Explosive retirement

Rating: 7/10 (18 October 2010)

It's nothing new for a film to be based on a comic book. With Marvel now having its own studio and Christopher Nolan unable to finish an interview without talk of Batman, I think it is fair to say that we are a society inundated with comics. These films have a pretty developed audience of young fanboys. Red is a comic book film for a different audience. The film is without a doubt enjoyable and features an incredible cast, but it is a comic book film made for those in cardigans not vintage tees.
Frank Moses (Bruce Willis), a former black-ops CIA agent, is having a rough time adjusting to retirement. In his life of boredom, he begins a phone relationship with Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker), a customer service agent working for his pension office. One night Frank's old life intrudes into his new one as a hit squad descends on his house. After disposing of his would-be killers, he heads to Kansas City to protect Sarah. In order to better assess and deal with his risk of death, Frank decides to get his black-ops team back together. With the help of his old friends, Frank has to figure out who wants him dead and why, all while avoiding CIA agent Cooper (Karl Urban) who is hot on his tails.
In my hometown, there is a small art theater. I always knew of the theater and that it played smaller films that often were looked over by the larger multiplexes, but even after having a bit of a film awakening in my freshman year of college I never took the leap and bought a ticket. That was until two months ago when I plunged into the place I had always eyed skeptically from afar. As I ventured in, I was smacked in the face by the smell of mothballs. I told my nose to relax and pushed forward. My way was now blocked by a group of ladies, bearing a striking similarity to the Golden Girls, on an afternoon out. While walking down the aisle of the theater I noticed that I was being stared down. Eyes from all around locked onto me until I had settled into my seat. The reason: my age. I was easily 35 years younger than every other member of the audience. It was an odd feeling to say the least, a completely unique film-going experience. Nevertheless, it did open my eyes a bit. Previously I had a caricature of the elderly constantly pooh-poohing the films of today. "I miss the real movie stars" "everything is just so loud" "what's with all the colors", the voices would sing in my head. But wait there are actually older folks that still enjoy going to the films of today. Seeing Red bolstered this theory.
I saw this film with my parents and during this time there was but one group that featured individuals younger than 20, the rest of the audience was above 40. It may have been this particular audience that so influenced my experience of the film. Putting that aside I will say that I liked the film, but not as much as the people surrounding me. I was shocked by the collective excitement expressed when Ernest Borgnine appeared on screen. In retrospect, this makes perfect sense. While Red is a comic book film with copious action, featuring gunfire, fistfights, car chases and explosions it is also a discussion of the nature of retirement. Willis' character misses his old life and is grasping for things to fill his now empty life of retirement. He is clearly unhappy and it isn't until his life is threatened that you really see the twinkle come back into his eyes. I can't understand retirement as a threat, so this aspect of the film is somewhat lost on me.
The action is good but not anything special. There aren't really any moments that truly stand out as exceptional action set pieces. One gunfight does feature some pretty great bits from John Malkovich and huge explosions but nothing new. The story at times feels like an afterthought with some third act developments that are a bit forced. You will be entertained but that's all thanks to the cast.
Oh, have I not mentioned the cast? Just writing the cast list is amazing. I don't know about you, but deep down I have always wanted to see Helen Mirren shoot a machine gun. Then you have Bruce Willis being Bruce Willis, John Malkovich adding some insane comedy and Morgan Freeman just kind of hanging out. It's nice to see Mirren and Malkovich so deftly handling the action since I can't remember another time that they have had the opportunity. I could gush over Mary-Louise Parker but I'm not sure how much is her being good and how much is my crush on her. Karl Urban kicks some ass too. If there is a weak member of the cast, I don't remember him.
What if the cast of Cocoon used to be in the CIA? Now I don't know how many people have been asking that question, but Red seeks to answer it. With a mediocre story and generic action set pieces, the cast is the film's saving grace. Without this cast, the film would have sucked. Malkovich is all kinds of funny as the mentally unstable team member, and Mirren's comfort with automatic weapons will leave you wondering why she doesn't do this more often. Red may not be the topic of conversation come awards season but the cast makes sure that you get your money's worth.