It seems like we’re in a comic book craze that never ends. The latest addition to this category is The Losers, a comic by Andy Diggle and Jock. It’s about a group of ex military types who are burned by their handler, Max who has influence over the CIA, US government, and other organizations. The team consists of Clay (Jeffery Dean Morgan) who is the leader of the bunch, Roque (Idris Elba) who’s second in command and looks out for himself, Jensen (Chris Evans) – the hacker techie guy and communications expert who can’t stop communicating aka talking his mouth off, Pooch (Columbus Short) who handles pretty much all of the transportation, and Cougar (Oscar Jaenada) who’s the sharp shooter/sniper.
The Losers is your classic revenge story and it’s very predictable so you probably already know how it ends. Trust me, you do. It’s your typical action comedy so you’re going to be entertained and have a few good laughs…but it’s not up to the level that we’re used to seeing these days. It doesn’t add anything you get from other comic book movies or action/comedy films except, of course, for the gorgeous Zoe Saldana. I don’t understand how she got more beautiful from scene to scene, but somehow she did…her outfits, poses, and just about everything were stunning. More on her later…
Even though the whole movie is supposed to chock full of laughs, the only scenes that I noticed myself laughing at were scenes with Chris Evans in them. Chris’ character is the eccentric one out of the group with random comedic remarks and pop culture references. He fit this role perfectly.
The other actors played their parts really well too, but Chris stood out. Jeffery Dean Morgan and Idris Elba were both what you would expect from military guys…hard attitudes and not much emotion. Columbus Short was kind of funny at times but under the shadow of Chris Evans. In many of his films, Short seems to be “that other guy” which sucks because he’s pretty talented…can’t wait to see him in a role where he can stand out himself. Oscar’s character is the silent type which is coincidently what Oscar is like in real life, so that worked out for him…but for the film, he was just an extra character on the team. Jason Patric played the movie’s villain, Max, who is your crazy “I can do anything I feel like” bad guy. The way he portrayed Max was annoying at first but then you just accepted the quirkiness for what it was because hey, Max can kill you if he felt like it.
The movie had its fair share of slow scenes which dragged the movie along but then the movie would pick up and you’re back in the action. The Losers has many unbelievable scenes, both good and bad. Some scenes were unbelievably cool, hot, and awesome while other scenes were just unbelievable. There are a few parts with guns, grenades, and other fun stuff in pure daylight and you wonder how nobody sees or hears anything or how they get away with some things…but hey, it’s a movie…based on a comic book so I guess you just have to go with it.
Did I mention Zoe Saldana is in this movie? She is a mystery character who comes into the picture after the incident in Bolivia. She bankrolls the guys and helps them back to the States where they can get their revenge (and hers) on Max. We’re seeing the beginnings of an amazing career from a new leading lady of Hollywood. From Drumline and Pirates to The Terminal and After Sex to Star Trek and Avatar to this, we’re going to be seeing a lot of Zoe and I’m not complaining one bit…I’ll watch her in any film especially if it has steamy scenes like this one. But don’t go in expecting too much, you see most of the good stuff in the trailers.
So, after all that, should you watch The Losers? Only if you were planning on it or you’re a fan of the comic book or any of the stars in the movie. It’s a fun movie but nothing out of the ordinary.
Tags: Andy Diggle, Chris Evans, Columbus Short, Idris Elba, Jason Patric, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Jock, Oscar Jaenada, Sylvain White, The Losers, Zoe Saldana
Matthew Fong created advancescreenings.com and is the lead contributor. He watches every type of movie and will try almost anything twice. You can follow him on twitter here: @matthewfong
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