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Director David Ayer is trying to weld a connection between last year’s surprise delight “The Beekeeper,” in which Statham played an assassin turned hive master, and this one, in which he plays an ex-soldier who’s handy with a hammer.

Ayer is simply bedazzling a script that would otherwise feel rudimentary had it starred Liam Neeson in a gray T-shirt.

Sylvester Stallone previously tried adapting Dixon’s paperback franchise for TV and is credited as a co-writer alongside Ayer.

Frivolous as it is, these inventive details convince us that Ayer isn’t simply phoning it in.

Ayer knows what his audience wants and he’s willing to give it to them.