Robert Shwentke's Red, a film adaptation of the successful DC graphic novel series, takes its audience on a thrill ride with Frank Moses (Bruce Willis), a retired black-ops agent who's life has recently been threatened by what seems to be a group of highly trained federal agents. Upon defeating these agents and having few individuals closely related to him, Frank grabs the one gal he's interested in (Mary-Louise Parker) to prevent her from getting hurt and reassembles his team of retired assassins. The team includes Victoria (Mirren), the looney Marvin Boggs (Malkovich), and the ill but dangerous Joe Matheson (Freeman). As events unfold it seems the heros have been pinned with an assassination and it is up to them to infiltrate CIA headquarters and get to the bottom of what turns out to be quite the large cluster of conspiracy. Red is a rarity in the sense that it's a graphic novel adaptation that works (without the Frank Miller touch). With A-list actors and a uniquely humorous idea, it was hard to miss the mark with Red. Though at times relying a bit too much on witty phrases from Willis and Malkovich and on explosions, the film is carried by strong performances and character development that is many times lost in translation with comic book movies. It wasn't necessarily the old age of the characters that fueled the most laughs and interest, but perhaps both the characters' and actors' youthful on-screen charisma; had one character been recast, this group of assassin retirees may have lost a sense of chemistry that is seldom achieved such as in Red. Although there were many generic elements of this high octane action comedy, most of them were the good kind. The film's ability to carry the audiences interest, its great additional performances from actors Brian Cox and Karl Urban, its fitting soundtrack, and its creative scene transitions consisting of post cards fading into reality complete Red's solid formula, earning it a solid 3 stars.
Showing posts with label Bruce Willis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bruce Willis. Show all posts
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Review: Red (2010)
Robert Shwentke's Red, a film adaptation of the successful DC graphic novel series, takes its audience on a thrill ride with Frank Moses (Bruce Willis), a retired black-ops agent who's life has recently been threatened by what seems to be a group of highly trained federal agents. Upon defeating these agents and having few individuals closely related to him, Frank grabs the one gal he's interested in (Mary-Louise Parker) to prevent her from getting hurt and reassembles his team of retired assassins. The team includes Victoria (Mirren), the looney Marvin Boggs (Malkovich), and the ill but dangerous Joe Matheson (Freeman). As events unfold it seems the heros have been pinned with an assassination and it is up to them to infiltrate CIA headquarters and get to the bottom of what turns out to be quite the large cluster of conspiracy. Red is a rarity in the sense that it's a graphic novel adaptation that works (without the Frank Miller touch). With A-list actors and a uniquely humorous idea, it was hard to miss the mark with Red. Though at times relying a bit too much on witty phrases from Willis and Malkovich and on explosions, the film is carried by strong performances and character development that is many times lost in translation with comic book movies. It wasn't necessarily the old age of the characters that fueled the most laughs and interest, but perhaps both the characters' and actors' youthful on-screen charisma; had one character been recast, this group of assassin retirees may have lost a sense of chemistry that is seldom achieved such as in Red. Although there were many generic elements of this high octane action comedy, most of them were the good kind. The film's ability to carry the audiences interest, its great additional performances from actors Brian Cox and Karl Urban, its fitting soundtrack, and its creative scene transitions consisting of post cards fading into reality complete Red's solid formula, earning it a solid 3 stars.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Reviews from the Vault: Pulp Fiction
Ah yes. The one... the only... Pulp Fiction. Quentin Tarantino brought a tale to the screen in 1994 that was like nothing told before. Pulp Fiction follows two hit men named Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules (Samuel L. Jackson); a boxer (Bruce Willis); two bank-robbing sweethearts (Tim Roth and Amanda Plummer); and a gangster's wife (Uma Thurman), all of whom are having a complicated day. Everything is right about this film, including it's special appearance from Christopher walken. The cast alone was enough to attract viewers to the film, including arguably the best performances by Travolta and Jackson. The dialog itself was strong enough to be it's own movie and create tension in the room that could be cut with a knife. From the odd couple-like relationship between Jackson and Travolta, to the "date" night with Thurman, to the epic revenge scene posted below involving Willis and Rhames, the characters created by Tarantino and portrayed by the actors are arguably more interesting than most real life people. The viewer tends to find themselves tremendously focused for a movie that is so famously scrambled. From it's realistic elements to it's supernatural ones ( i.e. Ving Rhames' glowing suit case that is rumored to contain his soul), Pulp Fiction is one of the only movies that runs 154 minutes, yet under stays it's visit. For that I give Tarantino's cult classic a solid four stars.
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