Movie review Monday Part 2: RED
There’s been a spate of spy comedies lately (Killers, Knight & Day, and, now, RED) in which a decidedly ordinary “civilian,” leading a very mundane life, finds themselves partnered with a deadly, and not unsexy, assassin who sweeps them off on an action-packed adventure.
RED may fit this mold but it’s also one of the best entries in this particular niche genre. RED’s humour may seem forced at times but the film – loosely based on Warren Ellis’s comic mini-series of the same name – is redeemed by its outstanding action scenes, unusually highbrow casting and a simple but intriguing plot that hasn’t been overworked to make the film seem more complicated than it really is.
RED centres on retired, very bored CIA operative Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) whose sole pleasure in life is destroying his pension cheques so he can phone and flirt with Sarah Ross (Mary-Louise Parker) a government admin clerk. When Frank is targeted for assassination by his old agency he goes on the run, taking Sarah unwillingly with him for her own protection. With ambitious young agent Cooper (Karl Urban) on his tail, Frank must get to the bottom of a sinister political conspiracy, and to do that he turns to old (literally) friends, colleagues and rivals – played by the likes of Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich, Brian Cox and Ernest Borgnine – for help.
RED delivers more strongly in some areas than others. Whether it’s because the film has been based on a comic or not, the action scenes are arguably the best of any movie this year – well plotted, stylishly cool and extremely visceral. You wince at each punch or painful grappling technique; reel back from the explosions and get a strong sense of each gun fight’s intensity. RED is a pretty violent movie and the camera doesn’t cut away when characters are blown up, shot or subjected to broken limbs. This said, the film isn’t Rambo or The Expendables. There is enough unreality and quirkiness to the film that the violence doesn’t become distasteful. The audience is encouraged to appreciate the action, and best of all, you actually can! Unlike so many action films these days, there is no shaky or swirling over-edited camera work to confuse what you are seeing.
Frankly I would have been happier if RED was a straight action film with a few amusing moments, as opposed to attempting to balance spy stuff and humour more equally. This is because a good chunk of the comedy seems like the filmmakers are trying a bit too hard. You sense them straining to be funny. And Parker’s wide-eyed, over-expressive and increasingly over-enthusiastic character is particularly irritating.
Speaking of the cast, RED features a surprisingly A-list ensemble of veteran actors for a comic adaptation. Then again, being a comic adaptation, characters aren’t particularly well developed, and many of the big names in small supporting roles are disappointingly underutilised. In terms of the main stars, Mirren and Malkovich are probably the most fun – tweaking their usual big screen personae as a ladylike MI-6 sniper and paranoid conspiracy theorist respectively – and you get the sense that the filmmakers know this, ensuring these two characters essentially pull of the film’s climatic “heist” all on their own.
In the end then, RED is an entertaining, undemanding way to fill a few hours. The film is definitely not without flaws, and it doesn’t leave much of an impact apart from a few memorable moments. However, there are enough positives in RED’s favour to make at least one viewing worthwhile in the near future.
RED may fit this mold but it’s also one of the best entries in this particular niche genre. RED’s humour may seem forced at times but the film – loosely based on Warren Ellis’s comic mini-series of the same name – is redeemed by its outstanding action scenes, unusually highbrow casting and a simple but intriguing plot that hasn’t been overworked to make the film seem more complicated than it really is.
RED centres on retired, very bored CIA operative Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) whose sole pleasure in life is destroying his pension cheques so he can phone and flirt with Sarah Ross (Mary-Louise Parker) a government admin clerk. When Frank is targeted for assassination by his old agency he goes on the run, taking Sarah unwillingly with him for her own protection. With ambitious young agent Cooper (Karl Urban) on his tail, Frank must get to the bottom of a sinister political conspiracy, and to do that he turns to old (literally) friends, colleagues and rivals – played by the likes of Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich, Brian Cox and Ernest Borgnine – for help.
RED delivers more strongly in some areas than others. Whether it’s because the film has been based on a comic or not, the action scenes are arguably the best of any movie this year – well plotted, stylishly cool and extremely visceral. You wince at each punch or painful grappling technique; reel back from the explosions and get a strong sense of each gun fight’s intensity. RED is a pretty violent movie and the camera doesn’t cut away when characters are blown up, shot or subjected to broken limbs. This said, the film isn’t Rambo or The Expendables. There is enough unreality and quirkiness to the film that the violence doesn’t become distasteful. The audience is encouraged to appreciate the action, and best of all, you actually can! Unlike so many action films these days, there is no shaky or swirling over-edited camera work to confuse what you are seeing.
Frankly I would have been happier if RED was a straight action film with a few amusing moments, as opposed to attempting to balance spy stuff and humour more equally. This is because a good chunk of the comedy seems like the filmmakers are trying a bit too hard. You sense them straining to be funny. And Parker’s wide-eyed, over-expressive and increasingly over-enthusiastic character is particularly irritating.
Speaking of the cast, RED features a surprisingly A-list ensemble of veteran actors for a comic adaptation. Then again, being a comic adaptation, characters aren’t particularly well developed, and many of the big names in small supporting roles are disappointingly underutilised. In terms of the main stars, Mirren and Malkovich are probably the most fun – tweaking their usual big screen personae as a ladylike MI-6 sniper and paranoid conspiracy theorist respectively – and you get the sense that the filmmakers know this, ensuring these two characters essentially pull of the film’s climatic “heist” all on their own.
In the end then, RED is an entertaining, undemanding way to fill a few hours. The film is definitely not without flaws, and it doesn’t leave much of an impact apart from a few memorable moments. However, there are enough positives in RED’s favour to make at least one viewing worthwhile in the near future.
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