Good but not good enough

Rating: 6/10 (23 September 2013)

Frank is just trying to mind his business. He lives by himself and flirts with a government customer service representative girl over the phone. They decide to meet. Suddenly at night a special ops team is sent to kill him but he wipes them out. He ends up kidnapping the girl, Sarah, for her own good. They continue to be chased by the CIA and its main operative Cooper. Frank meanwhile recruits other retired CIA people to help him out and even an old KGB/FSB agent. They are all too happy to help him.
Frank decides he's got to find out what this is all about. A reporter has been writing a story and kept a list of names, all of which but one have been killed. Frank and Sarah break into the secret CIA archive room to recover a file on an operation that Frank and the others were involved in Guatemala. Turns out the vice-president in his youth was in the military and committed some serious crimes in Guatemala and Frank's team cleaned it all up. When the reporter started investigating the story, it was time to clean up the clean-up team. They also go after the one guy left, an arms contractor/dealer that is too valuable for the government to eliminate. Frank decides to mount a complex operation to get the vice president, who is about to announce that he will run for president.
Red is somewhat entertaining light action that pretends to be a comedy as well, although there isn't much humor. There is a need for movies like Red that rehabilitate older actors, now that Hollywood has overdone the teen mania for more than a decade. It's time for a generational balance instead of the either/or absolutisms. At the same time, I'm tired of Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman, who are among the few older actors who survived the Hollywood decimation of the aged. It's time to retire these two for good and give others a chance. Not to mention that Willis's skin looks far too artificially smooth for a retiree. The movie's pace is slower which is alright, but somehow production felt it was necessary to subject us to constant obnoxious silly caper music. It's insufferable.
A lot of fuss was made about the supposed extreme and surprising violence. Other than two guys being blown to pieces, there's nothing outrageous here or surprising. What is pointless is the fake comedic angle that Hollywood always uses to cloak its violence in or any other disagreeable issues. Red while entertaining also got on my nerves. On the other hand, the lovely Mary-Louise Parker and John Malkovich steal the show and give us a much needed respite from Willis's bald head and expressionless face.