There’s nothing really flashy about “The Mechanic,” but that’s not a bad thing.

This bare bones, meat-and-potato action film never strays far from familiar territory, but succeeds at being a mildly entertaining diversion in what has been an awful start to the 2011 movie year.

Jason Statham stars as Arthur Bishop, an elite killer who specializes in assassinations that need to look like accidents.

When he is assigned to kill his close friend and mentor (Donald Sutherland), Bishop reluctantly accepts the job. But things get complicated when the mentor’s black sheep son named Steve (Ben Foster) returns looking to avenge his father’s murder.

Bishop decides to take Steve under his wing and teach him the profession without revealing that he is in fact the person Steve is trying to find.

Statham has had a spotty track record, but he’s the kind of actor who has shown he can be just fine when given the right material. “The Mechanic” proves to be just that, a vehicle that plays to Statham’s strengths – allowing him to be that broody, angry action hero he excels at playing.

Foster is also very good here, the perfect choice for the hot-headed mentor with his own troubles. This young actor continues to build a solid resume (including “The Messenger” and “3:10 to Yuma”) and shows that he is capable of branching out into a solid action star as well if he chooses.

Director Simon West is also solid, capturing the moody, gritty core of the story with some intense (and somewhat implausible) action sequences. The highlight is an assassination attempt in a high rise that ends with the two leads scaling down the building dodging bullets. It’s an intense sequence that delivers enough thrills to make you forget how silly the whole thing actually is.

I will concede that the screenplay is pretty standard. It’s so predictable you can pretty much map out every plot twist at least two or three steps before it happens.

“The Mechanic” may be predictable, but it is certainly never uninteresting. That is more than you can say for any other 2011 release to date. It may not be a film that has any lasting impact, but it is one that satisfies audiences trying to get their action fix.

DVD dandy of the week

This week’s dandy is “The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest” (B), the satisfying final chapter to the Millennium trilogy.

Based on the popular novel by Stieg Larsson, “Nest” picks up where the previous film, “The Girl who Played With Fire,” left off – with the young computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) recovering in the hospital after nearly being beaten to death.

While in the hospital, Salander learns she has been charged with attempted murder and is set to face trial once she has recovered.

With the help of journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), Salander sets out to prove her innocence and expose some powerful enemies from her past.

This isn’t quite up to the level of the first film, “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” but this is still a very good movie that is a notch above its predecessor.

Rapace is so good as Salander, it’s almost sad to see her play the character for the final time. Anyone looking forward to the David Fincher adaptation of this trilogy (“Tattoo” is slated to open in December) needs to see this just to appreciate how good a job Rapace does in bringing Salander to life.

The first half of “Hornet’s Nest” is hard to navigate at times, with a lot of plot twists dangling and a lot of information left to process.

But the challenging first half proves to be worth it, setting up a highly enjoyable second half primarily set in the courtroom. The final act brings the entire trilogy together in crowd-pleasing manner.

It’s a fitting end to one of 2010’s brightest gems.

“The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest” is Rated R for strong violence, some sexual material and brief language, and is now available on DVD.

— To get sportswriter/movie reviewer Micheal Compton’s up-to-the minute thoughts on all things movies, visit his blog at mcompton.wordpress.com or his Twitter page at twitter.com/mcompton428. You can also e-mail him at mcompton@bgdailynews.com.