In The Red

Red

Starring Bruce Willis, Sarah Louise Parker, Morgan Freeman, Karl Urban John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Richard Dreyfuss and Julian Mc Mahon.

Directed by Robert Schwentke.

12a

After spending the last weekend with fellow geeks and getting sketches from comic artists at BICS(British International Comics Show). Sticking with comics, it’s been a really big year for comic based films. This year we’ve had Iron Man 2, Kick Ass, Losers, Jonah Hex (I’ve still got to see it) This brings me to Red AKA Retired Extremely Dangerous. It’s an adaptation of Warren Elis’s and Cully Hamner’s mini -series about a retired CIA agent. I can’t really compare the source material to the film, as I haven’t read it yet. As for the film,they’ve really gone to town on this one...

Bruce Willis is quietly spoken former black ops agent Frank Moses. After feeling lonely he attempts a relationship with a payment’s assistant Sarah (Parker). It’s not long before his past comes back to haunt him he’s been targeted for assassination. After fending off said attempt he finds out that he’s part of list of people that his former employers want dead.

This is a bit like a posher version of “The Expendables”. I think I know why Willis had just a cameo in the film. The cast of Red is an all star affair with great turns from big time players like our very own Dame Helen Mirren as Victoria, and Brian Cox as Ivan, as former spooks who just want to get back in the game.

One of the main performances comes for John Malkovich who goes from “Being John Malkovich” to being Marvin an operative who was “given daily doses of LSD for eleven years”. As Marvin it’s probably one of the funniest performances this year by an actor.

As for Willis, he eschews the wise cracks of John Mc Clane for a far more sedate performance as Frank Moses who just can’t get the hang of being retired but at the same time he starts to realise he wants more out of life then just killing people. He’s put to the test when he has a mano a mano with Cooper, a relentless CIA agent played by Karl Urban. Veteran actor Ernest Borgnine pops up as Henry, a records keeper a lot of people who grew up in the eighties will remember him from Airwolf.

The film’s set pieces are quite impressive from Moses silently dispatching his would be killers to a standoff with a missile launcher. I get the feeling that this is opening alongside Paranormal Activity 2, which will no doubt dominate the box office this weekend but if you’re too scared by some bumps or doors slamming for no reason in the middle of the night (the house I live in does this all the time) then please go see Red.

DW Rating 4.

Posted: 22/10/2010
Categories: Movies / Reviews

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