This trailer makes The Mechanic (renamed terribly in the trailer below “Killer of Killers“) look like it’s about a dude fighting for justice. Really, it’s another one of those existentialist films.

Spoilers follow.

It’s a beautifully constructed story, very simple. Bronson plays a hitman who enjoys the finer things in life. He plans his murders meticulously, leaving little to chance: “Oh, the target has a gas stove? Why not just subtly damage a gas line so it’ll eventually explode?”

He takes on an apprentice because of his own relationship with his father: Steve, hard, young, cold. “And you’re paid to do this?” he asks.

“Money is exchanged. But that’s not the point. The point is… to stand apart from it all.”

Of course, the apprentice eventually betrays him while they’re away on a mission. “You’re just like the police or the military, but instead of needing the permission of society you need the permission of a contract. I’m just going to kill whomever I want!”

Upon his return the kid — poorly acted by Jan-Michael Vincent — hops into the cherry Mustang he now thinks is his. He finds a note attached to the wind-shield:

Steve,

If you can read this it means I didn’t make it back. It also means you’ve broken a filament controlling a 13-second delay trigger.

End of game. Bang! You’re dead.

The joy of the film is watching Bronson’s character live out his stoic bushido, even in the face of his own death. Or did he put a hit on himself? The film has multiple interpretations.

Plus, Bronson is an effing badass.