Great Cast Makes the Film

Rating: Null/10 (28 July 2013)

Red (2010)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Lightweight but entertaining action picture about a retired agent (Bruce Willis) who has a hit put out on him and the woman (Mary-Louise Parker) he loves so he reaches out to some old partners (Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich) to help him. RED isn't going to win any major awards and it's certainly not going to go down as one of the best action pictures out there but it still has enough charm and a terrific cast that makes it worth watching. It's almost hard to believe but there are actually four Oscar-winning actors on display here. There's Freeman but we've also got Richard Dreyfuss, Helen Mirren and Ernest Borgnine in a small role. The wonderful cast is certainly the biggest reason to check this out as all of them are quite good in their roles and appears to be having fun. This is especially true for Parker who clearly steals the film as the somewhat dimwitted regular gal who finds herself mixed up in this conspiracy where one body is falling at all times. Malkovich plays that eccentric weirdo like only he can and Freeman is also good and that's no different here. Willis is pretty much just playing another version of himself but it's still fun. The action scenes are quite creative in their own way and I really liked the visual style brought to the screen by director Robert Schwentke. He manages to never take the subject too serious and instead he keeps everything moving at a nice pace with the charm factor high. Again, RED isn't any sort of masterpiece but if you enjoy any of the cast members then you should have a good time.