THE GUNMAN (Rated R)

Increasingly, it appears that the operative maxim in Hollywood action films nowadays is: Old Guys Rule.

Liam Neeson, a few years shy of Medicare eligibility, romps in the “Taken” franchise. Former James Bond star Pierce Brosnan was a killing machine in the recent “The November Man.”

Unlike Neeson and Brosnan, versatile actor Sean Penn is still in his fifties, but edging very close to qualifying for the senior discount at Denny’s.

In a showy display of his abs, Penn goes shirtless for a surfing scene in “The Gunman” during the midst of turmoil in the Congo.

As the titular character in “The Gunman,” Penn’s Jim Terrier, formerly with Special Forces, is now a mercenary when the film opens circa 2006 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a troubled nation consumed by the violent strife of a bitter civil war.

From the original “Taken” director Pierre Morel, “The Gunman,” from the outset, displays the type of powerful action thriller intensity that launched Liam Neeson into the action hero stratosphere. The same may not be true for Sean Penn, but it’s not for lack of effort on the physical side.

Pegged for deep undercover work that involves the assassination of the Congo’s Minister of Mining, Terrier becomes the designated trigger, and as a result, must immediately depart the African continent, leaving behind his cherished love, Annie (Jasmine Trinca), an idealistic medic helping the impoverished.

Deceived by the shadowy organization that employed him for a security task force, Terrier is forced to go on the run in a relentless game of cat-and-mouse across Africa and Europe. Conveniently, his associate Felix (Javier Bardem) stays behind, profiting from the mining operations.

Eight years later, Terrier seeks redemption by working with a charitable group to bring fresh water and food to an African village. Three armed men storm the encampment, and Terrier is able to fight them off and escape, realizing a price has been put on his head.

First, Terrier travels to London to connect with his old comrade Stanley (Ray Winstone), who reluctantly agrees to help him discover who hired the hit. Convinced his old firm is behind the attack, Terrier heads to Barcelona to confront the oily Felix, who had been the company’s liaison to the client.

While in Barcelona, Terrier finds his ex-lover Annie. She’s surprised by his return, but hesitates to be with him until he reveals the truth about his disappearance. In heroic fashion, he later saves Annie when they are ambushed by gun-toting assassins.

Connecting the dots as to who ordered the hit, Terrier discovers that his old boss, Cox (Mark Rylance), who even looks shifty in his tailored suit and slicked-back hair, heads the division of a company seeking to do business in Africa.

Approached by Interpol agent Barnes (Idris Elba), who prefers to speak in riddles, Terrier realizes that both sides of the law are pressing down, and the best course of action is to solidify his redemption with an all-out battle with Cox’s henchmen, with climactic fights at a Barcelona bull ring and amusement park aquarium.

Does “The Gunman” work for Sean Penn as an aging action figure? While the pace of the film moves briskly for the most part, Penn is not entirely convincing in the role, as it is striking how very much he wants to be seen as the reformed mercenary with a deeply engrained humanitarian streak. Liam Neeson has never displayed any qualms about bashing his enemies into oblivion.

Overall, Pierre Morel’s “The Gunman” won’t be mistaken for “Taken,” and yet with the all the action tropes firmly in place, the result is a boilerplate thriller that offers some fun but is unlikely to be memorable.

TCM CLASSIC FILM FESTIVAL UPDATE

This column space has previously touted the wonderful cinematic experience that awaits those trekking to Hollywood for the annual TCM Classic Film Festival, which this year is set for March 26 through 29.

TCM has a rather elastic definition of a “classic film,” and as such, don’t expect to sit in a darkened theater watching only black-and-white films from the 1930s and 1940s.

The George Clooney-Jennifer Lopez sexy caper film “Out of Sight” is not even 20 years old, but it’s on the program.

A more serious film from 1995, “Apollo 13,” the story of intrepid astronauts surviving an ordeal on the trip back to Earth in a damaged shuttle, has the benefit of Captain James Lovell in attendance for the screening.

Great stars are attending the screening of several films that celebrate their 50th anniversary. Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer will be on hand for “The Sound of Music,” while the iconic Sophia Loren will introduce the screening of “Marriage Italian Style” and Ann-Margret does the same for “The Cincinnati Kid.”

Robert Morse, best known today for his role in “Mad Men” even though he was an acclaimed Broadway star in his more youthful days, will present “The Loved One,” a blistering satire on the American funeral industry so irreverent that it has developed a cult following.

Director William Friedkin will present his acclaimed crime story “The French Connection,” one of my all-time favorites. I only wish Gene Hackman would be on hand as well, but Friedkin should have interesting stories about how he filmed the great chase scene on location.

The TCM Festival has so many great films that it will be hard to choose. “Rififi,” a 1955 heist film from American director Jules Dassin that is set in Paris, inspired filmmaker Steven Soderbergh for “Ocean’s Eleven.”

Since the film has only been available in muddy video transfers, TCM will screen “Rififi” in a digital restoration. This is probably one of the must-see films.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.