Writer: Jon Hoeber, Erich Hoeber (Screenplay) Warren Ellis, Cully Hamner (Graphic Novel)
Starring: Bruce Willis, Mary-Louise Parker, Karl Urban, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, James Remar, Brian Cox, Helen Mirren, Richard Dreyfuss, Julian McMahon,
Plot: When his peaceful life is threatened by a high-tech assassin, former black-ops agent Frank Moses reassembles his old team in a last ditch effort to survive and uncover his assailants.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Solid Action Comedy
Story: RED starts as retired CIA agents Frank Moses (Willis) has very little to do apart from his monthly phone calls to call center girl Sarah (Parker). He life is turned upside down when a black ops team come to try and kill him leaving him to team up with his fellow retired agents Joe Matheson (Freeman), Marvin Boggs (Malkovich), Ivan Simonov (Cox) and Victoria (Mirren).
With William Cooper (Urban) tracking him down Frank uses his skill to stay one step ahead while getting the truth out of the CIA about what they are covering up.
RED is an action comedy that plays along the lines that the older agents are retired and still better agents than the current group. It plays along the idea that they had to learn things the hard way while the new generation are trained not experiencing the field events. We get a standard cover up story which is slightly been here seen this. I do think this has a lot more potential if it actually focused more on the comedy because the only funny character is Marvin who to be far steals the movie.
Actor Review
Bruce Willis: Frank Moses is the retired CIA agent that has been struggling to find something to do each day. He finds himself being targeted by the CIA to be taken out which leads him to team up with his fellow retired agents to uncover the truth while keeping his new love interest in safety. Bruce gives a performance that does reflect how we see him in the modern spotlight.
Mary-Louise Parker: Sarah Ross is a call center girl that has a good telephone relationship with Frank. When he becomes a target she finds him at her doorstep to try and protect her from the clean-up. She isn’t happening to start with but soon grows to love the thrilling side of the adventure. Mary-Louise is good in this role as the lonely middle-aged woman looking for adventure.
Morgan Freeman: Joe Matheson is the first of the former agents Frank goes to, he is terminally ill but still just as sharp as he always was. He sees this mission as one last adventure with his old friends. Morgan gets to have some fun with this supporting role.
Karl Urban: William Cooper is the agent forced to track down Frank, he is only following orders and isn’t willing to look at the bigger picture that is going on but he is a very good agent if not the best the CIA have now. Karl handles himself well against all the bigger names in the industry.
Support Cast: RED has a supporting cast with some big names involved with Helen Mirren, Brian Cox and the scene stealing John Malkovich with cameos from a string of older actors too.
Director Review: Robert Schwentke – Robert tackles this film to make it easy to watch but nothing overly special going on through this one.
Action: RED has what you could call easy to watch action that we have all seen before.
Comedy: RED only really has one funny character because certain parts that are meant to be comedy are slightly creepy.
Crime: RED uses the cover up side of the story to create the crime side of the story.
Settings: RED has no real memorable settings with each just being used for the next part of the information collecting side of the film.
Special Effects: RED has easy to use effects with the explosions with a few coming off well but nothing being too good.
Suggestion: RED is one that I do think you can try it isn’t great but you could get a few laughs out off. (Try It)
Best Part: Malkovich nails the comedy.
Worst Part: No one else is really funny.
Believability: No
Chances of Tears: No
Chances of Sequel: Yes
Post Credits Scene: No
Oscar Chances: No
Budget: $58 Million
Runtime: 1 Hour 51 Minutes
Tagline: There’s No Substitute for Experience.
Overall: Easy to watch action comedy that is nothing breath-taking but not offensive.
Rating