What is your favorite action/thriller movie about a reclusive and mysterious character forced out of seclusion when their long-buried and dark past finally catches up with them?

Don’t have one?

Want to build one of your own from scratch?

Here is a DIY action/thriller movie kit in the Reluctantly Reactivated Assassin genre. Pick one from each group, and the title is up to you:

The movie’s reluctant hero is …

a) A disenchanted CIA hitman who killed too often for all the wrong reasons and who knew too much.

b) A disenchanted CIA black bag ops genius who disappeared with $50 million and who knew too much.

c) A disenchanted CIA assassin who fell in love with his last quarry. (She died, of course, in his arms. As revealed in a series of heartbreaking flashbacks.)

d) A Papal assassin and Jesuit priest who found Jesus. Finally. Naturally, he knew too much.

e) An eccentric computer genius who functions high on the autism spectrum and planted a deep-code bomb in the computer systems of the highly corrupt U.S. government before disappearing. The “bomb” is set to go off on July 4, 2026, the 250th anniversary of the founding of the country.

f) A socially awkward survivalist who is mistaken for a missing CIA assassin and now must fend off a passel of trained killers.

g) A suburban housewife who is driving her two self-absorbed and condescending teenage daughters to soccer practice when all hell breaks out.

The recluse is hiding …

a) On a remote island.

b) In a remote jungle.

c) In a remote Mexican village.

d) As a benevolent land baron in 1642 (Time Traveler edition).

e) As a blackjack pit boss in a Las Vegas casino.

f) In a cloistered monastery in Spain.

g) In a rabbit warren of secret caves deep inside Mount Rushmore.

h) In a nice house in the suburbs of Chicago with three kids, a husband, and a flatulent dog that seems to talk.

This person comes out of hiding to …

a) Save their estranged daughter from old adversaries.

b) Save the jungle from corporate exploitation and ecological disaster.

c) Save the innocent villagers.

d) Save the world from predatory aliens.

e) Save their own skin and reclaim stolen honor.

f) Avenge the massacre of the whole family and their pet dog, Major.

g) Do the right thing, knowing that he (or she) has been diagnosed with untreatable cancer and has months to live.

To meet the challenge, they must first …

a) Dig up that cache of money, passports, and weapons buried under the fourth tree west of the sinister-looking rock formation.

b) Visit a locker in the Buffalo, NY, bus terminal. Only to discover that since 9/11, bus terminals no longer have lockers. On to Plan B.

c) Train in the deep snow in the rural countryside at a secret estate outside of Montreal, to recapture all those lost assassin skills.

d) Bathe, then visit a barber, a haberdashery for a very suave suit, and a special gun store for (Ahem) “supplies” — before mysteriously disappearing through a trick door in an upscale nightclub.

e) Pull off the accumulation of leaves and branches camouflaging a personal spaceship. It starts up with the press of a button. The interstellar adventure begins.

f) Thaw out from 100 years in a cryogenic state and then adjust to the quirks and realities of modern-day society.

To defeat this persistent and wretchedly evil foe from the past, our hero must …

a) Team up with a homicidal librarian, a homeless guy with mad martial arts skills, and a flatulent dog that talks.

b) Team up with the surviving members of the old special ops team.

c) Team up with a former foe whom you were always sexually attracted to and who is also being targeted for elimination by the same adversaries.

d) Team up with a 16-year-old runaway teenager with paranormal abilities.

e) Team up with six out-of-shape weekend warriors on a paintball junket to the woods.

f) Team up with a fiery young migrant worker and her aging father (a combat veteran with surprising skills).

g) Go it alone, as the master of disguises that he (or she) was once famous for. (Producers like this one because they get dozens of characters for the price of one.)

The final, spectacular, AI-enhanced, special-effects drenched showdown takes place …

a) In the Boeing 747-8 jetliner given to Donald Trump by Qatar, during its inaugural shakedown flight.

b) In a still under-construction condo tower in Miami.

c) On the cobblestone streets of San Miguel de Allende.

d) In the midst of Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo (Time Traveler edition)

e) In a globe-hopping series of forays in London, Milan, Zurich, Tokyo, Mexico City, and Sydney.

f) In the middle of a remote rainforest, where modern technology and weapons are rendered useless.

g) In a parallel universe that bears some resemblance to a 1960s psychedelic happening.

h) On the Paramount Studios lot in Hollywood.

Suggest your own closing credits.

Play along! Submit your own action/thriller plot points in the comment section!

Thanks for watching.

Next time, we’ll build a Christmas romance movie from scratch!

You bring the popcorn, I’ll supply the plot.

(All images generated by an Artificial Intelligence program.)