Ballistic: Ecks vs Sever

Director Kaos (short for his real name, Wych Kaosayananda) must have sensed the chemistry, or at least the photogenic appeal, of hottie actors Lucy Liu and Antonio Banderas when they appeared together in the 1999 boxing picture Play It to the Bone. Because they look really sexy in this new all-action film, which itself has an unwieldy mouthful of a name. And it’s a misleading one, too. Ecks (Banderas) and Sever (Liu) are globetrotting ultra-spies who merely start out battling each other, each assuming the other is responsible for their respective missing loved ones. They soon realize they must work together to fight a common enemy (Gregg Henry) who purposely has pitted them against each other. Wild and wooly martial-arts action—Banderas and Liu trained extensively in preparation—and lots of pyrotechnic destruction can’t mask that there’s little in the way of story. Just two great-looking performers wearing black and kicking some butt. If that’s your cuppa, drink up.