Movie review: ‘Assault on Wall Street’s’ revenge fantasy is a bust

If controversial, widely reviled filmmaker Uwe Boll (“House of the Dead,” “BloodRayne”) had any interest in propping up his hacky reputation, his latest entry, the shamelessly subpar melodrama “Assault on Wall Street,” won’t be the ticket.

Dominic Purcell (“Prison Break”) stars — with all the charisma of a brick — as Jim, a New York security guard with a sick wife (Erin Karpluk), mounting bills, failed investments and poor health insurance. When a contrived last straw makes the seemingly upright Jim go all Travis Bickle (replete with his own “You talkin’ to me?” moment), he wreaks bloody havoc against the bankers and brokers he believes caused his — and the country’s — economic meltdown (the film is set in 2008).

It’s not the worst idea for a revenge fantasy, but Jim’s payback is so lacking in logic and reality, not to mention tension, that it proves more laughable than cathartic.

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Worse, writer-director Boll spends so much time painting Jim into the corner required to “justify” his bonkers actions that once the film’s fuse is irrevocably lighted, viewers may have already checked out.

John Heard, Michael Paré, Eric Roberts, Edward Furlong and Keith David appear in clunkily written supporting roles. But it’s Purcell, particularly when he finally serves up Boll’s sledgehammer, anti-capitalism rant, who most fails to impress as a self-dubbed “soldier of the people.”

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“Assault on Wall Street.” No MPAA rating. Running time: 1 hour, 38 minutes. At Arena Cinema, Hollywood.