Plot

A dangerous convict receives an implant containing the memories and skills of a dead CIA agent.

Bill Pope (Ryan Reynolds) is a CIA agent on a mission in London tracking down a shadowy hacker nicknamed "The Dutchman" (Michael Pitt). When he gets mysteriously ambushed and killed, an experimental procedure is used to transfer his memories into dangerous convict Jerico Stewart (Kevin Costner). When he wakes up with the CIA agent's memories, his mission is to find The Dutchman and make the deal with him before the hacker launches ICBM's and starts World War III. But complications soon arise and the mission turns personal.

Captured by a Spanish anarchist before he seals a deal with the profit-motivated hacker known only as the "Dutchman", the London-based CIA operative, Bill Pope, is killed in the line of duty. Suddenly, retrieving the memories and the invaluable information inside the brain of the dead agent become the bureau's top priority--and with the help of Dr Franks' radical procedure--his knowledge is transplanted into the troubled brain of the perfect candidate: the emotionless psychopath, Jerico Stewart. Now, as Jerico's fragmented memories become inextricably intertwined with Pope's classified information about the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile system, he becomes the target of both the CIA and the anarchists. Is a volatile criminal our last hope?—Nick Riganas

London based CIA operative Billy Pope is killed in his unsuccessful attempt to complete a deal with computer hack Jan Strook, better know online by his handle The Dutchman, for a wormhole program that allows its user to circumvent nuclear codes to launch at will, that deal being the program itself, immunity, a passport, and $10 million. Billy's superior, Quaker Wells, employs Dr. Micah Franks to conduct an untested surgery to transfer Billy's brain functions into another human to be able to access Billy's memory in the goal to discover The Dutchman's hidden location and thus the wormhole program, and where Billy hid the not recovered $10 million. The test subject chosen for his unique physiological brain structure is incarcerated Jerico Stewart, an extremely violent and remorseless criminal with the emotional capacity of a child. Shortly after the surgery, Jerico is able to escape custody, with Wells and Franks unaware of Jerico's mental state. The surgery was partially successful in that Billy's mental functions are conflicting with Jerico's. As Wells and his team go on a quest not only for Jerico but also The Dutchman, The Dutchman himself, in that not completed transaction with Billy, has the wormhole program for sale at that same price, the Russians who are in the market. Overriding it all is former businessman Xavier Heimdahl, The Dutchman's former partner in the wormhole program and Billy's murderer. Xavier's main mission is retrieving the program itself. As such, Xavier is also after Jerico and The Dutchman, and will use whomever he needs to achieve his goal, including targeting Billy's loving family, his wife Jill Pope and their adolescent daughter Emma Pope.—Huggo

The film opens with Jerico Stewart (Kevin Costner) standing on a beach. His voice-over states that "they" thought they knew what they were getting when they got inside his head, but they were wrong. He promises that anyone who hurts him will get hurt worse. A van pulls up behind Jerico, and a man steps out. Jerico turns to face him.

We jump to a while back in London, where CIA agent Bill Pope (Ryan Reynolds) stops in a shop to pick up a duffel bag full of money. Bill takes time to call his wife Jill (Gal Gadot) back home. The two have a daughter, Emma (Lara Decaro). Bill is being observed by his superior Quaker Wells (Gary Oldman) and fellow agents Marta Lynch (Alice Eve), Esteban Ruiza (Amaury Nolasco), and Pete Greensleeves (Scott Adkins). Bill is knowingly pursued by anarchist Xavier Heimdahl (Jordi Molla). His right-hand woman Elsa Mueller (Antje Traue) follows Bill as he hops into a cab. Elsa and other villains catch the cab and shoot the driver before capturing Bill.

Bill is taken to an abandoned building and is tortured by Heimdahl with a cattle prod connected to a voltmeter to give up information on Jan Strook, aka The Dutchman (Michael Pitt), a hacker that has created a wormhole that would allow Heimdahl to bypass computer codes and infiltrate central governments. Bill tells Heimdahl "fuck you", which Heimdahl respects, but also puts the cattle prod in Bill's mouth, and he is fatally electrocuted. After Heimdahl and Elsa leave, other CIA agents find Bill's body and inform Wells that he is dead.

The CIA gets in touch with Dr. Franks (Tommy Lee Jones), who has been working on a memory program that places the memories of the deceased in the head of a living specimen. The plan is to put Bill's memories in someone's head to locate Strook, as he was trying to sell his program to the CIA. They decide on using Jerico, who is known as a remorseless killer with no emotional development that resulted from a childhood incident in which Jerico states that his father threw him out of a moving car and damaged his frontal lobe.

We see an interview between Heimdahl and Piers Morgan in which Morgan asks Heimdahl his intentions. Heimdahl states that he thinks the world would be better off without governments, and thus he plans to take them all down.

