It’s amazing how quickly things change. Just a decade ago, Arnold Schwarzenegger ruled the multiplex with top-of-the-line pics like "Terminator 2: Judgment Day." The Austrian Oak and his monosyllabic brethren — including Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme — pumped out high-powered testosterone flicks and raked in the loot. As the century closed, however, moviegoers started to crave action heroes who could do more than just grunt and blow stuff up.

Less muscular actors like Nicolas Cage ("The Rock"), Keanu Reeves ("The Matrix") and Brendan Fraser ("The Mummy") began slowly taking over the genre. Arnie soon found himself playing second fiddle to George Clooney’s nipples in "Batman and Robin" while Seagal and Van Damme bypassed theaters altogether, ending up in straight-to-video tripe. Now Arnold is scrambling to recapture his glory days. "The 6^th Day" is his most recent attempt to rebound from a series of misfires, including last year’s "End of Days."

Arnold's not bad in this movie. He runs around and does his Schwarzenegger thing.

His latest finds him on familiar ground, playing a guy who fights back after his world has been turned upside down. The film is set in the near future, where modern conveniences abound. Cars drive themselves, grocery shopping is as simple as pressing a button on your fridge and you can replace your dead pets with a clone faster than flushing a goldfish down the toilet. Arnold plays Adam Gibson, a devoted husband and father who runs a successful charter helicopter business.

Adam comes home from work one night to discover his friends and family singing "Happy Birthday" to his clone. Since he was unaware of being duplicated, Adam gets a little upset. Then the bad guys show up and start chasing him all over town. Since human cloning is illegal, they’re worried that he’ll spill the beans to the authorities. The title refers to the laws banning human cloning, named so because God created man on the 6^th day. While his doppelganger enjoys quality time with his wife and daughter, Adam tries to stay alive long enough to figure out who cloned him and why.

While better than Schwarzenegger’s recent films, "The 6^th Day" is far from a great flick. Rookie screenwriters Marianne & Cormac Wibberley have generated a generic script and director Roger Spottiswoode ("Tomorrow Never Dies") does little to spice things up. There’s a fun twist towards the end, but nothing that really knocks you out of your seat. You’ve seen most of this stuff before. It’s pretty much the same old fistfights and explosions. If you’re a fan of Mr. Schwarzenegger, you’ll have a good time, but the movie wilts in comparison to classics like the Terminator films.

Tony Goldwyn chews scenery as the token villain and Robert Duvall phones in his performance.

There are also similarities between "The 6^th Day" and another Arnold flick — the far superior "Total Recall." Both are set in the near future with Arnold playing a guy whose life is not what it seems. But where "Total Recall" had visionary Paul Verhoeven ("RoboCop" and "Hollow Man") calling the shots, "The 6^th Day" has journeyman Spottiswoode. Even though Verhoeven has made some crappy films lately (I don’t have to mention "Showgirls," do I?), he’s still an accomplished stylist. "Hollow Man" had some serious story problems, but it was stunning visually.

Spottiswoode gives this movie all the personality of a rerun on the USA Network. When he tries to jazz scenes up with slow motion, fast-forwards or double exposures, the tricks feel awkward and extraneous. Perhaps more gifted directors like Steven Soderbergh ("The Limey") and John Woo ("Mission: Impossible 2") could give a seminar on how to use these techniques properly. Spottiswoode could definitely use the help. The director relies heavily on special effects to give the movie needed zest.

For their part, the eye candy-men earn their money. The sequences involving the clones are certainly a highlight. Grown in huge amniotic pods (ala "The Matrix"), they start out looking like adult fetuses with no discernible features. When they get plugged into the clone-making machine, they slowly take on the visage of the person they are replacing. It’s like watching a human photocopier. Another effects scene featuring jet helicopters racing through a mountain range is a major standout.

While not his finest two hours, Arnold's latest is still a fairly satisfying yarn.

Besides Spottiswoode’s staid direction, this movie’s biggest mistake is asking us to accept Arnold Schwarzenegger as an average joe. Arnie may be many things, but average is not one of them. I mean, look at the guy — he’s a tree with feet. He is most successful in movies that take advantage of his larger-than-life screen persona. For example, we believe that he could be a killer android in "The Terminator" or a paramilitary type in "Predator." Arnold’s turn as a family man in "True Lies" works because he’s also a secret agent. There’s no such set-up in "The 6^th Day."

There’s no explanation for how this charter pilot can suddenly snap people’s necks and make explosives until close to the end of the movie. There’s a throwaway line about him being some kind of war veteran, but it seems more like a rationalization than backstory. Like the filmmakers suddenly realized that no one’s going to buy Arnold as a regular guy so they better give him a macho background. To his credit, Arnold’s not bad in this movie. He runs around and does his Schwarzenegger thing, but he’s not the boy next door.

The rest of the cast is okay, but no one’s trying too hard. Oscar winner Robert Duvall ("Tender Mercies") phones in his performance as a scientist. Tony Goldwyn ("Ghost") and Michael Rooker ("Days of Thunder") chew scenery as the token bad guys while Michael Rapaport ("The Deep Blue Sea") makes a few stale jokes as Arnie’s buddy. Everyone just seems to be paying their bills with this one. Then again, we don’t go to see Schwarzengger’s movies to marvel at the acting.

While not his finest two hours, Arnold’s latest is still a fairly satisfying yarn. Catching this flick is definitely a viable alternative to watching your family fall asleep in front of the tube after Thanksgiving dinner. Unless they’re snoozing to one of Arnie’s earlier films. Leaving "Total Recall" to go see "The 6^th Day" is like . . .well, blowing off a friend to hang out with their clone.