All The Devil’s Men  ★★

BRITISH action/thriller All The Devil’s Men has the bare bones of a decent film; unfortunately most of the meat isn’t that tasty.

The story is no better or worse than your average thriller, the action is more than passable, if a little repetitive, and there are a couple of decent villains.

But the direction and pacing of the film are lacking drive and enthusiasm and the central character and acting performance let things down badly.

Milo Gibson (that’s right, who?) plays Jack Collins, a former US Navy SEAL now working as a bounty hunter contracted by the CIA. Collins is hired to find a former CIA operative who has turned rogue and is planning the sale of nuclear warheads to an hostile buyer.

Collins is initially reluctant to take the new job. As written in the script, he is sick of the treachery involved with many past missions and is suffering from post-traumatic stress. But the adrenaline involved, as well as the comraderie of some fellow operatives, eventually draws him in.

That’s what the script says, but Gibson’s performance offers very little in the way of visual presentation. He looks slightly pained at times, but that’s about it for character development. Overall he would make the likes of Scott Eastwood look good.

Thankfully, there are two aspects of the film that hold the attention – the depiction of shady, ruthless people inhabiting a dark, shadowy world and some of the supporting performances, particularly Joseph Millson as the rogue agent Deighton.

The film is written and directed by Matthew Hope who has gone backwards since the decent 2011 action thriller The Veteran.

There is not a lot to see here.