![Lucy Liu, Antonio Banderas, ...](https://cdn.statically.io/img/ew.com/thmb/7f3AiMXMEXVy2lBj2xphY1NMZ9U=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/143557__ballistic_l-d305a30528974f5dac5bf78b28202d14.jpg)
In 1995’s ”Assassins,” Antonio Banderas squared off against Sylvester Stallone as, well, assassins trying to, uh, assassinate each other. Now in Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever, directed by Kaos (not ”Get Smart”’s evil organization, but a nom de film for Thai tyro Wych Kaosayananda), Banderas faces an even tougher adversary…would you believe, Lucy Liu? Actually, with her cruel beauty and kick-ass ”Charlie’s Angels” cred, it is kinda believable for the first half hour. Then the heretofore silent Liu speaks a line, and her baby-doll voice betrays her.
Letting his I-don’t-give-a-damn stubble do his acting, Banderas plays Jeremiah Ecks, an ex-FBI agent racing Liu’s killing machine, codenamed Sever, to recover a stolen plot device — er, assassination device. ”Ballistic” bombards moviegoers with a cacophony of automatic gunfire, exploding vehicles, and pseudo-techno music, but what else would you expect from a guy who lists Michael Bay as one of his influences? Kaos was apparently aiming for a coolly stylized, straight-faced take on ”Spy vs. Spy.” As Maxwell Smart used to say, ”Missed it by that much.”