Movie Review: RED

RED


Basic Premise
Frank Moses is a retiree with a price on his head because he's been tagged RED -- retired, extremely dangerous. Now he and his former co-workers must come out of retirement to solve the mystery behind who wants them dead.





Review
A hilarious, action-packed romance. Or maybe I should call it an action romantic comedy. Or maybe a Rom-Com Action flick. Whatever the genre designation, it was fantastic. I loved it. The jokes, the camp, the action, and the romance were on point every step of the way. They even tossed in some conspiracy theory for a little flavor.

The best part was the fact that the romance isn't forced or treated like an add-on. It's there, you know it's there, but it isn't a two-by-four smacking you on the top of your head. For the guys who want an action flick, you get your wish. For the gals who want love, you get your wish too. There's even a subtle nod to Harlequin. I could easily see this as the plot of any romance novel in the contemporary, suspense genre.

Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, and Helen Mirren worked fantastically together. They are all actors I love. Seeing them all in the same film was a real treat.

I was first introduced to Mary-Loise Parker in the first season of Weeds (and haven't seen her since but that's a totally different post). I loved her in this. There's something about her acting that makes you feel the emotions she's trying to convey. She and Bruce make a good couple.

Also, I am well on my way to becoming a die hard (no pun intended) Karl Urban fan. The man is choosing some fantastic scripts. I love seeing him act. It's getting to the point where I'll go see most anything so long as he's in it.

This movie was everything I thought Expendables would be, though Expendables failed to deliver. I loved RED so much that I'm ready to put down money to go see it again. I just might depending on how the next few days go.

Parents, this movie is violent. Duh. I don't recall any cursing. Usually movies like this are jam-packed with f-bombs left and right. There was a severe lack of any strong language, which I don't think is a bad thing. Only because of the violent nature of the film would I caution about going against the PG-13 rating.




Previews
- The Green Hornet - The more I see this trailer, the more I want to see this movie. It looks hilarious... once you get past the intro.

- Unstoppable - This is an adrenaline headache just waiting to happen. I'm looking forward to it.

- The Next Three Days - Guy's wife is accused of murder and sent to prison with no chance of getting out so he decides to break her out. *sigh* I'm not seeing this in theaters.

- The Dilemma - A guy finds out his best friend's wife is having an affair. He agonizes whether or not to tell him and wacky hijinks ensue in the interim. Ahhhh... this movie looks so... stupid. Just tell him. End of movie.

- The Fighter - Gotta love those underdog boxer movies... because I don't. Well, to be fair, I haven't really seen of them. Not interested though, so it'll probably stay that way.

- Fair Game - Looks interesting but not something I would see in the theaters. I don't normally like to go see CIA conspiracy movies in theaters anyway.

- Drive Angry - I thought this was a sequel to Ghost Rider at first. Even though it isn't, I still want to see it. Guy back from hell to get revenge on those who kidnapped his granddaughter and killed his daughter. Nick Cage does hellspawn well. And I love the title. :D