE MECHANIC (1972)Samuel Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934870299522899944noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149411832127844385.post-10610943227364046312010-06-10T19:03:52.129-04:002010-06-10T19:03:52.129-04:00Thanks for writing, everyone.
The original film&#...Thanks for writing, everyone.<br /><br />The original film's problem is that it abandons its early sense of dread in favor of a too-blatant playing out of the tension between Wilson and Steve. It might have been more consistent in tone had it left the two characters at the end of a successful mission with each worried that the other will destroy him, yet stuck with each other. But that wouldn't have given audiences the easy catharsis they were assumed to want.<br /><br />As for the remake (due out in December) I'm not sure whether Statham or Ben Foster in the Jan-Michael Vincent role faces the bigger challenge. Statham has played cartoon characters too often, for all intents and purposes, to be easily plausible as a stoic yet unstable Wilson. I haven't seen enough of Foster's work to judge him, but he has to express Steve's cold amorality without turning the character into a mad dog. He'll need the kind of charismatic soullessness that Vincent may have had simply by accident. We'll see.Samuel Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00934870299522899944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149411832127844385.post-86465852369576428872010-06-10T06:39:57.489-04:002010-06-10T06:39:57.489-04:00I rewatched this recently, hoping for something go...I rewatched this recently, hoping for something good from quite a good premise and a good enough cast. A promising start, that turns into a 'thriller' with such deadly uninteresting action scenes.<br /><br />The remake can only be better, surely.Mark Hodgsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08744056312268440003noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149411832127844385.post-35787020799556180122010-06-09T20:31:44.086-04:002010-06-09T20:31:44.086-04:00The Mechanic many many years ago. You've just ...<em>The Mechanic</em> many many years ago. You've just about convinced me I need to take another look at it.dfordoomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02306293859869179118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149411832127844385.post-29208900595516077942010-06-09T07:20:45.171-04:002010-06-09T07:20:45.171-04:00Get ready to lose your lunch! A remake is current...Get ready to lose your lunch! A remake is currently in production starring...Jason Statham.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9149411832127844385.post-21347106286331077592010-06-09T04:59:24.204-04:002010-06-09T04:59:24.204-04:00Excellent and comprehensive review of a film that,...Excellent and comprehensive review of a film that, as you note, starts out with loads of promise but squanders most of it by falling back into genre trappings and languid pacing. It ultimately ends up being a failure, but a notable one for the interesting aspects you've noted here. Nice job!Drew McIntoshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07054307044280470117noreply@blogger.com