With a simplistic premise and a plot so thin it barely warrants mention, director Justin Routt relies on action set pieces built around a tense stand-off for his new movie Armor. Which is fine, in theory. Sylvester Stallone has assembled a filmography peppered with perfectly acceptable, largely successful fare that embraces that very theory. But here, when the concept of a chase sequence is boiled down to a black car repeatedly ramming into a grey van for no apparent reason, the key foundations Routt is building on are weak at best.

For unexplained reasons, James (Jason Patric) and his son Casey (Josh Wiggins) work together as armoured truck drivers. It seems strange to have such close family operating together in this environment, but the film doesn’t care, so neither should you. On a routine pickup, there is an extra case on the manifest, but after a little shrugging, the boys head off, straight into the trap set by Stallone and his band of incompetent thieves. Cue tense standoff.

Or rather, don’t. Spoiler alert: the mysterious extra case apparently contains cartel gold, Stallone wants it, Patric doesn’t want to give it to him, Stallone’s team seem intent on killing each other, and there is a convoluted backstory seemingly there solely to justify why there is vodka in the truck.

Armor is messy; no one seems particularly interested in being there, and it’s all rather dull with little for the viewer to buy into. In the end, apart from feeling a sense of relief, you’ll be left with the thought that surely, surely, Stallone and Patric deserve better than this.