Cast and Credits
Director: Robert Schwentke
Writer: Warren Ellis, Cully Hamner (Graphic Novel) Jon & Erich Hoeber (Screenplay)
Actors: Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, Mary-Louise Parker, John Malkovich
Bruce Willis seems to have the tendency to act in movies that are all just recycled stories from the book of how-to-write-an-action-movie. They feature many explosions, shootouts, and witty, sarcastic lines, which are all crowd pleasers. What more could you need than violence and laughter, right? Most of these films are entertaining, and Willis always fits the part of the hero and resident bad ass. But that's it, there never is anything else. They don't leave you wanting more. They are all merely okay. Unfortunately, Red doesn't deviate much from this formula, and the story is no different than the rest.
Frank Moses (Willis) is a retired CIA agent who spending his days talking to Sarah (Parker), who is a customer service representative. His new suburban life is rudely interrupted when a black-ops team comes to his house in an attempt to murder him. Unsurprisingly Moses hasn't lost a whole lot from his spying days and quickly dispatches of the team. He then goes to Kansas City where Sarah lives, picks her up, and begins looking at who wants him dead. Along the way Moses reunites with his former ex-agent buddies (Freeman, Malkovich, Mirren) and together they fight for their lives all while attempting to stop a horrible government coverup.
Through the first part of Red the movie clips along at rapid pace as Moses goes to ridiculous means to stay alive. Did I mention he has to abduct Sarah to get her to go along with him as the CIA and FBI are shooting at them? But as absurd as much of this is the beginning of the film is quite entertaining. Willis and Parker's characters have an amusing chemistry between them and the close calls they encounter are never short of outrageous.
There are some good, unique characters in the film that add to some amount of originality. None are as hilarious as John Malkovich's character Marvin Boggs. Malkovich continues his run of eccentric characters with Boggs. Who is a highly paranoid former agent that believes that everyone is an operative out to get him. Malkovich gives the film the spunk that it lacks, but he is only reason that makes Red any different from its other action counterparts. And ultimately he is only element that makes it worth any of your time.
The farther the plot advances the more it continues its drop into absurdity. There are more guns and thugs than the Russian black market, and even the laws of physics are put to the test with some of these explosions and collisions. I couldn't help but get restless and had to keep looking at my watch as what felt like an hour long shootout was still unfolding before me. This is probably because Red is another recycled action flick where everything is predictable. Everything.
I am confident that after all this Red will still be a hit. People today flock to the theaters to be entertained by mindlessness. I guess, you get what you pay for when you see the previews. Red is action movie with Bruce Willis at the helm leading you on a long, predictable journey to victory over the bad guys. Again, thank you John Malkovich for making this not a complete waste of my time. But I still can't see this movie as anything else, but frat boy action porn.
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