'The 355′ review: Female-driven spy thriller can't keep up with its cast, led by Jessica Chastain

The way director and co-writer Simon Kinberg handles the chases and smackdowns in 'The 355,' you get maddeningly little sense of what these formidable performers can bring to the action-thriller party.

That key can hack into anything: power grids, airplane cockpits, restaurant menu QR codes, what have you. Chastain’s character, “Mace” Brown — loner, fighter, owner of a spiffy jet-black trench coat — heads to Paris with her fellow CIA op and bestie (Sebastian Stan), posing as newlyweds. They soon learn that others in the international espionage community, including Diane Kruger as a steely German intelligence agent, are tracking the same Colombian (Edgar Ramirez) temporarily holding the key to all evil and looking to sell it to the highest bidder.