“iNumber Number” began life as a South African cop thriller ten years ago, morphed into a single-season cop series and now returns to the screen via Netflix with “iNumber Number: Jozi Gold.”

This genre thriller from Donovan Marsh, who directed by the original film (titled “Avenged” in some countries) manages a few twists and a couple of lighter touches amidst the chases, killings, corrupt cops and CGI hyena scenes. Not enough to wholly recommend it, but it’s not an utter waste of an action fan’s time.

Our Black cop team here is consists of gonzo undercover idealist Chili (S’Dumo Mtshali) who is in his element, all pimped-out in wig (complete with an Afro-pick pistol), garish suit and vintage Dodge Monaco convertible, and his trigger-shy family man partner, Lt. Shoes (Presley Chweneyagae).

We meet them as they fail to bust The Hyena Man, a smuggler of “conflict gold” into the country, a way for Africa’s mineral-backed dictators to launder their blood loot and sell it to unscrupulous jewelers around the world.

It’s all “Jozi Gold” once its been refined in Johannesburg.

The Hyena Man got his nickname because he’s kept a savage hyena as his pet/interrogation tool for years.

“When a hyena laughs, it means the ancestors are not happy!”

Chili and Shoes were paired-up way back in an orphanage, and the frustration of missing that bust (“fool’s gold”) and the fact that their orphanage is running out of money, coupled with the corrupt taunting of their “kickback” prone Brigadier (Brenda Ngxoli) has Chili ready to quit.

But no, they’ll take the demotion to “the basement,” where a 100 percent-success rate all white “Afrikanner graveyard” run by the ancient Van Slys (Deon Lotz) isn’t keen on taking them on.

If the “light skinned” enclave ever wants to catch The Hyena Man and whoever else is mixed up in a big gold smuggling/smelting and trading conspiracy, the streetwise Black guys will have to be a part of it.

Imagine Chili’s conflicted emotions when he stumbles into a family-run gang of Zulu Robin Hoods, stealing ill-gotten gold and spreading cash in the Townships. When push comes to shove, which side will Chili be on?

Marsh stages an epic gasping and Dodge Monaco’ing chase in the opening act, and takes a couple of shots at topping it later. He never does.

The brawls and shoot-outs would pass muster in Britain, Korea, China, Hollywood or Bollywood.

The acting is sharp and more subtle than what you’d see in most African films — Nigeria’s Nollywood fare, for instance. Ngxoli’s brigadier is the most over-the-top character, and she makes this swaggering bully kind of fun.

While I tend to watch films in their original language (Zulu and Tswana here), there’s no reason not to catch the South African-dubbed English tracked onto this import.

But the story is kind of slapdash, with our writer-director not knowing the geological/chemical properties of “fool’s gold” and the whole Robin Hood gand of thieves, gold smelters and activists redistributing wealth is just too on the nose to be plausible or much fun.

Marsh has conjured up a formula action film that could be set anywhere and made it distinctly South African and authentically African, which makes it worth your time even if it isn’t a new touchstone take on the genre.

Rating: TV-MA, violence and oodles of profanity

Cast: S’Dumo Mtshali, Presley Chweneyagae, Noxolo Dlamini, Brenda Ngxoli and Deon Lotz.

Credits: Scripted and directed by Donovan Marsh. A Netflix release.

Running time: 1:53