BALLISTIC: ECKS VS. SEVER

Banderas plays an FBI burnout — saddled with the improbable real name of Jeremiah Ecks — whose wife was allegedly killed but is, naturally, still alive. Liu plays a lethal renegade agent, code-named (one hopes) Sever, who kidnaps the son of a big bad government spook. Thanks to plot contortions worthy of The A-Team, they end up joining forces and ridding Vancouver of evil. If only the filmmakers had spent as much on the script as they did on the pyrotechnics, the ineptly titled Ballistic might’ve been a potent thriller. As is, it’s just a lame exercise in stuff that blows up real good.