The Mechanic (1972)

We see a hit man slowly plot the means of his target's death. He enters the target's apartment through stealth and places plastic explosives in a book. Then it even gets more engrossing when we see the hit man (Charles Bronson) put something in the tea the man keeps. He does something to the oven so gas gets in the air supposedly doing something to the tea. This is high level murder so no one suspects foul play. Then we see him do something to give Big Harry a heart attack, who indeed has a weak heart. Big Harry's son takes an interest in the hit man's occupation and finally convinces the star of THE MECHANIC to take him under his wing. They plan a trip to Italy to do some more killing but find they have been set up. This leads to some nice action scenes, in fact most of the action is well done and not served up for mere entertainment purposes only but is plot-driven. Then there is a twist and the relationship between the young apprentice and the teacher becomes more clear. I thought the best part of the film is how kewl it ends. [4.2 stars]