Barry Pepper smoulders and scowls in a film that starts as an interesting little shoot-em-up and quickly devolves into the same old plot threads we’ve seen 1,000 times, done better.

As a critic, it pains me to pan the films of actors I truly adore. Barry Pepper, known for Saving Private Ryan, The 25th Hour, Knockaround Guys and more, deserves so much better than this.

The charismatic screen presence has been a dependable star for nearly 30 years, and even had a pretty sizeable role in surprise alligator horror film Crawl a few years back. And chance of a career resurgence could be dashed if studio heads watch this subpar effort.

Pepper looks strained as Nicolas Shaw, a U.S. agency operative who goes underground after a tragic event leaves his team exposed. We never really learn what he did with the agency, what they protect or why they exist. I guess the filmmakers assumed if there were enough gun battles we wouldn’t care.

Writer Michael Vickerman – who has nothing notable or impressive on his resume – creates a script that looks, acts and takes plot point from better movies. It has not a single shred of originality, and everything around the film suffers for it.

Director Brad Turner has done a number of episodes of Kiefer Sutherland drama 24, but his leap to the big screen here is neither innovative or surprising in any way.

The plot barely makes sense and the revelatory twists can be seen from a mile away. Save for Barry Pepper and Colm Feore, two great actors in an unfortunate film, there’s nothing to see here.

1.5/5 Stars