Retread and Extremely Disappointing!

Rating: 5/10 (16 October 2010)

'RED': Two and a Half Stars (Out of Five)
A cast of high caliber veteran celebrities highlights this DC comic's graphic novel adaptation. Robert Schwentke (who's directing credits include 'FLIGHTPLAN' and 'THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE') directs this tale of a team of 'retired and extremely dangerous' (which is what the acronym stands for) CIA agents called back into action after being framed and setup for assassination. The film stars John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman and sadly Bruce Willis (but I guess he's beginning to get that age where he fits in with a cast of old timers) as the team. The film also co-stars Mary-Louise Parker, Karl Urban, Brian Cox, Richard Dreyfuss and Ernest Borgnine. The cast is pretty impressive, the rest of the film not so much.
Willis plays the leader of the team Frank Moses. As the movie opens he spends his time flirting with a federal clerk named Sarah Ross (Parker) on the phone, falsely reporting lost retirement checks. He's attacked at his home one day and of course being Bruce Willis he manages to overcome the team of assassins sent to kill him and immediately flees to aide Ross knowing they'll come after her next due to his romantic interest in her. He takes her against her will and rounds up his old team (Freeman, Malkovich and Mirren) and alerts them of their danger. The team once again reunites in order to use their collective skills and resources to find out why they've been framed and staged for assassination and save themselves from extermination. Urban plays the lead CIA agent hot on their trail.
The movie looks and sounds like a lot of fun but the fun is slammed down the viewers throat to the point where it's not really fun anymore. The actors are all good in their roles and fittingly cast (except for Freeman who is shamefully underused and the way he's written in and out of the film is embarrassing, for an actor of his stature) but the material they have to work with is weak and the direction is routine and uninspiring. Every joke is forced and every action scene is by the numbers and somewhat boring (mostly, there are a few exceptions). The movie is extremely cheesy in the way it pauses for each actor to have their moment, in the middle of what should be an intense action scene. It's just a huge gimmick and at no time feels like a genuine action / comedy. I'm amazed at the number of critics that sold out and gave this film a good review. That's why you never trust a critic. This movie is mediocre at best and entirely disappointing.
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