acing a lifetime of prison or a lifetime of service to the CIA, Court Gentry (Ryan Gosling) chooses the latter. Trained under the watchful eye of Donald Fitzroy (Billy Bob Thornton), Gentry becomes Sierra Six, a veritable ghost capable of incredible feats of espionage, extraction, and extermination. Years pass and Fitzroy is replaced by Denny Carmichael (Rege-Jean Page), an unscrupulous leader with flagging morals. During a hit in Bangkok, Six teams with operative Dani Miranda (Ana de Armas) to assassinate a mysterious foe. But when the target reveals himself to be Sierra Four – and gives Six an encrypted drive containing proof of Carmichael’s illicit activities – the agent becomes plagued by doubts about his employers. Disobeying his boss’ orders to hand over the drive, Six flees, turning to Fitzroy for aid. Desperate to silence anyone who knows the truth, Carmichael hires sociopathic freelance mercenary Lloyd Hansen (Chris Evans) to hunt down and eliminate the rogue Sierra and his abettors. Now, with Hansen and a cadre of killers hot on his trail, Six must evade capture and death while protecting his dwindling number of allies.

“Who are you, my fairy godmother?” And just like that, a killer is loosed, provided that he signs up to be a grade-A assassin for a shadowy division of the CIA, a la “La Femme Nikita.” This is followed by typical top-secret, governmental chatter and lingo as some bad guys in need of offing become the next targets for the reformed convict. Of course, he’s also a man of morals, like Luc Besson’s Leon; he draws the line at children as collateral damage.

“The Gray Man” proceeds to lift concepts from virtually every spy flick made in the last couple of decades, gathering together so many cliches that it’s entirely possible that nothing about this latest Russo Brothers endeavor is original. The first 30 minutes piles on references at a rapid clip – from “The Bourne Identity” to “Enemy of the State” to “The Replacement Killers” to “The Equalizer” to “John Wick” – quickly becoming impossible to count. They’re not even content merely stealing plot points or interactions or motives; they also borrow actors and practically the same characters they previously portrayed, to be inserted directly into the script. Gosling is a duplicate of his role in “Blade Runner 2049” (the entire opening sequence would be right at home in that sci-fi extravaganza); Evans is identical to his persona from “Knives Out”; and de Armas isn’t far removed from her rookie operative in “No Time to Die.” This isn’t completely unfavorable, however, as these lead characters present modest enjoyment; but they certainly don’t help in crafting a project that stands out from the rest.

Also unfortunate is the filmmakers’ affinity for drone shots, which are overused to the point of distraction. And they’re no fans of the Jackie Chan approach to fight choreography (which refuses to turn away from genuinely skilled martial artists), either, as basically every hand-to-hand combat sequence is aggravatingly obscured by fireworks, smoke, flares, wafting debris, jerky camera movements, and quick cuts. Far too many editing and stylistic choices plague the action sequences; clearly, the creative team believes that audiences prefer fake stunts, CG interference, or visual chaos to actual fistfights and authentic hostilities. “Well that was unexpected.”

There’s also a bit of trite narrative meddling, in which timelines vacillate in lieu of flashbacks. But, at least, a few humorous exchanges arise between the hitman rivals, as well as de Armas getting another opportunity to be an intelligent, capable, and physically formidable spy; many of the interactions between the lead trio are moderately amusing. Yet everyone is always saved mere seconds before certain doom, or escape with no time to spare (the plotting is conspicuously convenient), preventing the abundance of explosive destruction, high-speed chases, excessive firepower, and macho showdowns to remain consequential. It may have all the right (or anticipated) ingredients – from endearing mentors to sympathetic hostages (and a dash of torture) to snappy one-liners to last stands to a flagrant disregard for public property – but the simple combination doesn’t result in a competent thriller as much as a mere montage of action movie greatest hits. And though it’s overlong and concluded with too many codas that don’t truly fix or resolve anything, there’s still fun to be had with Gosling and de Armas’ spirited teamwork; it’s difficult to tire of their violence-soaked, coordinated assaults against swarms of nameless, faceless, balaclava-clad, gun-toting soldiers.

– The Massie Twins