Only so often will you be able to see Queen Elizabeth, Henry VII, King Agamemnon and Nelson Mandela shooting guns in the same movie. Cherish this moment people. Cherish it.
So what we have here is a comic book adaptation called Red which pretty much has the best and oldest dramatic actors in Hollywood take a swing at an action comedy flick. Oh and then there's Bruce Willis of course.
The film's about Bruce Willis' character who's a retired ex-FBI agent or something, who was an extreme badass in his time. He has trouble settling in a peaceful life when all of a sudden he finds that he and his ex-team have been ordered killed because of something they witnessed during their course of duty and become outlaws in bringing the guys behind their execution order down. And along the way Bruce Willis picks up Mary-Louis Parker who looks mega fine at 50.
How is it, that these bunch of old ass actors were able to make a much better version of The Expendables than all those other action stars combined? Sure there were some underused actors in the film, ahem.. Morgan Freeman, but Red is actually one action packed and genuinely funny movie.
The beginning of Red does kind of drag a bit, it's only when Bruce Willis' character picks up Mary-Louis Parker and the rest of his teammates that the film finally becomes the action comedy it promises to be. Bruce Willis was actually the weakest link in this. He was there to do one thing and that was to connect all the other cast members together for one big mullah. Once Bruce Willis got Hellen Mirren, John Malkovich, Morgan Freeman and Mary-Louis Parker into the room, he immediately becomes a none character.
The big three on the other hand, Hellen Mirren, John Malkovich and Morgan Freeman played off one another in amazing comedic fashion. I don't think it was really even their effort of being funny and more of the idea that all these acting greats were actually in an action movie that was the joke. I particularly loved John Malkovich who as always, plays a fantastic psycho and Hellen Mirren who looks so hella hot holding an AK-47.
Karl Urban gave the best archetype performance in this movie. His character I felt, in the midst of all the other actors was the most interesting in Red. He does start out like the typical villain but he grows on you as the film progresses and you can't help but root for the guy by the end of the movie. Mary-Louis Parker was great, I felt like she wasn't given much to do other than be the screaming Bond girl that gets dragged around by the hero but she made it worked most of the time.
For an action movie, the pacing only picks up towards the last 20 minutes of the movie. Red felt more like an action flick 10% of the time and the rest were the comedy segments of the film. But when they do get to that last action scene, it's all out Mission Impossible style awesomeness.
This is something worth watching in the cinema, not worth buying on DVD, but still a good comedy film on it's whole.
RATING: 6/10
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