Mechanic: Resurrection

Mechanic: Resurrection will undoubtedly go down in history as one of the most unnecessary sequels ever made. The first film, a mid-budget remake of a Michael Winner film from the '70s with Charles Bronson, didn't exactly set the world on fire or become a cultural phenomenon in the years after its release. It was just, well, there. Another Jason Statham action film that would probably gather dust on the rental shelves or languish on Netflix before being quietly removed after a couple of months and turn up in the middle of the night on terrestrial television. Why it needed a sequel is anyone's guess. Maybe there were complex strains of the story that were left unresolved.

Hah, no.

Jason Statham plays Arthur Bishop, a role that a moving mannequin could play with the same level of depth displayed here. A former assassin who had a knack for making his kills look like accidents, he's now living on a boat in Rio De Janeiro when he's contacted by a former associate. How does he escape, you ask? By diving off that passenger elevator thing near Christ The Redeemer and on to a hang-glider who just happens to be passing by. That's literally the opening five minutes of the film and already we're defying the laws of physics and aeronautics. It doesn't get much better when Jessica Alba and Michelle Yeoh are introduced.

Jessica Alba is planted by his arch-nemesis and former associate to get close to him by posing as a victim - which, when you see it all played out, makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Michelle Yeoh's role in the entire film is literally showing Jason Statham to a hut he keeps on a beach in Thailand and talking briefly to Jessica Alba. Before long, she's then taken by said arch-nemesis / former associate and if Statham ever wants to see her alive, he's got to off three targets. Now, you have to understand that the film makes absolutely no effort whatsoever in trying to set up the relationship between Alba and Statham. None whatsoever. They have a drink, a laugh and then BAM - he's going back to killing people in order to save her. It's that dumb.

The three assassinations that he's tasked with taking on are basically extended action setpieces with unsatisfying pay-offs. One scene involves him drilling a tiny hole in a pool that extends out over a hotel that's so badly CGI'd that you'd think it was from a film ten, fifteen years ago. The third target is Tommy Lee Jones, who plays a - wait for it - an idealistic arms dealer. Yes, they actually exist in the world of Mechanic: Resurrection. Lee Jones looks rightfully embarrassed and ploughs through his scenes quickly, probably just in the time for the cheque to clear so he can go back to looking dismayed at awards shows.

The directing is lazy, the script is just laughably bad and the story really doesn't make any sense. It really does look, feel and play like an extended cutscene from a videogame - and not even in a good one, mind.

A waste of time and energy. Awful.