With a cast consisting of Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Morgan Freeman, Karl Urban, Mary-Louise Parker, Helen Mirren, and Richard Dreyfuss, you’d think this would be an amazing blockbuster. Instead, it’s just another graphic novel inspired bust. RED stands for Retired and Extremely Dangerous. Most of these actors are reaching their age limits for action films and you get a feeling like the Expendables where these old timers are doing things they shouldn’t be doing but they still got it on screen! I really wanted to like this film but it just fell short for me…it could’ve been so much more.
What happens to secret agents when their time is up? Well, just like everyone else, they retire. But can they really shake off that skill set they have? And what happens when their past comes back to haunt them? Well that’s what RED is all about. Inspired by a graphic novel of the same name, the film follows a group of highly skilled and dangerous retired agents who for some reason have been targeted for execution. The film begins with an attempt to kill Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) but it obviously fails or we wouldn’t have much a movie to watch. Instead of running away and hiding, he starts getting his old team together to get to the bottom of whatever is going on.
Bruce Willis and Mary-Louise Parker
At the same time, he links up with a phone operator that he has a crush on and has been chatting to for months (Remember, he’s retired and extremely bored). This is also where our love subplot enters. A lot of the comedy is sourced from this fish out of water aspect of the film. The phone operator, played by Mary-Louise Parker, is mixed in with all these violent gun fights and chases. I love Mary-Louise Parker from Weeds, but I didn’t enjoy her in this film at all. Her character was just too awkward for me. She has a lot of girl-time moments with Helen Mirren which are misplaced in an action film but add to the quirkiness of this movie. Jonh Malkovich’s character, however, was so over the top and extremely awkward…I loved it. I would probably watch this movie again just to see his scenes. That and Mogran Freeman in his blue suit.
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While watching RED, I actually gave up on the plot…I just didn’t care. The movie shows you the juxtaposition of boring real life to exciting spy life but we’ve seen many movies do that before. You learn why our retired agents are being targeted, realized it’s not someone you’d expect, and watch them try to get revenge and fix the problems. Really? I don’t think I could think of a more straightforward action movie. You can expect the typical action scenes and story lines to unfold. There are no surprises or anything special that separates this movie from any other. I doubt you’ll remember it in a couple months.
Big guns make Helen Mirren and John Malkovich smile
I compare this film very closely with The Losers which is another comic book action movie that fell short for me. While The Losers was funnier and more sexy than RED, RED had better action scenes and acting. However, they both were just enough to maybe warrant a rental. They would probably be more enjoyed if you stream them online or see them on cable. I just can’t understand how the movie could be “just ok” with such a stellar cast.
There are still plenty of advance screenings for RED and you can find them here.
If you’re ever in Thailand, go see a movie…their theaters are very luxurious even on Hollywood standards. At the beginning of each film they play a little montage in honor of their ruling King where you must stand…it’s quite a different experience but very cool. Most of the movies they show are quite recent coming out at or around the same time as the US release dates and sometimes even before! Walking around Bangkok I noticed that they were promoting Piranha 3D a lot so I knew I had to check it out…
