Jason Statham believes ‘Mechanic: Resurrection’ is a "little version" of a James Bond film.
The 49-year-old actor – who has reprised his role as the professional assassin Arthur Bishop in the action film’s sequel – has admitted he believes the follow-up to the 2011 movie, which was filmed in Thailand and Rio, holds similar traits to the classic thrillers known for the British secret agent 007.
Speaking about the movie to Collider.com, the English hunk – who is currently dating supermodel Rosie Huntington-Whiteley – said: "For me it’s; ‘Oh we are going to Thailand, oh we are going to Rio. This is fantastic. Yeah, I’m in.’ Exotic locations are not difficult to get me to go to.
"I wish I had [a say in the set location]. If I had a voice I would have chosen that [Thailand] as the place to go, but it was written in the script that way.
"It gives it a bit of a flavour, and I have made movies on the back streets of London, and that’s great too. But to go and be rocking around on a beach and on a boat and hanging off a building, it’s great. For this kind of movie it’s perfect. And for people who like this genre type films like the opportunity to see a bit more of a broader scope for these things.
"James Bond got me into ‘Wouldn’t it be great to go to all these countries.’ And we get to do our own little version."
And Statham, who is often cast as the hard man in movies, believes there is no better character to play than the "on-screen hero".
He explained: "I mean I’m an audience-goer, I love movies, and if there’s a bunch of bad guys, which we call need serving if they need their comeuppance, what better to do, who better person than the on-screen hero.
"I think people just like seeing nasty people get their comeuppance. I think if you’re bad it’s great to see them going down in ingenious ways. You know if someone needs to have his face put on a barbecue, let’s put a face on the barbecue."
And Statham has admitted he found it "funny" working with the British film director and stunt coordinator on the film because he had heard his name crop up in conversations prior to breaking into the film industry.
He explained: "It’s funny because I was in the movie business I’d heard about Vic Armstrong because I used to train with a few stunt men that used to talk about Vic the big legend, so for me to go and make a movie with him was fantastic.
"We work very closely because we have got the same sort of ideas on what we think is cool, and how we want to do stuff, so it’s a great collaboration, it really is."
Jason Statham: Mechanic: Resurrection is a ‘little version’ of James Bond
