While “Ballistic” may feature one of the weakest plots and some of the most superficial characters in the history of film, the bullet-driven action sequences were enough to save this from total condemnation.
Antonio Banderas plays Jeremiah Ecks, an ex-FBI agent who is blackmailed into capturing a mysterious agent, causing ruckus within the world of international espionage. The reason he’s after the dangerous assassin, Sever (Lucy Liu): It seems that the wife he thought he saw die in a car explosion six years ago might actually be alive, and Sever is the only one willing to tell him the answer.
Once Ecks discovers that the “good guys” Sever is fighting are actually the bad guys of the operation, Sever slowly becomes less of a threat to him, a role instead filled by the villainous rouge DEA officer Robert Grant (Gregg Henry), who has been rumored to have stolen a micro-robot capable of killing someone without anyone knowing it.
While the plot and dialogue in “Ballistic” are noticeably terrible, the film is action-packed with great martial arts and a milieu of bullets, rockets and explosions. Lots of explosions. Banderas could be fantastic playing the somber Ecks, but ends up being simply boring in the end. However, fans of action films will definitely love Lucy Liu in her role as the emotionless assassin where she even shows off her skills against martial arts specialist Ray Park (“X-Men,” “Star Wars: Episode I”) in a closing fight sequence. All “Ballistic” really ends up becoming, though, is a great popcorn flick with very little below the surface.
3.5 / 5 Stars
Starring: Lucy Liu, Antonio Banderas, Gregg Henry
Director: Kaos
