Afterburn

It’s about a treasure hunter of sorts seeking out prized relics in a dystopian future, but the ideas cribbed by Afterburn don’t seem worth the trouble.

This formulaic adaptation of the eponymous comic-book series feels like it’s recombining ideas from other vigilante thrillers and post-apocalyptic sagas without bringing much new to the table.

Some stylish visual flourishes can’t significantly enliven a derivative series of chases, shootouts, confrontations, and pyrotechnics that test the resourcefulness and resolve of our determined antihero. That scenario plays out pretty much as you’d expect.

The story is set six years after a massive solar flare apparently wiped out all electronics and decimated the economic infrastructure of most of Earth, leaving an anarchic wasteland where Mad Max might have felt at home.

Instead of him, we get Jake (Dave Bautista), who makes his living as an opportunistic scavenger-for-hire. “I was a survivor, doing what I always did — finding things — except now the world was a much more dangerous place,” he explains during the monotonous opening narration.

Hoping to secure a big payday to finally settle down, he’s hired by a greedy dealer known as King August (Samuel L. Jackson) to seek out and recover the Mona Lisa, which is rumored to have been sequestered along with other prized artifacts by the French government prior to the devastation.

That requires Jake to infiltrate the remains of a country overrun by ruthless gangs and criminals who see the outsider as a threat. Jake connects with a freedom fighter (Olga Kurylenko) to help his cause, but they’re still outnumbered.

In terms of transportation, he’s packing horsepower in a quasi-monster truck that might be good for off-roading but isn’t very useful if you’re trying to elude detection from bloodthirsty assassins.

Ignoring such trivial details, the screenplay suffers from nondescript villains whose menace lacks a coherent motive. As loyalties shift and Jake’s mission becomes more perilous, it struggles to raise the emotional stakes during some eye-rolling climactic twists.

The thin story functions as filler to bridge the adrenaline-fueled set pieces, most of which are staged to maximize the visceral impact and gory kills — with abundant slow-motion for added emphasis.

As directed by J.J. Perry (Day Shift), the film showcases some skillful stunt work over a reliance on special effects. Such an approach brings a playful throwback vibe to Afterburn, which otherwise takes itself too seriously.

Rated R, 106 minutes.