‘Mechanic: Resurrection’ on HBO: Is Tough Jason Statham Less Interesting Than Funny Jason Statham?

There are some very clever action scenes in Mechanic: Resurrection, which debuts on HBO tonight. There’s one where Jason Statham’s assassin character engineers a hit on someone swimming in a glass-bottom pool jutting out over the edge of a massive skyscraper. First of all, you’re just asking for it if you build a glass-bottom pool that hangs out over the edge of a skyscraper. But Statham’s death-defying acrobatics and flair for the dramatic add up to a wildly eye-popping scene indeed:

Does this scene steal liberally from Tom Cruise and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol? Well, yes. The pool element gives it a little extra oomph (and an extra fuck-you to people with money and swimming pools). It’s the highlight of a movie that in general gives you the Jason Statham you expect. Or, to be more accurate, the Jason Statham you used to expect.

One of the more unexpected developments in film in the last few years has been the emergence of Jason Statham as a stealth comedic asset. The big coming-out party for this would be his performance in the 2015 comedy Spy, opposite Melissa MacCarthy. There, Statham played on his tough-guy persona to deliver a character who was so over-the-top tough and boastful about his long history of ludicrous stunts. It’s a reliably funny recurring gag, and Statham himself was surprisingly adept at the comedic timing.

Statham’s role in the Fast and the Furious series might have been even more instructive about this new career arc. Statham was Deckard Shaw, the main antagonist in Furious 7, a pitiless former special forces soldier who seeks out to dismantle Dom Toretto’s “family” of lovable car thieves. He was responsible for the death of Han! He was a bad dude. But in the intervening years between the 7th and 8th Fast & the Furious film, maybe someone watched Spy, because Deckard Shaw returned to the series as a comedically reluctant ally to our band of brothers (and sisters). Statham’s comedic gifts were once again called upon, especially for the bulk of the movie where Deckard is trying to balance having a shootout and handling a baby. Did it make a ton of sense within the universe of the movie? Maybe, maybe not. But it was once again a dynamite showcase for Jason Statham: Funny Tough Guy.

Which brings us back to Mechanic: Resurrection, a movie that picks up Statham’s character the same way it left him. But in the intervening years, the actor has become a more multifaceted threat. And given the public’s divergent reactions to Mechanic and Spy/Furious 7, it might be that the days of a purely tough, stoic Statham are over.

Where to stream Mechanic: Resurrection