A color lost in the shuffle

Rating: 6/10 (16 October 2010)

Hollywood has crossed a threshold of tolerance in creative redundancy, and Red serves as a great example. Sure, it's based on a DC Comics graphic novel that was out years ago and had it been released as a feature film any other year we wouldn't be having this conversation. But now, in 2010, we have a succession of like movies pouring into theatres and Red is lost in the shuffle.
Frank (Bruce Willis) is living a boring life in retirement, as observed through the obligatory daily routine montage (an apparent domestic independent filmmaker must these days). He spends his free time reaching out over the phone to Sarah (Mary-Louise Park), who becomes as target due to association. You see Frank is RED, a CIA operative who is classified as retired extremely dangerous, and someone wants him dead. This forces Frank to meet-up with his old pals Joe (Morgan Freeman), Victoria (Helen Mirren), and Marvin (John Malkovich) .Together they fight their way to the top of the CIA in the name of getting their lives back to normal.
Two positives stand out. For one the cast is rich with well-known talents who don't drop the ball. Mirren and Freeman could use more screen time; while the former makes it count, I'm afraid the latter is served up with negligible material. Red has some mildly amusing scenes, and I think what helps nudge it along the correct path is the mature cast. Otherwise I can't find a unique concept. Some of the action is clean and easy to comprehend, generally effective. Some gags are worthy of a grin, but nothing more. Red isn't working overtime to raise the bar.
The theme of government killers being hunted by their former employer has been greatly exploited this year; I think Hollywood is trying to enforce a human rights view. It's not right for me to place the blame on Red, but I am reminded of At The Movies when Siskel and Ebert judged Predator as an inferior Aliens clone. Maybe if The Losers was a critical slam dunk last year we could point and scream (coincidence that both have an explosive scene amid shipping containers?)
Since this subgenre overload has come all at once, it's impossible to single out one as the cheat. Nonetheless there is some fatigue in repeatedly seeing the same treatment played out before you. Even if Red came first, I wasn't having the knee-slapping good time the generic muzak score was suggesting. **