Kate Beckinsale hasn’t done an action part in a long time, with the most recent being ‘Underworld: Blood Wars’ in 2016. She has since branched out into tragic parts, as seen in 2017’s ‘The Only Living Boy in New York’ and 2019’s ‘Farming.’ She also participated in the eight-episode Amazon Prime Video series ‘The Widow,’ which marked her first appearance in a TV series.

And it’s great to see her back in action in ‘Jolt,’ in which Kate Beckinsale plays Lindy. We learn at the start of the film, via voiceover narration, that she has been diagnosed with an intermittent explosive disorder, a major anger-management problem, since childhood. She is easily enraged, as evidenced by her shoving a bully’s face into a cake during a birthday party. Lindy’s parents attempted to get her treated by doctors, but her brief tour in the military did not help to control her illness.

That is, until she ultimately suppresses her rage by having an electric shock treatment with the assistance of her psychiatrist, Dr. Ivan Munchin (Stanley Tucci). It was a more unusual experiment in which Lindy was required to wear an electrode vest and the only method to keep her from ranting wildly was to simply hit the button on a car lock-like buzzer. So, anytime she was poised to erupt in rage, she would frequently click the button that would send electrical jolts through her body.

Lindy tries to get into a relationship after living alone for a long time. She meets a mild-mannered accountant called Justin (Jai Courtney) in a restaurant on a blind date. Although she is apprehensive at first, Lindy has finally found her man after a few of successful dates, which included sleeping together. Now that she’s madly in love, she believes she doesn’t need the electric shock treatment to keep her under control. When she learns from two police investigators (Bobby Cannavale’s Vicar and Laverne Cox’s Nevin) that Justin has been murdered, something awful happens. From there, she resolves to find out who is to blame for his death and exact vengeance.

Lindy is excellently cast by Kate Beckinsale. With a brilliant bleached-blonde hairstyle and a sassy, don’t-f***-with-me attitude, this is the type of badass part that she is perfect for. She has a magnetic personality and a dry sense of humour. Her co-stars, including Stanley Tucci and the two feuding cops played by Bobby Cannavale and Laverne Cox, are all enjoyable additions, bringing colourful support to their individual characters.

However, the film, which bills itself as an action-comedy, is a mixed bag. The thing is, ‘Jolt’ has a lot of potential as a joyfully violent B-movie with a hot lead in the lead. Tanya Wexler (‘Hysteria,’ ‘Buffaloed’) squanders that chance with her erratic and usually bland direction. Sure, there are plenty of action scenes, but Wexler lacks the required skill to pull them properly. The action sequences in ‘Jolt’ fall short of expectations, whether it’s hand-to-hand battle or a high-speed automobile chase. For an action-comedy film with the title ‘Jolt,’ it lacks the satisfying jolt of energy (no pun intended) that is sorely needed to elevate the material.

Then there’s Scott Wascha’s debut screenplay, which spends much too much time wandering in circles. As a result, the otherwise brief 91-minute runtime feels far longer than it should. Despite Beckinsale’s vivacious performance, there is just so much she can accomplish in this role. To be honest, it was a travesty because she plainly deserved better. Even when the script attempted to turn things around by including not one but two twists in the final third act, the latter of which clearly sets up a sequel, it wasn’t enough to overcome the majority of the film’s flaws.

To be honest, if not for Beckinsale and some of the supporting cast members, ‘Jolt’ would have been a total snub. Whether or not there will be a sequel remains to be seen, but for the time being, this picture, which is presently available on Amazon Prime Video, is a half-baked effort. Assuming Amazon Prime Video plans to release a sequel in the future, let’s hope they can do better than relying solely on Beckinsale’s magnetism.