RED
2010
PG-13
You can watch the trailer here
I don't want to say, "Oh, how the mighty have fallen," but it's the first thing that comes to mind. On paper, Red seemed like a movie destined to succeed. With an all-star cast, whose four top bills have combined for eleven Oscar nominations and two wins, and a seemingly pleasant script, this action-comedy looked for a road to success. However, what you sometimes see on paper doesn't always translate well to the silver screen. Director Robert Schwentke should've been able to do better.
The screenplay itself is relatively simple: it follows Frank Moses (Bruce Willis), a retired CIA operative, as he tries to piece together the reasoning behind a CIA hit squads attempt on his life. Joining forces with some old associates, as well as a newfound love interest, Moses attacks the CIA itself in order to find the answers he's looking for. Like I said - pretty basic. With an action-comedy, you can't really afford to have too detailed of a plot, so the storyline worked relatively well. My problem, however, was that there just wasn't enough action or comedy to carry the film. The action sequences were few and much too far in-between, and the comedy relied on a variety of desperate grabs for laughter. Yes, I laughed throughout the movie, but the laughs seemed relatively cheap, and I couldn't begin to bring myself into the goings-on of the film.
Acting-wise, I have no real complaints. Willis is a little off-key with a character that's part John McClane from Die Hard and part Mark Wahlberg from The Happening. As one can imagine, this didn't turn out very well. Luckily, some of the supporting actors partially lived up to their billing, even if the material they had to work with wasn't entirely well-formed. John Malkovich and Helen Mirren stand out about the rest, and it's always a delight to see Morgan Freeman grace the screen.
Although there's nothing glaring that I can point out from this movie, it just didn't hook me and bring me into the story. The characters seemed one-dimensional, and the screenplay just didn't allow for much room to run. A cast like this should have knocked this one out of the park, but Red simply settles for the sacrifice bunt.
PG-13
You can watch the trailer here
I don't want to say, "Oh, how the mighty have fallen," but it's the first thing that comes to mind. On paper, Red seemed like a movie destined to succeed. With an all-star cast, whose four top bills have combined for eleven Oscar nominations and two wins, and a seemingly pleasant script, this action-comedy looked for a road to success. However, what you sometimes see on paper doesn't always translate well to the silver screen. Director Robert Schwentke should've been able to do better.
The screenplay itself is relatively simple: it follows Frank Moses (Bruce Willis), a retired CIA operative, as he tries to piece together the reasoning behind a CIA hit squads attempt on his life. Joining forces with some old associates, as well as a newfound love interest, Moses attacks the CIA itself in order to find the answers he's looking for. Like I said - pretty basic. With an action-comedy, you can't really afford to have too detailed of a plot, so the storyline worked relatively well. My problem, however, was that there just wasn't enough action or comedy to carry the film. The action sequences were few and much too far in-between, and the comedy relied on a variety of desperate grabs for laughter. Yes, I laughed throughout the movie, but the laughs seemed relatively cheap, and I couldn't begin to bring myself into the goings-on of the film.
Acting-wise, I have no real complaints. Willis is a little off-key with a character that's part John McClane from Die Hard and part Mark Wahlberg from The Happening. As one can imagine, this didn't turn out very well. Luckily, some of the supporting actors partially lived up to their billing, even if the material they had to work with wasn't entirely well-formed. John Malkovich and Helen Mirren stand out about the rest, and it's always a delight to see Morgan Freeman grace the screen.
Although there's nothing glaring that I can point out from this movie, it just didn't hook me and bring me into the story. The characters seemed one-dimensional, and the screenplay just didn't allow for much room to run. A cast like this should have knocked this one out of the park, but Red simply settles for the sacrifice bunt.
Movie Review Summary:
Grade: C-
Thumb... Sideways
Grade: C-
Thumb... Sideways
No comments:
Post a Comment