Red
Starring Bruce Willis, Mary-Louise Parker, Morgan Freeman and Karl Urban
Directed by Robert Schwentke (The Time Traveler’s Wife)
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action violence and brief strong language
Appropriate for ages 13+
RED, which stands for Retired Extremely Dangerous, is the code given to ex-CIA black ops agents that could pose a threat to national security. When retired agent Frank Moses (Willis) is forced to escape a CIA assassination plot, he gets together with some of his old RED cohorts to discover the cause for wanting him out of the picture. When they uncover a secret plot set up by the Vice President, they attempt to turn the tides on their would be killers.
This very unique film plays as both a thriller and a comedy with loads of action and laughter throughout. The cast assembled here is like a who’s who of 50+ year old thespians having a late mid-life crisis. Due to the smart script by Erich and Jon Hoeber, the movie never slows down and is full of surprises. The biggest surprise though is Karl Urban who is best known for his role of Bones in the latest Star Trek reboot. Due to his ability to steal every scene he is a part of, he is very much an actor I can’t wait to see more of.
The difficulty this film will have is appealing to a younger crowd and convincing the adult audience that it’s okay to see this one in theaters.
After all, although this film has a great appeal, it definitely lacks a broad appeal. And the audience that is most likely to see a film like this has been notorious for waiting for the DVD release.
So is it worth seeing now or waiting? If you are in need of a fun night out and don’t want to have to fight teenagers keeping you from enjoying it – I would say yes. This is probably the greatest chance you’ll have to see an adult-skewing big action flick without many of the distractions you find in this genre. B+