SAS: Red Notice

Director: Magnus Martens
Year Released: 2021
Rating: 1.5

Special Air Service soldier Tom Buckingham (Sam Heughan) wants to take his girlfriend Dr. Sophie (Hannah John-Kamen) to Paris to propose to her, but the Eurostream train they're on gets hijacked in the Channel Tunnel by a group of mercenaries called the Black Swans - led by Grace Lewis (Ruby Rose) - who are out for revenge against the British government (and Big Oil, too).  It's based on the book by Andy McNab (pseudonym for Steven Billy Mitchell, a former soldier in the British Army), it gives me off-brand Tom Clancy vibes: there's steady action, but it's fairly by-the-numbers, and it breaks one of the Cardinal Rules in making its villain (Ms. Rose) more interesting than its "hero" (Heughan has the physique for an action star but his character is devoid of any sort of appeal).  What I found sort-of amusing was how the only way Dr. Sophie would agree to marry her boyfriend is if he showed emotion ... and this is right after she gave him permission to kill a woman.  The fairer sex is a curious breed....