Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever, 2002

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Director: Wych Kaosayananda (“Kaos”)

Co-Stars: Lucy Liu (Agent Sever); Gregg Henry (Robert Gant); Talisa Soto (Vinn Gant/Ecks); Ray Park (A.J. Ross)

Release Date: September 20, 2002

Film Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

In his debut as director of a feature film, Wych Kaosayananda (Kaos) found a vehicle to emulate one of his idols, John Woo. Motorcycle chases, martial arts and an abundance of fiery explosions take center stage.

Antonio portrays Jeremiah Ecks, the FBI’s most decorated and reprimanded agent in special weapons and tactics. No longer an active FBI agent, Ecks has been dealing unsuccessfully with the death of his wife in an explosion seven years earlier. He is pressed back into service by his former boss, Julio Martin (Miguel Sandoval), who tells him his wife was not killed. In a series of flashbacks, it is revealed that both Ecks and his wife, Vinn, mistakenly believe the other has been killed.

Martin is willing to provide Ecks with information which could lead him to his wife, but only in exchange for Ecks’ assistance in tracking down a group led by Robert Gant, who are involved in attempting to smuggle an electronic assassination device into Vancouver. The device, once injected into the victim, can be operated by remote control simulating a heart attack.

Agent Sever (Lucy Liu) has her own agenda and kidnaps Gant’s son. The history between Gant and Sever is rather fuzzy other than she apparently had worked for him at one time and held him responsible for the death of her family. It soon becomes apparent that there is more to her motives than revenge. Gant has used the child to transport the assassination device from Europe by injecting it into his arm, planning on removing it once the child is back in Vancouver.

After an initial confrontation between Ecks and Sever, they discover they are both working against the same enemy, Robert Gant. Ultimately, Sever provides Ecks with the information necessary to find his wife, leading to an emotional reunion at the Vancouver Aquarium where Vinn reveals that Ecks is the father of her son, not the man she married after his “death”, Robert Gant.

Teaming forces, Ecks and Sever work together against Gant and his henchman, Ross. Each using their special skills, they manage to blow up an entire train yard in spectacular fashion, fight off Ross in hand-to-hand combat and finally reunite Ecks with his wife and son.

During the final showdown with Gant, Sever uses Gant’s own assassination device against him after having retrieved it from Michael’s arm. “Is this the best you can do?” asks Gant. Sever replies, “No, this is.” as she slowly pushes the button on the remote control.

One of the biggest complaints of critics was the lack of storyline. One could question if this was intentional on the part of the director, who clearly was determined to make as many things blow up and crash as possible during the film. Kaos was entirely successful on that score judging by the destruction of downtown Vancouver, the aforementioned train yard and the vast number of automobiles, trucks and buses that were destroyed in the filming. The lack of background information on the main characters, however, makes it difficult to truly care about the characters themselves.

Interesting sidenote: Bam!Entertainment developed and distributed a game for GameBoy Advance under the same name. Reviews of the game stressed that, like the movie, it was heavy on action but short on storyline.

Film Synopsis by Di