Passably entertaining action flick with a great cast

Rating: 7/10 (15 October 2010)

"Red" is certainly familiar and nothing exactly fresh, but it's passably entertaining and action-packed with a really solid cast of veteran actors playing...veterans.
Bruce Willis does one of his typical tough-guy roles as a retired CIA agent living a life of seclusion, quiet but observant of his surroundings, when he is suddenly targeted to be killed along with his old crew (which includes Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, and John Malkovich). Mary-Louise Parker joins them on their adventure as a mandatory romantic interest, given little to do other than a variation of her airhead character from "Weeds," and there are nice supporting roles from veteran actors such as Richard Dreyfuss and Ernest Borgnine, the latter of the two being 90 years old and still going strong.
Rising star Karl Urban is the semi-villain of the film, a government agent trying to chase Willis and his gang down before they assassinate a political figure (for reasons I won't spoil), and his is probably the least predictable character; he's introduced early on as a straightforward baddie and you think you can expect what might happen to him, but he takes a more sympathetic turn halfway through the picture.
The cast has a lot of fun with the material -- Malkovich in particular, who chews up the scenery with gusto as an agent that was fed daily doses of LSD for years and has completely lost his mind -- and the movie sets itself up nicely for a sequel, but it's not really necessary. This is ultimately a been-there, done-that action film that is probably a little too pleased with itself at times, never quite as fresh or stylish as it thinks it is, but it brings enough to the table -- and has a solid enough cast to back it up -- that it's worth the time. Check it out.