Tree trunk he may be, but Mr. Schwarzenegger has grown new branches with green leaves in this smart action thriller, directed with panache by Charles Russell and written crisply by Tony Puryear and Walon Green.

A few of the set pieces are fussy or overly extended, but the rest is tolerable bone-crunching diversion.

The stunts, even show-stopping ones such as our man throwing himself out of a plane without a parachute and landing on a car without sustaining injury, have an air of desperation about them.

The one-liners don't have the usual invigorating snarl, and, for all the action, this one feels a little tired.