Movie Review: RED (2010)

Frank Moses is a retired CIA assassin. Someone is trying to kill him and he survives a high tech hit team. He goes to rescue the woman he has been talking over the phone with and gets his old team back together to survive and discover why he has been targeted. On his trail is a CIA man being used by his superiors to do someone’s dirty work that is tied in with a mission that Frank was involved in (several years ago).

RED is a funny and very violent action film (loosely based on the comic book written by Warren Ellis). The postcards are an excellent way to bridge changes in locations for the story. Bruce Willis is charming and he plays off everyone in this film. John Malkovich threatens to steal every scene he is in (the scenes with the pink stuffed pig come to mind) while Helen Mirren is a class act as Victoria (it’s nice to see her shoot a gun). Malkovich as Boggs is a character filled with paranoia (years of exposure to LSD) and it is the guy that Malkovich excels at playing. Morgan Freeman is at his best when he plays a government official for one scene.

It is a great action ensemble piece that doesn’t take itself too seriously. I hope they don’t try to make a sequel to this film. RED shows us that you can make a well-written action film with good comedic timing as long as you have the right cast. RED has all of those elements.

This movie review is ©10-20-2010 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. Send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com