Movie Review: "Red"

   Watching movies is one of my favorite activities. It gives me an opportunity to be taken away from this mortal plane of existence and experience the world through the vision of some twisted director or genius writer. I only have one wish when watching a movie...to be thoroughly entertained. That said, lets jump right in on my thoughts of the latest film to be graced with my vision.

The Cast: 

Bruce Willis, Mary-Louise Parker, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Karl Urban,  Morgan Freeman, Brian Cox.

   The cast has some pretty heavy hitters in terms of talent and blockbuster box office draw. Bruce Willis is a bonafide action star and does what he does best...look cool as a cucumber while killing the bad guys. Helen Mirren doesn’t have much wiggle room to really let her acting skills shine, but she makes her role extremely enjoyable to watch and brings more depth to her character than anyone else could. Morgan Freeman has even less wiggle room to unleash his incredible talent, but makes the most of what he’s given and delivers as much as anyone could. Karl Urban is a very talented actor (loved his performance in Star Trek) and delivers believability to his role of a CIA operative doing his job, with some reservations. Brian Cox is very talented and delivers a very enjoyable rendition of an old retired Russian spy. John Malkovich is awesome...and kept me glued to the screen with hefty anticipation of what he was going to say or do next. When it comes to playing crazy or imbalanced characters, few do it better than him.

The Plot: 

   Bruce Willis is retired CIA analyst Frank Moses, living life very simply and lonely, trying to make a connection over the phone with Mary-Louise Parker, a customer service representative, when he suddenly finds himself the target of a hit squad. With seemingly no reason to be a target and certain that his romantic interest is now in danger as well, he sets out to find out who is trying to kill them and why. To do this he enlists the help of various friends along the way, inadvertently assembling them into one of the deadliest hit squads to ever grace the silver screen.

   Karl Urban is tasked with the elimination of Frank Moses but soon comes to understand that Moses is much, much more than he was originally led to believe and the powers that be pulling the strings...have woven a very tangled web. Brian Cox is a Russian operative and former lover of Mirren’s character that finally has the opportunity to work with his former enemies to uncover a secret that is being kept at the cost of many lives. What follows next is a blistering ride of guns and explosions wrapped in misdirection, mystery and comedy.

   

The Verdict: 

   This movie is a nice action-comedy that didn’t feel like a waste of time. However, I was sitting through it seemingly in anticipation for something more to happen. There was only one scene in the entire film that I felt the need to rewind because of a “holy crap, did you see that?” factor. Designed to be an action-comedy, it could have used a little more of both to really make the impact on me that paying those big names was supposed to do.

   I’m an action junkie and love a good laugh mixed in with explosions, car chases, and a hail of bullets. This movie was certainly my cup of tea...but as fond as I am about cinnamon...this movie only gets two and a half sticks, out of five, in my cup.






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