Review: RED

Grade: A

Frank Moses is a retired CIA agent living what he has come to think of as a dull existence in retirement. One day, his quiet life is disturbed when a hit squad descends upon his house. Furious and determined to get to the bottom of who is trying to kill him, he meets up a woman, Sarah, whom he has been talking to on the phone a lot, and explains his situation. Then in order to go even further into his investigation and to fight back against those trying to kill him, he seeks out some old friends who are retired assassins and spies. Together they all uncover a deep secret that goes much higher than they could have imagined.

This movie is fantastic and pure entertainment to watch. RED, which stands for Retired Extremely Dangerous, is based on a DC graphic novel by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner. The story is a lot of fun and the action is top notch. Not to mention that the movie is full of laughs. All of the characters are just great. It is a lot of fun to see what retired life might be like for people who used to lead very dangerous and exciting lives. The story is very enjoyable and the writing is fantastic. This movie really manages to balance all of the action, suspense and comedy just right. I can’t wait to go see this again. There are moments in this movie that will make you want to get out of your seat and cheer.

One of the reasons that this movie is so great is the casting choices. Bruce Willis (Die Hard, Cop Out) plays ex-CIA operative, Frank Moses. Willis is great as he has always been the best at mixing action with comedy. Somehow this man just manages to get more badass with age. Mary-Louise Parker (Solitary Man, TVs Weeds) plays Sarah Ross, a call center worker whom Frank has feelings for. She was great in this movie and was a lot of fun to watch in this type of movie, she really held her own. Morgan Freeman (Invictus, The Dark Knight) plays Joe Matheson, a former CIA operative himself now living in a retirement community. Freeman was great in this role and it was nice to see him to something a little different. He nailed the action and the jokes so well. John Malkovich (Burn After Readin, Being John Malkovich) plays Marvin Boggs, a very paranoid former CIA op. Malkovich was probably the funniest part of the movie. He was absolutely perfect for this role and kept me laughing in every scene. Helen Mirren (The Queen, State of Play) plays Victoria, a retired assassin. For some reason, Mirren’s presence in this movie is part of what made it so great. Something about a magnificent actress like her known more for playing rather sophisticated and proper characters, running around in this movie with a huge sniper rifle and firing a machine gun… priceless. The movie also features Carl Urban, Richard Dreyfuss, Brian Cox, Ernest Borgnine, Rebecca Pidgeon and more.

If you like action and you like comedies, RED is the movie for you. The whole cast is just great in it and the movie is just plain fun to watch. It’s movies like this that make it worth it to go to the theater.

Great quote: “I never thought I’d say this but… I’m getting the pig!”