Action-Packed Good-Natured Senior Citizen Spy Story With Sensational Cast

Rating: 6/10 (10 February 2012)

Frank Moses is a retired CIA operative whom someone is trying to kill. The hit-squad seems to pertain to a mission in Guatemala many years before, so Frank tracks down some of his old colleagues and resolves to figure out who's behind it all.
This is a very agreeable, exciting, silly, comic-book action thriller whose primary asset is its great cast of top-rank thespians, all enjoying themselves tremendously in much more low-brow parts than usual. The mix of high-octane action and comedy is reminiscent of some other movies (Real Men, True Lies), but making all the principals thirty years older than normal is an inspired touch. Cox is wonderful as Ivan the KGB man nostalgically bemoaning the advent of glasnost, Malkovich steals it (as usual) as a jittery paranoiac, Mirren looks great in a white cocktail dress shooting an Uzi, Dreyfuss is terrific as a smug grinning villain and Borgnine has a lovely little bit as the CIA Record Keeper. Poor Urban (Eomer from The Lord Of The Rings movies) gets lumbered with the only straight part but ploughs on with great gusto and is every bit as good as his senior colleagues. The action scenes are handled with great aplomb, there are some stylish touches (I especially like the postcard graphic dissolves) and the conspiracy story bumbles along very amiably with plenty of twists en route. It may have a few flaws - the rhythm stumbles from time to time and the more sentimental moments could perhaps be dropped - but this is good quality get-happy entertainment with a terrific ensemble cast. An independent production by Summit Entertainment and DC Comics, shot in Canada and based on a comic book mini-series by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner. The title comes from Moses' file status; Retired - Extremely Dangerous.