"Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever" is made in the vein of the fast-paced, secret undercover, FBI-tinged action movie. And though its has the violence and blow 'em up fight scenes the title implies, the subtitle is a little misleading at best.
Antonio Banderas ("Desperado," "Spy Kids") is Jeremiah Ecks, an FBI agent who, at the beginning of the movie, is withdrawn from active duty. Seven years prior, he underwent the personal trauma of seeing his wife blown up in a car bomb ... or so he thought.
New evidence of the attack has come to light, and the FBI needs Ecks again. They use the information about his wife as leverage to get him to spearhead an operation to uncover the plot of one Robert Gant (Gregg Henry), an independent crime mastermind trying to create the perfect assassin.
Agent Sever (Lucy Liu, "Charlie's Angels," "Ally McBeal") is a former Gant operative who has a grudge of her own against her former boss and wants nothing better than to foil his plan. Caught in the crossfire is Gant's child, and the movie revolves around the particular importance of this boy.
Sever succeeds in kidnapping the boy, and is a potent force enough to withstand the pursuit of an onslaught of local Vancouver law enforcement, Ecks and countless FBI agents, and Gant's own team.
{INSERT_RELATED}The matchup of Ecks vs. Sever promised by the subtitle is barely consummated. The story quickly turns to how each can help the other get what they want from the diabolical Gant.
"Ballistic" is directed by Kaos, the young, Thailand-born filmmaker Wych Kaosayananda. Though "Ballistic" is his first feature film in the United States, he is able to keep up the pace of the action by providing quick cuts coupled with a trip-hop, techno soundtrack that gets at the frenetic mood. A few shots worthy of notice are when the action is suddenly slowed and the characters are framed in an ambient slow motion.
The visual effects beyond these are less-than-stunning and outright laughable, and, unfortunately, comprise the greater chunk of screen time. For instance, a motorcycle chase scene is perfectly set up when, in the course of an accident, a bike slides right next to where Ecks needs it to be. He flies off after Sever, on her own bike, and in the ensuing chase, two FBI cars are blown up and proceed to get the necessary hang time to achieve a synchronized side-by-side twist.
Most of the action in this movie is too obviously orchestrated to represent reality, and it is no surprise when character revelations are made upon the movie's conclusion. Liu does a commendable job with Sever as a one-woman wrecking crew and true mind of the movie, but Banderas needs more room to give Ecks a personality beyond just an FBI has-been giving it one last shot for personal reasons.
"Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever" is now playing everywhere.