Movie Review - Red

Red (2010)

Starring Bruce Willis, Mary-Louise Parker, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Karl Urban, and Richard Dreyfuss

Directed by Robert Schwentke

This is the movie that crapfest The Expendables wishes it could have been.  Fun, entertaining, full of explosions, and good acting (although even ho-hum acting would've been a step up from the empty visages of Sly Stallone and Dolph Lundgren), the "geriatric actioner" Red was a pleasant surprise that had me smiling from beginning to end.

Recently retired CIA agent Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) is in trouble.  For some reason or another, he has been targeted to be killed.  Narrowly escaping some home invaders, Frank flees and manages to reunite with some former (older) friends and fellow agents as they try and uncover who exactly is the mastermind behind the hit.

Now that the quick summary is out of the way, can I just mention how much fun it was to see Helen Mirren shooting machine guns?  There's an odd joy in the concept and director Robert Schwentke does a great job keeping a fun comic book-ish style going throughout the film (I'm not a comic guy at all, but now I kind of wanna read the book upon which this flick was based).  Perhaps because it's based on a graphic novel (or maybe in spite of it), Red has a hint of intelligence about it.  It's not just an idiotic shoot 'em up -- there's actually a purpose behind the kills.

Ultimately, though, what makes this movie work is the acting.  Across the board, you're looking at top-notch talent.  Bruce Willis is oddly charming and his relationship with Mary-Louise Parker provided surprising laughs.  Morgan Freeman and John Malkovich show comedic chops that I didn't think either actor had.  And Helen Mirren -- is it really wrong to think a 65-year old woman is sexy?  It's gotta be a British accent, I guess...I'll take Helen Mirren over Stallone any day.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+