There are different sorts of expectations involved when an action film stars both Zorro and a Charlie’s Angel. Unfortunately, Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (2002) ranks as one of the worst action movies of all time, leaving little to nothing for its defense. Made by the Thai director Wych Kaosayananda (with the unluckily fitting pseudonym ‘Kaos’), the film marked his debut in Hollywood. Antonio Banderas and Lucy Liu play the leading roles and are supposedly on opposite ends of a conspiracy.
Despite a whopping $70 million budget, Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever is a notoriously terrible movie (grossing only $20.2 million), panned by both the audience and film critics. With 119 recorded critical reviews, it has earned a rating of 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. Although it is fairly common for some unpopular movies to gain a cult following over the years, the same cannot be said for this one — it is just, to put it simply, pretty bad.
What Is Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever About?
The film opens with Michael Gant, the child of the DIA director Robert Gant, being kidnapped by the rogue agent Sever, who has been trained to have “no fear, no conscience, and no morality”. While her grudge against Gant is never clearly explained, it is implied that he is responsible for her son’s death. Gant sends his top agents, led by A. J. Ross, to rescue Michael especially since, as is revealed later, he injected a microscopic assassination device called ‘Softkill’ into his son’s bloodstream so he could smuggle it into the U.S. The weapon can lie dormant inside its victim until it is activated to cause a heart attack, leaving behind no trace.
Jeremiah Ecks is introduced where all reluctant heroes can be found: smoking and drinking in a dingy bar. The FBI agent is said to have retired seven years ago, when his wife Vinn got killed in a car bombing. His former boss, Julio Martin, claims that his wife is actually alive and promises to give him information if he tracks down Sever.
A prolonged action sequence in Vancouver soon follows, where Sever manages to attack all the enemy forces, and then escape from Ecks. Afterward, Ecks is arrested on the false charges of shooting at Martin. While he is being taken to prison, Sever (after discovering who he is looking for) frees Ecks and gives him his wife’s address. When he arrives there, he finds Vinn heading towards an aquarium, where they finally reunite. It is revealed that Gant had orchestrated their deaths: he had rigged each of their cars to blow up so that they could witness the other’s ‘death’. Vinn ended up marrying Gant, and gave birth to Michael, who is actually Ecks’ child.
Sever arrives and takes them to an abandoned train yard, where she has locked up Michael. Gant arrives with Ross and other heavily-armed agents, and a fight ensues. Ecks and Sever manage to take everyone down, and the latter shoots Gant with a Softkill-loaded bullet (which she apparently retrieved from Michael earlier). After killing him, she escapes when the police arrive. The film ends with Ecks thanking Sever while they look out towards the sea.
Is Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever Based on a Video Game?
The film has two game adaptations (both first-person shooter video games) for the Game Boy Advance. The first one, Ecks vs. Sever, is based on an early draft of the film, when it had not even entered production. This was due to an agreement between Franchise Pictures and Bam! Entertainment that allowed the video game publisher to design games based on any of the company’s scripts. Ecks vs. Sever was developed by Crawfish Interactive and released prior to the film in 2001, as it was believed that the game was good enough “to stand on its own two feet”.
The second game, Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever, was released just a week after the film, and followed its storyline much more closely. As opposed to the movie, both games received mostly positive reviews.
Why Is Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever So Hated?
The Matrix (1999) set a new benchmark for the action genre, and there was a notable shift in the entertainment industry after its release. Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever seems like a rather poor imitation of the critically acclaimed movie, despite also being a Warner Bros. film. It shamelessly tries to capture the stylistic vibe of The Matrixby using martial arts, an extensive range of guns, and large overcoats and black bodysuits. Even though the composer for the two films is the same (Don Davis), the music in Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever is simply jarring, failing to convey the emotions of the characters or the themes of the movie.
What the director also fails to keep in mind is that The Matrix uses slow motion sparingly, and compensates for it with fast-moving action. Hence, the end result is a series of poorly-edited and unimaginative scenes featuring car crashes, constant gunfire, explosions, and the mandatory motorcycle chase. These are set to an incomprehensible plot, making it difficult to remember who is on which side and why.
For a story that is about revenge, lost loves and bereaved mothers, the film is devoid of genuine feeling. Liu’s performance falls short as the silent and stoic character she is probably intended to be, whereas Banderas just seems disgruntled about being part of this project. While desperately stringing together different clichés, Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever ends up being thoroughly nonsensical. For instance, why did Ecks never investigate his wife's death? If Gant had planned to kill Ecks, why did he fake Vinn's murder? More importantly, why is the title called Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever when the two characters actually work together against a common enemy?