IN his short (1942-1995) life, critically-acclaimed French crime novelist Jean-Patrick Manchette wrote what would become 25 films or TV series.

“The Gunman”, the first filmed after his death, probably owes as much to Pierre Morel’s direction of Don MacPherson’s adaptation as to Manchette’s original plot.

In 2006, mercenary Jim (Sean Penn, one of the film’s numerous producers) shoots the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Minister for Minerals. We don’t yet know why. Jim’s having a thing with Annie (Jasmine Trinca), who works with a welfare NGO. His colleague Felix (Javier Bardem) promises to look after Annie after Jim leaves the country in a hurry. Eight years later, he’s back, drilling water wells when a gang shoots the place up.

That’s the dramatic mise-en-scene to a vigorous actioner that moves around several countries en route to resolution as Jim tries to find who’s trying to get him and why. It’s exciting, with powerful tensions, agreeably complex conflicts and a top cast including Ray Winstone as Jim’s best pal, Mark Rylance as Cox (who, from our first meeting with him, smells a bit suss) and, under-utilised as the man from InterPol, Idris Elba whose presence in any film is reason enough to see it.

Through violence, blood and betrayal, a reason slowly emerges – multinational companies exploiting underdeveloped countries, not a new theme but here getting purpose through its emphasis on the plight of children. The continuity occasionally shows imperfections, but so vigorous is the pace that those moments don’t have time to detract from the film’s excellent escapism buttressed by moral verity.

At Hoyts