: Red
Apparently this bears little resemblance to the comic book upon which it is based, but since I haven’t red that, that didn’t bother me. I loved the idea of the premise — retired spies are being hunted down and must use their ancient skills to fight for survival — and especially the comedy. Unfortunately, while the trailer makes this seem humorous, the humor is sparse and inconsistent. At times it is wonderful and genius, with just the right funny touch to relieve the tension of a crazy situation. But far too much of the film is deadly serious, with no tongue in cheek. The plot is too serious as well, involving a corrupt vice-president abusing his authority. Unmasking that plot takes far too long and the ending after that takes even longer. The film’s 30 minutes too long for its light-hearted nature, and the violence both too grim and not consistently over-the-top. It’s like the film isn’t sure if it’s a comedy or an action flick and tries awkwardly to be both. It should have just embraced its humor and go all out for laughs with cool action in between. It’s still quite fun and entertaining, but not as good as you might expect or desire. It’s worth seeing just for the classic cast (Morgan Freeman, Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Parker, Richard Dreyfuss, Karl Urban, etc.) and some wonderful moments of dry humor from Helen Mirren. And wasn’t it wonderful to see an ancient Ernest Borgnine still going strong? Recommended if you’re a fan of any of these actors.
Topic: [/movie] |
