Cosmic Sin is the latest in a string of low-budget sci-fi actioners Bruce Willis has collected a paycheck for. But while Breach, his last foray into similar territory, at least elicited a knowing smirk from the actor, Willis never gets out of autopilot in this one. And it's easy to understand why. Cosmic Sin is a hodgepodge of garbled sci-fi jargon, cliched banter and nonsensical plotting. And while it's written by Breach team Edward Drake and Corey Large (recycling the same aliens-taking-control-of-human-bodies conceit), the movie's more expansive attempt at world building only serves to strain the plot's logic along with its budget.

After a series of title cards establishing that humans have colonized outer space, the 2524-set story gets going as a mysterious alien force attacks a human outpost. This causes General Eron Ryle (Frank Grillo) to demand a disgraced former general, James Ford (Willis), be called back into service to help assess the threat. Of course, things start to go very wrong very quickly -- mostly due to some incredibly stupid decisions made by these supposedly great military minds, which include characters played by Brandon Thomas Lee, Perrey Reeves and Lochlyn Munro -- but at least it's an excuse for an extended shootout. Soon, Ryle has launched Operation Cosmic Sin, which involves his team donning metal suits and flying through space to reach another planet where they plan to attempt to stop the aliens from doing whatever it is they're trying to do.

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There are more shootouts and a lot of talk that includes words like "tachyons" and "quantum," but none of it amounts to much. Plus, although Willis and Grillo are ostensibly the stars of the movie (and their salaries that a majority of the budget was likely spent on), both disappear from the story for lengthy periods of time, especially Grillo who has a shockingly small amount of screen time. That leaves the other actors to do most of the heavy lifting but their one-dimensional characters and the combination of technical mumbo jumbo and trite dialogue give them barely anything to work with. The only one who seems to have at least something of the wry sensibility this kind of dopey sci-fi requires is Costas Mandylor as a Sergeant along for the ride.

Meanwhile, the special effects in a mid-movie space scene are impressively evocative, but the spectacle doesn't last. As an exercise in sci-fi world-building the film is woefully lacking, with most of the action sequences confined to nondescript warehouses and conference rooms. The depiction of the world of 2524 is equally unimaginative. Outside of a few flying cars and a robot bartender, nothing looks to have evolved much from the present day, from Grillo's pick-up truck to a sleazy dive bar. While this could be blamed on budget constraints, it seems a slightly more innovative approach to production design could have made the movie's settings feel more futuristic. In addition, the look of the aliens (when they aren't wearing people as meat suits) is reminiscent of the Ringwraiths from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which brings a weird fantasy element into the movie's aesthetic that's more puzzling than intimidating.

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Mostly, though, Cosmic Sin, as directed by co-writer Drake, is just an excuse for people to shoot big guns at aliens (who generally look like people) and a spot of human/alien hand-to-hand combat. Yet the characters are so thinly drawn and the plot is so senseless that it's difficult to care about any of it. At least the ex-wife Willis' character is still pining for is almost age appropriate. In a movie like this, you take what you can get.

Cosmic Sin, starring Frank Grillo, Bruce Willis, Brandon Thomas Lee, Perrey Reeves, Corey Large, Lochlyn Munro, C.J. Perry, Costas Mandylor and Adelaide Kane, is available in theaters, on demand and on digital on Friday, March 12.

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