Review: Gerard Butler serves up another action thriller in 'Kandahar'

If you check out his credits on IMDb, Scottish actor Gerard Butler could arguably be one of the most prolific action stars of the 21st century. He has released a high-octane, physically-intensive film once a year for at least the past decade, and audiences have come to expect a rip-roaring good time when his name flashes across a movie trailer. This year, Butler has two such projects entertaining his loyal fandom. The first was "Plane," a ridiculous film that we enjoyed immensely and that somehow worked in terms of tone, plot and character, despite its outlandish premise. If Butler can convince us that, after a commercial jet carrying civilians crashes on an island controlled by violent rebel forces, he fixes the plane, fends off the warlords and brings his human cargo home safely, then get this guy his Oscar already.

In somewhat direct opposition, "Kandahar," Butler's latest release, is one of his more realistic fight-em-up, landbuckler roles, a grounded (quite literally) thriller that doesn't aim as far into the subgenre of "technically possible, highly unlikely" as his previous work. Written by former military intelligence officer Mitchell LaFortune, who pulled from his knowledge working for the Defense Intelligence Agency and from his deployment in Afghanistan in 2013, "Kandahar" stars Butler as Tom Harris, an undercover CIA operative who has been planting bombs and fulfilling all of the government's unsavory missions in the Middle East. After one such covert operation, his cover is blown, and his identity is released to the world, putting both himself and his translator (Navid Negahban) in extreme danger. There's a bounty for his head, and the multiple parties that want him have unlimited weapons, cars and manpower.

There are plenty of nifty, blow-em-up sequences that will check most of the boxes for this film's target demographic. Butler, confidently rugged in that man-o-the-earth schtick that comes bundled with his Scottish accent, carries these kinds of films for a reason. He looks good on the poster - always standing, gazing off to one side, ready to fight a bear - and even better with some dirt on his face heading into battle. "Kandahar" keeps him moving at all times, reserving just one of its scenes for a moment of stillness and emotional resonance which feels, ironically, too overdrawn, under-appreciated and out of place in this film. Its lead mainly speaks in gruff noises, after all. Negahban, a sidekick who is given very little backstory or overarching personality, balances out his scene partner in all the right ways and acts as a weight, dragging Butler's non-magical superhero Harris from acting even more outrageously flippant with his nonstop daredevil escapades.

If a setting like the Middle East immediately calls to mind complicated, intricate storylines like from "Homeland," you aren't alone. "Kandahar," however, is not as convoluted as it could be. Harris is exposed by an intelligence leak (screenwriter LaFortune was in Afghanistan when NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden rocked the world with highly classified disclosures), and he has to navigate through hostile Afghanistan to the city of Kandahar, Afghanistan's second-largest city, where he and his translator can be extricated to safety. This is their only chance to get out; if they miss their ride, they are stuck in an antagonistic land with a host of people who want them dead. Harris must hijack cars, avoid the skilled headhunters, survive the barren desert and travel hundreds of miles to the pick-up location to avoid endgame.

Like most Butler films, his character has a muted, underdeveloped backstory, often involving an only child, typically a daughter, to whom he must make it home. In "Kandahar," that child is Ida, and the reason for haste is her graduation, a constant source of nagging by his estranged wife, who no longer wants to put up with his nomadic lifestyle. It's a classic Butler subplot because, frankly, there is no need to come up with a new one. It works as well as anything else, and Butler has the specific gift of brainwashing viewers, allowing us to forget the need for character building. He's just that believable in every role. Given his numerous films in the genre, there is no question he is a talented CIA spy.

Butler is good, but they still miss the exit in "Kandahar." Its big, blow-up fight scene near the end of the film doesn't allow much satisfaction for the audience, who have formed no real connection to anyone but, artificially, Harris. Chase sequences, hijackings and back-and-forth sniper gunfire stand-offs all blur together with routine, predictable occurrence. The multiple factions of villains are often hardly discernible and barely menacing. There is no question how the film will end or who will end up on top. For better or worse, Butler does it again.

"Kandahar" is in theaters now.