Red - (October 15th, 2010): PG-13
Distributor: Summit Entertainment
Opening Weekend Box-Office: #2 with $21,761,408
Domestic Box-Office Gross to-date: $43,518,185
Gross Revenue: $43,518,185
Budget: $58 million
Director: Robert Schwentke
It has been refreshing to see comic book adaptations branch out from the traditional superhero flick, but after disappointing entries like The Losers and Jonah Hex, DC Comics has had a pretty hard time convincing audiences that they can handle anything beyond the Batman series or Watchmen. The idea of highlighting post-retirement superspies (classified as Retired and Extremely Dangerous) was intriguing enough, but some critics were concerned that audiences had seen these types of characters before in some of the cast’s previous work. Sure, Helen Mirren was stepping out of her comfort zone to play a ruthless assassin, but John Malkovich has definitely played crazy and paranoid before (just think of Con Air and Burn After Reading), while Morgan Freeman proved that he could pull-off an aging assassin when he curved bullets in 2008’s Wanted. Still, if these formulas worked with audiences before, there was little reason to believe that Red wouldn’t be able to replicate a similar level of success by playing to the actor’s strengths. Either way, trailers and promotional materials clearly tried to evoke positive feelings by highlighting the popularity of the individual cast members and pointing out the appeal that they would have appearing together in a film filled with humor and violence. Regardless of having never read the original comic, I was still excited to see some of my favorite actors in Red.
Red begins by introducing the audience to Frank Moses (Willis) a retired black ops CIA agent who fights boredom by speaking with a lonely representative from his pension office, the sassy yet naive Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker from Showtime’s Weeds). After an unexpected attempt on his life, Frank realizes he is being hunted and takes measures to protect Sarah by bringing her along, as the assassins would be aware that she and Frank are in regular contact and therefore target her as well. With the help of his former black ops team, which includes Frank’s mentor Joe (Freeman), thoroughly insane conspiracy theorist Marvin (Malkovich), and ruthless wetwork agent Victoria (Mirren), Frank tries to identify those who are trying to kill him. As it turns out, Frank and his team stumble across a conspiracy that not only involves the CIA, but also reaches all the way up to the White House. In the end, these retired agents end up fighting for survival with both style and humor, fully illustrating why they are still the best in the business.
While Red was nowhere near as good as it could have been, there were still some pretty enjoyable elements. Among the star-studded cast, Bruce Willis’ character stood out as the deepest and most sympathetic, as the audience is quickly able to empathize with the loneliness and boredom that Frank experiences as a retired agent. There is also a considerable amount of chemistry between Willis and Parker, with the offbeat romance shared by these characters coming across as surprisingly sweet. And though his presence in the cast was slightly overshadowed by his costars, Karl Urban is pretty convincing as conflicted CIA agent William Cooper, who is assigned to hunt Frank and his team; and I have to point out that the fight scene between Frank and Cooper is easily the most energetic and enjoyable action sequence in the film. Unfortunately, these positive elements were not enough to make Red anything more than a mediocre entry in the action-comedy genre.
Now, critics have been absolutely raving about Red, and some may think me overly critical, but as hard as I try, I do not understand how some of the weak elements within the film have been overlooked. My single biggest problem with Red is that the best parts of the film were revealed to audiences in the previews; that is, beyond the scenes that were used to provoke audiences to go to the theater in the first place, the rest of the film just was not that entertaining. I liked Bruce Willis’ performance, but I think that the rest of the acting talent of the cast was considerably wasted on weak characters, as none of Frank’s team is given any kind of back-story or character development…Marvin’s crazy, Victoria kills people, and Joe is old, that’s it, take or leave it without explanation. Hollywood heavyweight Richard Dreyfuss also appears as a villain, but his character comes off a sleazy rather than menacing, so you’re not exactly sure how to react to him. Finally, the overall conspiracy of the film is so vague and confusing that it’s really easy to lose interest as the plot drags its feet explaining the conflict; by the time you figure out why Frank and his team are being hunted, you’re not really sure that you care anymore. Sadly these elements combine to make Red a fairly-weak and forgettable action-comedy that was neither very exciting nor very funny.
Despite the disappointing execution of this highly touted blockbuster, Red has been performing surprisingly well at the box-office, placing second its opening weekend with just under $23 million. Again, I want to emphasize that Red is not a bad movie; it’s just not that good, and a mediocre entry is especially disappointing when you consider the combined acting talent of the ensemble cast. If you are a fan of any one of these aging actors, I’m sure you’ll find something to enjoy in Red, but if you’ve seen any of the previews, don’t expect anything surprising. As I said, critical reviews for Red have been strong, so I expect the film to continue to perform well at the box-office and regain some credibility for DC Comics film adaptations, but I wouldn’t recommend that anyone rush to the theater to see this one.
Overall Recommendation: Low
