Sauce

It’s a sad state of affairs when the most remarkable thing I can say about The Contractor is that its one defining point is its complete lack of anything remotely original.

Wesley Snipes is a retired government-trained sniper hired for “one last hit” on the man who cut his leg many years ago. Things go wrong, and he is forced to hole up in a safe house where, in a plot-turn lifted entirely from the vastly superior The Professional [AKA Leon], he meets a young street-wise schoolgirl who takes care of him and helps him to evade capture. His employer turns on him (shock horror!) and he is then hunted by the British police as well as his own government. Whoop-de-doo.

Snipes sleepwalks through the film, while some inspired lunatic casting talks quality British actor Ralph Brown into trying to pull off a believable American accent. Lena Heady remains painfully clothed throughout, and Eliza Bennet does her best to channel Natalie Portman’s character from The Professional. Perennial creepy British guy, Charles Dance, is serviceable, but by the time he’s made his presence felt¬¬, you just don’t care.

As a direct-to-video film, this is not that bad. But it commits sin after sin of unoriginality in every set-up. There is so little tension, so little character build-up, that when we finally get a little action, we may need to nudge ourselves awake. In the past, Wesley Snipes has been a true action star – his first two Blade films firmly placing him on the cool list of most action film buffs. If this film is an indication of the quality of what is to come, then I would suggest he bow out gracefully now.

DAVID QUINN