The Contractor (2022) - Tarik Saleh.

This slickly competent, unerringly pedestrian actioner finds ex-special forces hotshot (Chris Pine) bloodily unleashing his special skills once a morally murky Berlin black op goes predictably fubar. Chris Pine is convincingly intense as a physically and mentally damaged vet, honourably discharged for abuse of pain meds, but the rudimentary narrative proved unexciting, and, for me, a professionally prosaic shoot 'em up without Seagal or Lundgren isn't especially essential viewing. The technical aspects are credible, physical/ballistic combat is brisk and bloody, the cast's performances are sound, and yet The Contractor is hobbled by a lacklustre text and a conspicuous lack of invention. It's certainly not a bad film, a steely-looking Pine effectively contrives sympathy for his honourable protagonist's plight, and, to be entirely just, any regular viewer without a disturbingly comprehensive collection of action films will, perhaps, be far less critical than I.