R.E.D. begins with a love story, Frank (Bruce Willis; Die Hard, The Sixth Sense) is calling a woman who works in a call centre dealing with retirement cheques and Frank has ‘accidentally’ not got his yet again. Yet the real reason is to talk to the beautiful Sarah (Mary Louise Parker; Weeds) who he has formed a bond with and the only person he can really talk to.
However unknown to Sarah, Frank is an ex CIA agent who is about to be targeted by a swat team for assassination. After swiftly dealing with the team (as only Bruce Willis can) he heads to Sarah’s apartment because he fears she may be next. Together they go and find Frank’s old colleagues and as Joe (Morgan Freeman; The Shawshank Redepemption, Invictus) says, they ‘get the band back together’. The now retired team featuring the classy assassin Victoria (Helen Mirren; The Queen, State of Play) and the eccentric and unpredictable Marvin (John Malkovich; Being John Malkovich, Burn After Reading) uncover a conspiracy much larger than the 4 veterans could possibly imagine.
The main cast gel together well, as if they had been together for years and who clearly enjoyed each other’s company during filming and the supporting cast are well put together. Particular mentions to Ivan (Brian Cox; Zodiac, The Bourne Supremacy) who plays a Russian agent with an accent not seen since Robbie Coltrane in Goldeneye and Karl Urban (Star Trek; Pathfinder) as the CIA assassin with a heart. Other cameos from Ernest Borgnine and Richard Dreyfuss albeit short are a welcome addition to the cast and a nod to the audience members of great films in times gone by.
R.E.D. is an action comedy that’s more action rather than comedy, compared to other ‘men-on-a-mission’ movies released this year (The Losers, The A-Team and The Expendables) R.E.D. has a heart and even Bruce Willis opens up about his feelings more than once. The movie is well paced and a far cry from director Robert Schwenke’s previous movies (The Time Traveller’s Wife, Flightplan) but equally as well presented. The action is stylish and slick, as is the cast but maybe there should have been more comedy and less action, or at least a balance of the two as the action scenes in some cases feel like filler. However the story is easy to follow and there are some laugh out loud moments that will stick in your mind long after the film is over (mainly supplied by Malkovich).
All in all R.E.D. is not the most thought provoking, deep and intensely psychological movie of the year (see Inception) but it is one of the most fun, we care more for the characters than in The A-Team and it’s more charming and witty than The Losers and definitely less violent than The Expendables. A more easily stomached movie for most tastes and a great Saturday night entertainment.
By Joel Fisher
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