After "Spy Kids," Antonio Banderas is back as an agent, only this time he's not the one being rescued. He plays former FBI agent, Ecks who has become a melancholic has-been since the supposed death of his wife. He is coaxed back into the business when he is told a rogue Defense Intelligence Agent, Sever (played by Lucy Liu of "Charlie's Angels"), might hold the key to his wife's whereabouts. Meanwhile, Sever has taken hostage the son of her malicious former boss, Robert Gant (Gregg Henry of "Payback,") who has secretly been developing microbes which can kill at the push of a button. Although they start off as rival agents, Ecks and Sever realize they must join together in order to accomplish their objectives. Liu is cool and tough-looking as usual in her slim, black clothes and Jackie Chan-style fight scenes. Her one-sided persona, however, makes it hard to sympathize with her when she tries to add an emotional dimension to her rough-edged, trained assassin character. In contrast, Banderas is a little too emotional, constantly looking as if his cat had just been run over by a truck.

While it has a good soundtrack of techno and rock infused tracks, appropriately complementing the fast paced fight scenes, and a few good comedic lines (one of the FBI agents tells his daughter that Ecks looks sad because he was just "beaten up by a girl [Sever]"), the film contains too many clichs to set it above other action movies. The special effects mainly consist of flashy explosions and "Matrix" style shoot-outs, with Liu's fight scenes reminiscent of those in "Charlie's Angels."

The plot is predictable in the end regardless of some surprising twists. The ending was somewhat disconcerting because although it was an inevitable conclusion, the tone (especially the background music) didn't quite fit with the rest of the film. Also, the subplot concerning the killer microbe should have been developed more, especially since it was one of the more original ideas in the movie.

The villains were among the movie's redeeming qualities. They were played by Gregg Henry and Ray Parks (Darth Maul of "Star Wars.") Henry ruthlessly plays the part of Gant, whose goal to create the perfect assassin outweighs any priority he has for his family or employees. His goal is evident in a scene where Gant coaxes one of his henchman to commit suicide after he fails a mission.

Parks is equally ruthless as Gant's sidekick, Ross, who aids Gant in his attempts to outwit Sever. Both Henry's and Park's relentlessly evil performances made the film more interesting to watch.

In general, "Ballistic" makes a weak attempt at pushing the limits of the action genre. It reuses the secret agent plot lines of movies like the James Bond series while desperately trying to add emotional baggage to both Liu and Banderas' characters as motivation for their actions. Furthermore, the fight scenes involving explosives and machine guns are relatively mundane and repetitive, with the most exciting one being a hand to hand combat between Liu and Parks towards the end of the movie. If anything, this movie is worth waiting for … the video rental.