Voices: Jason Statham, Ben Foster, Donald Sutherland, Mini Anden, Tony Goldwyn, James Logan Director: Simon West

MUCH like Dwayne Johnson’s revenge film “Faster,” “The Mechanic” represents fledgling CBS Films’ attempt to infiltrate the action genre with a recognizable star in a glorified, down-and-dirty movie. But despite the dependably uber-cool presence of Jason Statham as an expert hitman who takes an apprentice under his wing, this remake of the 1972 Charles Bronson cult item doesn’t wield enough inventiveness or attitude to fix its overriding sense of familiarity.

“The Mechanic” coasts on Statham’s appeal to tough-guy action fans.

Arthur Bishop (Statham) works alone as a hired assassin, but after he’s ordered to kill his turncoat mentor (Donald Sutherland) he befriends the mentor’s son Steve (Ben Foster). Not knowing that Bishop killed his dad, Steve asks the hitman to train him so that he can get revenge on those who orchestrated the murder.

Playing the Bronson role in this remake, Statham doesn’t deviate much from his well-established onscreen persona as a suave, serenely confident man of action. Even when he stars in mediocre offerings such as this, he elevates the material with both his commitment to the part and his slightly detached air, which suggests to the audience that they should simply sit back and enjoy the story’s general absurdity.

But his considerable charm can only do so much, and while “Con Air” director Simon West manages to stage a few dementedly over-the-top action sequences, there’s no escaping the fact that the film’s foundation is built on top of the creaky conventions of the hitman genre, complete with high-octane training montages and the expected double-crosses.

As Bishop’s protégé, Foster demonstrates the same barely-contained livewire urgency that he brought to bear in his performances in “3:10 to Yuma” and “The Messenger,” nicely complementing Statham’s intimidating physical presence. The plot of “The Mechanic” grows increasingly predictable and over-caffeinated, but at least the two actors provide some grit amidst the excess.

The movie is now being screened in Shenzhen. (SD-Agencies)