Several movies in recent years have turned the tables on hitman / assassin archetypes and cast lethal ladies (Charlize Theron, Hailee Steinfeld, Gina Carano, the Kill Bill femmes, etc., etc.).  Latest in this trend is Jessica Chastain, playing an American assassin named Ava, who makes a mistake in the field and is targeted for termination by her own bosses.  It’s a tired plot given some life by the eccentric cast of talented people, with the expected high-flying kicks and fusillade of bullets.

Tate Taylor’s film follows Ava (Chastain), a master of disguise as she eliminates various people, asking them if they know what they did to deserve their fates before she pulls the trigger.  When things go wrong in the Mideast, she barely escapes alive, but her handler (lively John Malkovich) can no longer protect her.  Another assignment is a setup, but she escapes again.  This time, she decides to confront her boss (Colin Farrell) and settle things.

There are no surprises in this tale; I feel like I have seen it all before.  It is entertaining, thanks to energetic performances by the leads, but the amorality of it all is rather depressing.  Ava in particular seems completely detached from real life.  She is enthusiastic about her work, yet still feels the need to reconnect with her mother (Geena Davis), sister (Jess Weixler) and former fiancé (Common), abandoned some eight years before.  Lots of complications that force her to face the past, yet still don’t explain why she goes around killing people for money.

Watching acclaimed actress Jessica Chastain contort herself like an Olympic athlete and fight like a UFC champ is probably the main point of this stale exercise (hey, look at this major actress kick butt!), but viewer time would be better spent elsewhere.  And I am having a harder time than ever coming to grips with the idea that watching characters fight and kill each other is actually enlightening entertainment.  Surely we can do better than this.  ☆ 1/2.  31 July 2021.