( EW.com ) -- Jason Statham is the B-movie bruiser of the moment . He appears in the occasional Guy Ritchie gangster head game , but his genre of choice is the revved-up testosterone action film . The key to his charisma is that he 's so much more cutthroat smart and elegant , and so much more coolly British , than an actor from the crash-cars-and-ask-questions-later school needs to be . With his shaved skull and handsome you-talkin'-to-me stare , he 's like a Bruce Willis mad-dog avenger crossed with a more sociopathic James Bond . As Arthur Bishop , the title character of `` The Mechanic , '' Statham is playing one of those super-stealth hitmen who can sneak into the most protected of lairs and slip away moments later with the target dead . The opening swimming-pool assassination is just clever enough to set you up for a hitman version of a heist thriller . But then Statham 's lone wolf is tricked into killing his longtime corporate associate ( Donald Sutherland ) . Feeling used , he tries to make up for his sin by taking Sutherland 's son under his wing -- a dissipated rich boy played by Ben Foster , who suggests a gnarled , hillbilly Justin Timberlake . How do Statham and Foster team up in this movie ? Simple : Statham , in about six minutes , teaches Foster everything there is to learn about being a master assassin . Before long , the apprentice is leaping off skyscrapers and wielding his weapon with fearless aplomb . The implausibility of `` The Mechanic , '' even on its own genre-movie terms , is jaw-dropping . Yet I might have forgiven that had the movie tried to involve us in some more elaborately sneaky contract murders . As it is , `` The Mechanic '' is ham-fisted pulp , like Robert Rodriguez 's `` Machete '' taking itself seriously . It 's enough to make you want to see Jason Statham take a break from B movies and become the A-list character actor he deserves to be . C. See full article at EW.com . CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly . © 2010 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved .
Jason Statham is the B-movie bruiser of the moment . The key to his charisma is that he 's so cutthroat , smart and elegant . The implausibility of the film , even on its own genre-movie terms , is jaw-dropping .