Just when you thought Kevin Hart was maybe figuring out that the “action star” shtick wasn’t really meant for “the little man.”

Just when you figured Netflix was the only sucker to buy into this wildly successful comic and product pitchman, a walking, joking “brand” who moved into reality TV about his “life” (or a fictionalized version of it), that “Lift” was his nadir, here comes Amazon to throw more money at him for a sequel to his “Die Hart” wet dream.

That series, about Kevin Hart hellbent on making that “action star” thing happen, ended up with him starring in a violent, action-packed reboot of “The Jeffersons,” just a comic actor realizing his dream. By the time it morphed into a “Die Hart”feature film, he had the likes of John Travolta, Josh Hartnett and Jean Reno in on the joke.

Of course, that experience only made him cockier, in front of and behind the camera. For the streaming feature film “Die Hart 2: Die Harter,” Kevin Hart plays Kevin Hart as a stupidly-rich, in-demand comedy star who decides he does his own stunts and pays a price for firing his stunt man.

Whatever virtues there are in the fights and chases here, and there aren’t many, the fact that there’s maybe one laugh in this sequel should be telling.

You USED to be funny, man. You used to make jokes, play funny characters and act in movies. This? This is just “content” pouring out of your make-another-buck-quick brain stem.

Nathalie Emmanuel plays Jordan, his reluctant co-star when Hart can’t get a studio to buy into his “improvised script” action extravaganza. Making a lunch-date pitch to a studio chief at a tony restaurant where Hart hires legions of bad guy stuntmen to take all the patrons hostage so he can show how badass he is by fighting his way out doesn’t work.

A mysterious Euro-backer has him convinced that the tranquilizer dart kidnapping of himself and Jordan is “part of the movie.” He’s “acting” for cameras that he’s sure are there.

Wait, that wasn’t scripted. “Rewrite? Pink pages?”

Very “Bowfinger.” Until first blood is drawn. Then they’re scrambling for their lives to figure out who’s out to kill them. Maybe the guy who trained the fired stunt man (also played by Hart) has some insight. He’s played by John Cena. He, too, can be funny. Just not here.

Cena’s the only big name star to sign on for this barely-scripted sequel. Ben Schwartz plays the over-eager assistant who lands that lone laugh. And he has to get tased to accomplish that.

The script is slapdash to the point of half-assed. It’s more of a concept, with added one-liners (meh) than a plotted picture. The direction, by “Die Hart” and “Weird: The Weird Al Yankovich Story” helmer Eric Appel, is as generic as all the TV he and Hart have made together.

Hart jokes about the arc of the movie-within-a-movie’s unfolding “plot,” how it’ll take a moment to show “This is me, now” and lecture him on how he’s “forgotten who you are, where you come from.”

Nope. That’s not it at all. Hart’s the same guy he’s always been — eager, grabbing every opportunity, even the ones not worthy of someone with his standing and bank account.

Hart’s a workaholic, so much so that keeping track of all the stuff he’s got in the works, online or wherever has got to be several assistants’ full time jobs. But he’s not the least bit selective. He’s lost the plot, and is just cashing in as fast as he can.

A former child star (“Freaks & Geeks”) who transitioned to ensemble comedies (“Think Like a Man”), buddy pictures galore (“Ride Along,” etc.) and blew up the stand-up world with stadium shows and self-financed films of those shows which made him a mint, Hart has long made bragging about his success his brand.

That stopped being funny before the closing credits of the first stand-up film where he trotted that shtick out. It’s way beyond “played” now. And he’s still doing it. And he’ll keep doing it until Netflix and Amazon see evidence that nobody’s watching him play and product-placement-plug “Kevin Hart” any more.

Rating: TV-16, violence, profanity

Cast: Kevin Hart, Nathalie Emmanuel, Ben Schwartz and John Cena.

Credits: Directed by Eric Appel, scripted by Tripper Clancy and Derek Kolstad. An Amazon Prime release.

Running time: 1:32