Antonio Banderas is one of those actors who either makes a really watchable film, or he makes one that is a chore to sit through. Rarely does he come across as almost good or average. Unfortunately for Warner Brothers, even Lucy Lui couldn't save him from this boring senseless take on the spy vs spy genre.
Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever stars both Lui and Banderas as opposing Spies both seeking to get their hands on a secret gadget inserted into an innocent child. Banderas plays Ecks, a former FBI Special Agent who left the game 7 years earlier due to the loss of his wife in a car bombing. Ecks former boss Julio Martin comes by one day to inform him that his wife actually did not die that fateful day. However he will not divulge her whereabouts without the his help on a project. The project? To stop a rogue former special agent who has seemingly went "Ballistic" on the bureau.
Guess who it is! Yes, it's Lui's Sever character. Sever, is a member of something called the Orphan Class, Chinese girls who, instead of being adopted by nice American families, have been raised to become assassins by the Department Intelligence Agency. Can ya see the stupidity already?
As it turns out in the film Ecks and Sever are really on the same side, once Sever lets Ecks in on what is really happening. The film uses plenty of boring cliches and never really explains the numerous plot holes that wreck any hope of continuity. Director Kaos has a penchant for cool looking explosions and fight scenes but his focus on this makes the movie the biggest dumbed down action film seen in recent years. John Woo he's not, forgetting that acting and plot still are as important as any awesome action sequence.
Ecks vs Sever is not only a dumb film but it's named very poorly. A true Spy vs Spy film set in modern day era would have been entertaining. This should have been called Ecks and Sever fool everyone.
The Disc:
Whenever a movie is a total disaster such as the one we have here, the extras are even harder to watch. However with a keen eye and open mind I sat through them giving them a fair chance. To be perfectly honest Warner Brothers actually manages to give something worth viewing here. Know The Enemy while being very archaic is a video game of sorts where you attack your opponent with a choice of one of three moves. The DVD player then selects a random countermove. If the player's selection is the same move, no points are awarded. The more effective of the two moves scores a point, either for you or for your opponent (kind of like rock, paper, scissors). Sure it's simple and yet more fun than watching the movie.
The other extras are basically your typical hollywood offering. A full screen featurette entitled The Making of Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (13:02) is about as generic as you can get, but still showed some of the cooler aspects of the explosion filled film reel.
Where the disc really shines unsurprisingly is in the sound departement. While lacking the DTS I so love, the 5.1 DD track still manages to make the cleanest sounds out of the big booming explosions and other effects the movie offers. Definitlely a showpiece for your home theater setup.
bottom line:
Easily the worst film I have personally watched in the last year. I am a sucker for action flicks but even this is worse than some of Jackie Chan's most awful films. Sorry Banderas try again with something more like your Desperado movies.
1.5 out of 5
By - Brian Gray
1/2
