Double Crossword
1 Poor me, it’ll be bird feed! (6) 5 Half moon competes with the silver screen (6) 10 Drain every other part of the swamp (3) 11 Spurious to tot up a sow’s trotters, we hear (11) 12 Booth sold solution for an eye condition (9) 13 Ready to nap after tossing and turning (2,3) 14 Ruling concerning double gin cocktail (8) 16 Slink past spottier sort after shaving (6) 19 Confront savage when crossing the river (6) 20 Half an hour with twirly parts of scripture (4,4) 23 Drive a beef supplier ... (5) 25 ... to call on breeding farm for fastener (5,4) 27 Wise men turned to Lenin for defence in WWII (7,4) 28 Most of ale went on working party (3) 29 Trained lens on victorious commander (6) 30 Tom’s young outfit confronting round figure (6) 2 Wing it when one’s joining in rally (9) 3 Clear cover with much trimmed inside (5) 4 Moving by running one’s finger over (8) 5 Acting to stem choral works (6) 6 Excess of words makes brevity so enchanting (9) 7 Smooth front of tuxedo for the occasion (5) 8 Boris nervously receives American leader where pressure is constant (6) 9 Sound stage on the Russian plain (6) 15 Lack of qualifications means a marionette’s unworkable? (2,7) 17 Record carrier to convert an array of figures (9) 18 Made Sikh come out when missing relations (8) 19 Wellrounded booms go bust by the end of July (6) 21 More orderly when I had broken up row (6) 22 Having spoilt half, a huge weight is precisely what’s needed (4,2) 24 Bird headed off sniffer dog (5) 26 Panel gave quiet support in golf in return (5) Down: - 1 Undone. 2 Destroyer. 3 Real. 4 Infantry. 5 Go away. 6 Didgeridoo. 7 Venue. 8 Sweetest. 13 Generality. 16 Erudition. 17 Cardamom. 18 Ballroom. 21 Singer. 22 Rebels. 24 Spoon. 26 Stun. 1 Brightly printed cotton fabric (6) 5 Confused mix (6) 10 Torn cloth (3) 11 Spit (11) 12 Building or gallery that commands a fine view (9) 13 Lustrous fabric (5) 14 Opinionated, doctrinaire (8) 16 Violin (6) 19 Takeover, coup d’etat (6) 20 Motherly (8) 23 Drama set to music (5) 25 Knockabout comedy (9) 27 Large, oldfashioned travelling case (11) 28 Go brown in the sun (3) 29 Longharboured resentment (6) 30 Rudimentary stage of life (6) Across: - 1 Backpedal. 6 Fight. 9 Compact. 10 Corsair. 11 Lead. 12 Experiment. 14 Bailiff. 15 Tassel. 19 Ration. 20 Sibling. 23 Matterhorn. 25 Haka. 27 Somehow. 28 Twofold. 29 Deter. 30 Reconvene. 2 Outstanding or memorable part (9) 3 Sibling’s daughter (5) 4 German airship (8) 5 Coat, blazer (6) 6 Illicit liquor (9) 7 Jumped (5) 8 Examined closely (6) 9 Knitted hat (6) 15 Renowned (9) 17 Treatment of the teeth (9) 18 Language of Tokyo (8) 19 Jog the memory (6) 21 Fondness, predilection (6) 22. Practice, custom (6) 24 Blunder (5) 26 Flesh of a pigeon (5) Down: - 1 Becalm. 2 Combatant. 3 Peak. 4 Detoxify. 5 Lecher. 6 Formidable. 7 Graze. 8 Throttle. 13 Altogether. 16 Singapore. 17 Promised. 18 Diuretic. 21 Shower. 22 Dawdle. 24 Tempt. 26 Join. made $51 million at the global box office, so no wonder the accountants green lit another film.
This sequel borrows heavily from Killer Elite (also from 2011) in which Statham’s character also had to perpetrate three assassinations and make them look like accidents.
This time around, for Mechanic Resurrection, Bishop’s motivation for taking the job is that some unknown foe has kidnapped his new girlfriend, Gina (played by Jessica Alba).
So, in order to save her, he has to travel around the world and kill three people.
Michelle Yeoh pops up on the big screen for the second time this year (the first for the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon sequel) and Tommy Lee Jones plays Bishop’s third mark.
Filmed in Thailand, Bulgaria, Australia and Brazil, the film carries a no-persons under 16 age restriction because of strong language and violence, and runs at 98 minutes.
The trailer suggests lots of well-choreographed martial arts mayhem and the classic Statham swagger, plus he takes his shirt off, so there’s at least that.
Then again, the film releases today in South Africa and the US, but the film has not been previewed to reviewers. It never bodes well for an action movie if the film producers don’t even have faith in the ability of its star to attract some positive word of mouth in advance from the fans.
If the trailer feels too much like the highlights package, you can go back to Safe, Blitz or the first Transporter film.
Plus, Statham will reprise his villain role as Deckard Shaw in the upcoming Fast and the Furious film, Furious 8.