Jerico is taken out of prison for the procedure to begin. Bill's memories go into his head, but the procedure nearly kills Jerico. Later, Wells and the other agents view a video message from Strook, who says he will give the CIA his program in exchange for protection and money, as he had originally been working with Heimdahl, but once Strook changed his mind, Heimdahl got furious and is after him now. Strook is then seen calling the Pope home to ask for Bill, but Jill informs Strook that her husband is dead.

After the memory transplant succeeds, Jerico is being transferred by two agents, but he uses a makeshift hook to cut one of the agents' carotid artery, which leads to a crash that results in him getting free. He knocks out the driver of the other vehicle and places him in the agents' car where he had been seated, places his zip tie handcuffs on him, then sets the cars on fire to make it look like he died.

Jerico makes it into town, steals some food, then beats up some workers to take their van. He then heads over to the Pope house to find the bag of money. He ties Jill up in her bed. All the while, he begins to see some of Bill's memories, most of them involving his time with Jill, but also a vision of the money bag being hidden behind a shelf of George Orwell books. Jill triggers a silent alarm with her toe. The alarm sounds at HQ and Ruiza calls the Pope home. Jerico picks up the phone, gives the code, then claims Emma may have hit a button again. Jerico then flees the house. Jill breaks free of her bonds.

We see another video of Strook stating his plans to sell his program to the Russians now out of fear that the CIA has betrayed him, and the CIA has roughly nine hours to respond to Strook's deadline.

Back on the streets, Jerico continues seeing Bill's memories, and he is starting to gain Bill's personality and skills while jumping between that and his natural self. Jerico tries to get himself coffee and something to eat, and orders it in French, saying out loud, "I'm speaking Spanish, motherfucker!" The man he cut in front of to order corrects him in similar fashion, saying "Actually, it's French, motherfucker", leading to Jerico breaking the man's nose. He then heads to the library and logs into the computer with Bill's codes, which the CIA discovers.

Jerico finds Franks to help him get medication for his head hurting as a result of Bill's memories overwhelming him. It means that Jerico is now able to develop emotions. Their whole encounter is monitored by the CIA. As he leaves the pharmacy, Jerico is taken by several agents. Elsa, who was watching, follows.

After a tense encounter at the headquarters between Jerico and the other agents, Jerico is being escorted by Wells to another location. Heimdahl creates a distraction by making it look like Strook was spotted at an airport. This leads Elsa and Heimdahl's other goons to find the agents and start shooting at them, resulting in the deaths of some agents including Lynch. Jerico escapes the shootout by driving off a bridge.

Jerico returns to the Pope house. Jill points a gun at him this time, but Jerico is less hostile now, and he tells her a memory only she and Bill would know, to prove he has Bill's memories. It's about how their first car smelled like fish and chips, and the exhaust blew out a week later. Jill later sees Jerico outside with Emma as they bury one of her toys. Despite being worried at first, Jill realizes that Jerico would not hurt her or Emma. She lets him stay the night.

The next morning, Jerico figures out that the money bag is hidden on a bookshelf behind the books in the George Orwell section of the university library where Jill works. He heads there to retrieve it, leaving Elsa to break into the Pope house and abduct Jill and Emma, while Heimdahl gets Jerico. Wells and his team learn of this, and they head out after them, while the Russians have their own team out looking for Strook.

Both the CIA and the Russian team circle the university as Heimdahl's goons take Jerico away, who then remembers that Strook is hiding in Jill's office. Elsa forces Jerico to guide her to the office. They pass by a lab, where Jerico improvises a bomb to get away from Elsa. He rushes to Jill's office to find Strook, tells him he is closing his deal with Pope, and gives him the money, withholding the passport. He demands Strook set up his laptop and do exactly as he says. Elsa finds them and shoots Jerico in the chest. She points her gun at Strook, and he hands her the flash drive. She thanks him and shoots him in the leg. He curses at her, and says giving Heimdahl Vigilant Shield (wormhole) is crazy. She shoots Strook in the forehead and gets on the phone to inform her boss she's got the drive and has killed Strook and Jerico. Jerico staggers to his feet behind her, clutching his chest above his heart. As she finishes her call, he smashes her in the head from behind with a potted cactus, and she goes down face first. Jerico finds a solid metal lamp, and as she is coming to, he beats her to death with it.

Jerico races to the airfield where Heimdahl is planning to escape with Jill and Emma, despite Wells telling Jerico it's too risky and that lives are at stake. Jerico makes it there and reluctantly hands the drive to Heimdahl so he can let Emma go. Heimdahl shoots Jerico and makes his escape on his plane right before Wells and his men arrive. As Wells yells at Jerico for what he's done, Jerico reveals that he had Strook reprogram the wormhole, so that anything launched by it would hit the location from which the launch command was made. Therefore, the conventional cruise missile that Heimdahl launched to hit the airfield ends up flying back toward his plane, blowing him (and the wormhole) up.

A while later, we see Jerico at the beach he was standing on at the start of the film. He is met by Jill and Emma, along with Wells and Franks, and some other agents. Jill and Emma know that Bill lives on in Jerico's head. Wells then tells Franks that he is going to offer Jerico a job.