Red (2010)

Retired Extremely Dangerous - that would be the expanded full title. When I first heard about the movie I thought that finally I'll have the opportunity to see an action movie with Bruce Willis in something more substantial than the figurative role in "The Expendables", the so-to-speak comedy "Cop Out" or the lamest "Die Hard" in the series = the last one. When I've seen the trailer my expectations did fall a long way down however, and I became fully convinced that "Surrogates" will probably still remain the best film starring the aforementioned in the last three years (which considering that it's SF as a genre, best means about a fifth of what was "The Fifth Element" once ...). Even more ... when I heard that "Red" is based on comics ... (as it was "Surrogates" by the way) I said it's clear how it's gonna be, and I "transferred" it from the "to see" movie list to the "to see when I'll have more time" movie list (which is like about two years after the premiere ...). And so I left apart "Red" until I found out what movies have been nominated for a Golden Globe next year. I do not put much price on the Golden Globes in general (the jury which gives the awards is quite small in number compared to Oscar, BAFTA, etc) but anyway, when I've seen that "Red" is on the list of Best Picture Nominees - even if it is the comedy/musicals section - it managed to wake up my interest again ... and it wasn't for nothing :) ...

So, in the story we have him - Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) - retired CIA agent who spends his days flirting (or at least trying to ...) with her - Sarah Ross (Mary Louise Parker) - telephone operator at an administrative department in charge of his pension. Well, this romantic comedy beginning takes a turn to something closer to "Die Hard" when during a quiet night the retired agent's house and implicitly also he, is visited by a detachment of assault troops. After transforming the residence into swiss cheese and neutralizing the commando with efficiency worthy of a young John McClane, our agent decides to step out temporarily from retirement, go to Kansas where literally grabs his potential girlfriend (based on the idea that along him life is more secure, or at least it feels like living between bullet showers), and starts an investigation that would reveal who and why is hunting him. And at this point we come to the interesting part of the film. I can say that the former CIA agent is pursued by also the CIA, I can say that he starts to gather a small group of other retired agents to help him, I can say that everybody in the small group seems to be on a "erase" blacklist, and I think I can say even more without giving too much of the story, but I will stop at that. The idea is that it's been a while since I actually have seen a so consistent story in an action movie. Especially given the fact it's an action movie that doesn't want to be thriller, drama, or anything else more sophisticated, but just a plain action movie with a clear tone of self-irony/comedy/satire vis-à-vis the entire secret agent "concept". To be more specific we have a gradually revealed plot with a final twist close to a Bourne movie, filled with moments along the way which look so "sci-fi", that actually seem to be taken from a "Space Rambo" or smth like that (but these are intended to look like this and are not accidentally exaggerated as the action sequences in the "Transporter" series for example).

I won't get into more technical details because the film's strength probably lies in the cast filled with known names - besides those already mentioned: Bruce Willis (who saved many films such as those mentioned in the beginning, but fortunately here at last has a decent script) and Mary Louise Parker ( who hasn't impressed me ever up to this movie ... don't know exactly why it happens here .. probably reminds me of somebody .. :) ), we have the group of former agents, spies, etc. who are Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich (in an amazing role as a paranoid guy), Helen Mirren, Brian Cox, Richard Dreyfuss, Ernest Borgnine.

Conclusion: The film is refreshing, it's funny and it's complex enough to exceed your expectations if you have only seen the trailer :) That being said, I hope next year I'll have time to write enough, hopefully not so often in a hurry, and most important better and less boring posts :) For the moment: Happy New Year!

Rating: 4 out of 5