Hypnotic

Just when you thought Ben Affleck couldn’t make a worse movie than Adrian Lyne’s ridiculous Deep Water, along comes a film that makes that failed erotic thriller look like — well, not a masterpiece, but not a complete dud, either.

As Austin Police Department Det. Danny Rourke in Hypnotic, the actor sets a new career low with an all-time howler of a bad movie, spouting laughable info dumps and receiving numerous others in the service of a convoluted yet simultaneously simplistic tale that nevertheless refuses to respect its audience’s intelligence.

Directed and co-written by Robert Rodriguez — yes, the same person who, once upon a time (in Austin), gave us gems like Sin City and Desperado — this misguided sci-fi extravaganza saddles Affleck with an oversized Texas accent that he half commits to, as well as some of the most atrocious dialogue this side of The Room.

Working from a decent narrative outline, Rodriguez and co-writer Max Borenstein (Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty) send Rourke on the run from Dellrayne (William Fichtner), one of the titular figures who has the power to infiltrate others’ minds — and is doing so with deadly results, beginning with a bank robbery that somehow has something to do with the abduction of Rourke’s daughter four years ago.

Rather than connect these dots in an engaging manner, however, the screenwriters pad it with thoughtless babble that may or may not have been concocted by A.I., plus similarly inane details, such as having Rourke and mentalist Diana Cruz (Alex Braga, Elysium) “hide out” indoors, donning sunglasses and ball caps as if such attire might make them blend in.

But it’s the “tell, don’t show” storytelling of Hypnotic that leaves viewers in disbelief from about minute four on, wishing that they could jump ahead to the MST3K version of this terrible Shutter Island retread. Sure, there’s a lot of background to convey in order for this wild world of mind-controllers to make sense, but when precious little of it is actually conveyed, it plays like a dramatized PowerPoint presentation.

Naturally, there’s an explanation for Rourke’s predicament and the characters spell out every. last. detail. so that there’s no ambiguity about what just happened and why. But long before this inevitable tidiness brings things to a merciful close, Rodriguez loses the trust of those looking on in horror and/or shocked bemusement, and the result is a bomb for the ages.

Grade: F. Rated R. Starts May 12 at AMC River Hills 10, Carolina Cinemark, and Regal Biltmore Grande.

(Photo: Ketchup Entertainment)