R.E.D. - Älter. Härter. Besser.

Red manages to balance the line between action thriller, and light comedy, and does it quite well.

Frank Moses(Bruce Willis) a former C.I.A. agent is now retired, and living a simply, and at times boring life. His only joy of the day when he calls Sarah(Mary Louise Parker) a customer service agent, who he likes, Frank pretends not to get a monthly check, just an excuse to talk to her. But Franks simply life is interrupted, when he learns that somebody has put hit on his life, he goes on the run, after escaping an attempt on his life. He takes Sarah along too, much to her dismay. And gets his old team back together(Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich) in hopes to uncover who is behind the hits, but will they before it's too late?

I really don't agree with the critics on this one. Red was entertaining. It's funny without trying to get overly silly. Action scenes where good. Bruce Willis, Mary Louise Parker, Helen Mirren, Karl Urban, Richard Dreyfuss, Brian Cox, and Morgan Freeman. But it's John Malkovich who steals the show, with his funny one liners. And also a great co starring role by veteran actor Ernest Borgnine.

When I first saw the trailer for The Expendables, I was already thinking of the interesting and funny relationship between the characters played by those action icons. After a zillion trailers and a movie, I was sourly disappointed. Now, I don't know who's fault it is, but relative to The Expandables, I almost haven't heard of Red before its release. However, it was exactly what I was looking for.

You have a great team of actors. They are not even action heroes, maybe that did it, but they do a great job. just look at that cast: Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Morgan Freeman, Brian Cox, Hellen Mirren, Richard Dreyfuss, even Ernest Borgnine! As the young(er) crew, Karl Urban and Mary-Louise Parker are in it and they both play well. But more than that, each character actually has a role. They don't just come in, say a few inconsequential things, then die or are completely forgotten *cough* James Remar *cough*.

So it had the ridiculously packed action and at times it looked and sounded like Ocean's Eleven, who cares? The rest was great! Even the fight scenes... not even the bad guys go out in full view firing wildly then getting shot. People actually took cover, helped each other and synchronized their moves. The lines were funny and somewhat complex and all the people on the set were clearly having fun doing what they loved.

Bottom line: I don't know, maybe because the director is unseasoned in the ways of Hollywood the movie turned out to be so good. Or maybe it was the cast. Or maybe it was the fun of it. The movie turned out great, with a few screw-ups that I am ready to ignore. The mash-up is Jason Bourne meets The Expendables via, luckily for us, just a pinch of Ocean's Eleven.

Red is a fun action thriller with some seriously high powered actors. Willis, Mirren, Malcovich, and Freeman, make for a killer squad. The storyline is interesting and not too complicated. The action scenes are well coordinated. All in all, a pretty easy watch.

You're wrinkly, have health issues and your age is higher than the calibre of your gun. So what's a senior to do? Why get a bigger gun of course. That is certainly one of many philosophies in the action comedy RED (That would be Retired Extremely Dangerous for those still living in fear of Communism. Hey, it is the right age bracket) which collects a who's who of Oscar-grade talent and has them blow stuff up real good. This is but the fourth men-on-a-mission film so far this year after The Expendables, The A-Team and The Losers, heck even Inception could fall into that group. The good news is with the exception of the latter it is the best of the bunch and by far the most fun you're bound to have this fall season.

Now onto the CIA. I don't know what they're dipping their dirty little fingers into Stateside but in addition to being at the center of some ticked off senior's attention in RED, they have been the villains in aforementioned The Losers and The A-Team as well as Salt and Knight & Day. Talk about your need for homeland security, they had better keep one of those high-tech satellites over Hollywood. At the receiving end of the Central Intelligence Agency's scope are a band of former operatives including the "kid" of the group, Frank Moses (Bruce Willis), the ailing Joe Matheson (Morgan Freeman), the brain-fried eccentric, Marvin Boggs (John Malcovich) and the sultry heartbreaker, Victoria (Helen Mirren). Brian Cox also shows up as a Ruskie who may or may not have been previously shot by one of the former. Though not having seen action in a good decade, they have been deemed "RED" by an unknown force, which means curtains for this rag-tag bunch of geriatrics.

The cast truly is great in RED, and I don't simply mean the actors in general; they simply all give full-on great, funny performances. The subtle (but hilarious) underlying lament of these characters is they all reminisce over their past lives as hardened assassins and pine just to kill one more little ol' person. More at the forefront of course is the bang-on wry humour and delicious action sequences. This is old fashion stunt work at play here (fittingly perhaps) and I'll take it over a green screen any day. These bursts of adrenaline are dumb to be sure, but not totally ludicrous; think of a cross between Die Hard and Enemy of the State. What they are not is anything short of exciting and kinetic, and are interspersed with laughs in such a way as to not drift to one focus too long. RED also gleefully embraces its comic book origins, using playful transitions as the globe-trotting commences. Yet again, director Robert Schwentke never revels in one gimmick for too long and the film goes down smooth and easy as a result.

The younger cast is more than worth mentioning as well, with the highest accolades going to Mary-Louis Parker from TV's Weeds. There is a joke in RED which I am not sure was intentioned, when after being injected with a knockout-drug, Parker's Sarah exclaims "I'm so high". She steals most scenes when given the chance but her character (a love interest of Frank who unintentionally gets caught up in the fracas) is utilized far more towards the beginning of the film. Karl Urban is also solid as a CIA operative tasked in finding the RED's but becomes suspicious at his orders which grow increasingly corrupt. I always wonder in the movie world how they would explain attack helicopters shredding an airport to the general public. The government must have some amazing PR agents on staff. Richard Dreyfus (in his second cameo of the year after Piranha) is also well used as an oily arms dealer who comes across the team's path.

Summit Entertainment is pulling out all the marketing stops for this film, and I am happy to report the results seem to be worth the glamour. While venturing through my theatres ticket checkpoint they stamped my stub "confidential" instead of ripping it, and a squad of agents clad in sunglasses and suits patrolled the lobby. The showing seemed to be a generous mix of old and new patrons and that really comes as no surprise. Even though the majority of the cast has long breached 60, these are actors generations of all ages still admire. Even if they are not the draws they once were (some of them never were) this is a great example of people showing up to see actors, performers, and not special effects. RED may be imperfect, it may not even be particularly fresh, but it exudes something movies lack far too often: fun.

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Silly is the operative word but also very entertaining. What did it for me was the cast. Helen Mirren lifts whatever she is in and the endearing thing about her is that she's not "precious" She goes for it and her fun becomes our fun. Hurrah for that! To go into the plot seems an exercise in futility because that's not what we will enjoy particularly but Mirren holding a machine gun with relish, the wonderful Mary Louise Parker tied to a bed or Brian Cox with a Russian accent and a mischievous spark in his eye. John Malkovich, I hope he soon plays a woman, he would be marvelous as Edna in "The Edna May Oliver Story" He is such fun to watch. Bruce Willis can do this kind of film in his sleep and he kind of does and Morgan Freeman? Well, he's always worth the trouble. The film has already vanished from my brain but the cast is glorious.