A few good stunt sequences, a lot of action, but little brains in this contrived action thriller about a guy, trying to get money for his girlfriend's kidney transplant, who tries to rip off a major drug dealer in Koln by hijacking a delivery truck filled with golf balls filled with cocaine. He gets caught by said drug dealer (played by Anthony Hopkins, in what is basically an extended cameo) , and escapes far too easily in a car filled with five million Euros in drug money hidden in the door panels, and leads them on a high speed chase on the Autobahn.

Did you get all of that?

Far too complicated of a setup for what basically amounts to a car chase movie, with Ben Kingsley putting in the oddest performance of his life. The entire second act is a seemingly endless car chase, when one car is demolished, another is stolen, and the chase resumes (with the money now being carried by Hoult in a conveniently located tin)

Anthony Hopkins is wearing a really silly looking, double-breasted, sky blue suit throughout, which made me cringe at the sight of it, and wonder if this is supposed to be a comedy.

The second act car chase might be worth a look, if you're into such things, but this really is a braindead, mind-numbing affair.

Never judge a book by its cover, or a movie by the big names on the poster. My wife and I were reminded of this adage last weekend when we were flicking through the TV schedules and decided to watch "Collide", largely because of the words "starring Ben Kingsley and Anthony Hopkins". Bad move.

The film is about two young Americans living in Germany. Both characters, in fact, are played by British actors, Nicholas Hoult and Felicity Jones, who were cast after Zac Efron and Amber Heard dropped out. (Good move). A young man named Casey meets a girl named Juliette in a bar, but she wants nothing to do with him as she knows that he works for a Turkish-born drug dealer named Geran. Casey is so smitten that he quits Geran's gang and finds more lawful employment. Juliette's prejudices against drug dealers to not extend to those who have retired from the business and the two begin dating and eventually start living together together.

And then Juliette is taken ill, and it is discovered that she needs a kidney transplant. Because of doubts about her immigration status, she does not qualify for the operation in Germany, and she does not have the money to pay for it in America. To raise the money Casey goes back to work for Geran, who wants him for a special job. As this job involves stealing drugs belonging to a much more powerful drug lord named Hagen Kahl, who is noted for his ruthlessness, Casey finds that he has put himself and Juliette in great danger. (This is why Juliette had to be American. Had the character been British she could have returned home and had the operation free of charge on the National Health. So why are so many Americans opposed to the idea of a state-run health service?)

By coincidence, this was one of two modern British crime thrillers made in the late 2010s and set, or partly set, in Germany, which I have watched recently, the other being "The Good Liar". Both films star two senior members of the British acting profession, all of them now in their seventies or eighties, Hopkins and Kingsley here and Ian McKellen and Helen Mirren in "The Good Liar". Of the two, "The Good Liar" is by far the better. It is not a perfect film- the script and plotting leave a lot to be desired- but it does contain two excellent performances from the two leading actors.

Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for "Collide". It is, by a considerable margin, the worst film I have ever seen starring Hopkins (the previous holder of that title being Oliver Stone's clunking classical epic "Alexander"). It is not quite the worst film I have ever seen starring Kingsley, but it is the worst since the appalling "Harem" from the mid-eighties. Kingsley is admittedly an actor whose work can vary in quality; his career has contained some notable peaks such as "Gandhi", "Schindler's List", "Twelfth Night" and "Shutter Island", but it has also contained some troughs, and the dreadful performance he gives here as Geran must count as one of the deepest of these. Hopkins has generally been more consistent in quality throughout his career, but even he does not shine here. His Kahl is strangely bland and disappointing, insufficiently menacing for a supposedly ruthless drug baron.

The other big problem with the film is that it does not contain any character with whom we can sympathise. Yes, I know we are supposed to be rooting for Casey, but I find it difficult to root for a drug dealer, even a reformed drug dealer who has slipped back into his old ways out of supposedly noble motives. (And Casey did not give up drug dealing out of remorse or conscience; he did so because it was the only way he could get Juliette to sleep with him). The script is badly written and the plot frequently does not make a lot of sense. About the only redeeming feature of this film is that the frequent car chase and car crash scenes are well handled. And with a title like "Collide" that seems entirely appropriate. 3/10

While the acting is good and the action scenes better than expected, this movie is just too predictable and borderline ridiculous. The big plot twist was a bit unbelievable and came too late to save this cliche action letdown. While hoults character can be commended for keeping going, most of his escapes are either lucky or ridiculous.