The Losers, The A-Team, The Expendables....RED.

Rating: 7/10 (16 October 2010)

R.E.D stands for Retired and Extremely Dangerous. That's what has been tagged to Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) and he is a target of a hit. The ones trying to kill him underestimated his skills and he is out on a mission to find out who is trying to kill him and his maybe girlfriend (Mary-Louise Parker). So he rounds up the gang and they set out to find out who is behind everything.
RED is pretty much exactly like the other films I mentioned before (Losers, A-Team, Expendables) with only difference is that this film's angle is that the people who are dangerous are retired old people. The cast has Bruce Willis, doing his John McClane thing without the one-liners and more precision. Morgan Freeman pulling his Wanted role but in a good guy role. John Malkovich playing a retired CIA test subject that has been given daily doses of LSD for 11 some odd years. He seems like one of the Malkovich's that crawled out of the tunnel to his body in Being John Malkovich. Helen Mirren, in an offbeat choice. She plays sexy and dangerous and can hold her own against the boys. Karl Urban is the lead CIA officer sent to take them out, he plays his assassin role from Bourn Supremacy. He follows orders, not knowing if he is doing good or bad. Of course we have the Mary-Louise Parker character, who is like the audience, not knowing any of these things we are experiencing and are along for the ride.
Malkovich steals the show. He plays the role of conspiracy nut with a gun very well. He's off kilter and has the funniest bits in the film. The film is based on a comic book so you can expect over the top action and stunts. A revolver showdown versus a bazooka? Check. Playing baseball with a grenade? Check. Casually exiting a vehicle spinning out of control and nearly getting hit by the bumper while shooting at another vehicle and not blink an eye? Check. RED is over the top and funny. If you enjoyed The Losers or the A-team, Red is more of the same.
I enjoyed it, the plot revolves around a cover up and an old job that comes to bite those RED members in the behind. The twists it tries to give us is half baked but forgivable because the film is, overall an enjoyment. I must criticize the relationship between Bruce Willis and Mary- Louise Parker, it doesn't seem fleshed out enough to be taken at face value. They chit chat over the phone and he kidnaps her to protect her from people who are trying to kill her because he has had so many phone conversations with her. She ends up liking the thrill and excitement of his life, yet he says that she makes him feel like he can have a normal life. This conflict is never resolved or brought up again.
Morgan Freeman doesn't have enough screen time and the role could have been played by virtually anyone. Karl Urban is a likable guy, I seem to appreciate his role in everything he does, even if the film turns out to be uneven. He's good here too jumping onto moving vehicles to catch other moving vehicles (did I mention this film is over the top?)
RED is enjoyable and like I said, fans of those previously mentioned films will get a kick out of this one. It blends comedy and action well enough to pass the time. It's enjoyment hangs on the fact that these old people are kicking ass. It works. I keep mentioning how over the top it is, but it never reaches the heights of the over the topness of the A-Team. If that is any indication of this style of violence. I forgot to mention Brian Cox, he plays a Russian who becomes an integral part of the 'team'. Poor guy is nowhere to be seen in the promotional ads for the film and yet he has more screen time than Freeman. Anyways, RED is good popcorn fun. It's problems are obvious ones for a film like this, but the direction is slick and the film is funny.