Red (Film) Catch-All

I was a bit surprised this film didn't have a thread of its own yet, though at the same time I only heard a single blurb of it around comic-con before some previews this week.

To simplify, it's what The Expendables really should have been. A bunch of older CIA agents considered RED (Retired, Extremely Dangerous) are being killed off and a group of the ones still alive band together to figure out why.

The plot isn't important and the film only spends as much time as necessary, really. Yet at the same time you don't feel chump-changed for it. You get enough, but part of that I think is because of the characters, something that The Expendables severely lacked.

Speaking of the cast, the main hitters here are:

- Bruce Willis as the quiet bad ass
- Morgan Freeman as a sly fox turned old pervert
- John Malkovich as one of the greatest variations of crazy ever
- Brian Cox as a happy Russian guy
- Helen Mirren as a delightful British woman that carries guns in her purse
- Karl Urban as a guy in a suit that kills people

That's hardly doing them justice, but Mary-Louise Parker also manages to pull off a normal middle-aged woman caught in a slump of a life that is suddenly turned upside down to great comedic effect. Ernest Borgnine also has a great small role in the film as well.

Oddly enough it kind of felt like a date movie if you had a girl that was much more interested in explosions and pulling heavy artillery out of a stuffed swine than, well, your average date tripe.

I cannot recommend this film enough. It was fantastic and had my friends and I laughing the whole time. Definite winner.

Ernest Borgnine? I'm in.

I'll be seeing this on the 24th with my parents. I'm looking forward to it, first movie I'll have seen in theaters since Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.

I plan of seeing it in the near future, but I read the comic when it originally came out (big Warren Ellis fan), and I fear my affection for the comic may have pre-spoiled this movie for me, as what I have seen bears no relation at all with what I've read. The comic was about a retired agent who has committed acts so detestable during his career that when a new CIA director takes over and sees his file, he orders the agent and his entire family immediately killed to prevent the public from ever finding out. With his family murdered, the agent's only recourse is to become the vicious bastard he was trying to put behind himself and slaughter his way to DC, killing everyone who is even remotely aware he exists. Very little in the way of comedy, and no adorable Malkoviches talking to pet weaponry.

Still, if it's as good as I've been hearing, mebbe I'll enjoy it despite it's mutilating the source material.

I thought this was about the Red One Camera for a second.

Atomicvideohead wrote:

I thought this was about the Red One Camera for a second.

I thought it was about Trois Couleurs: Rouge.

I thought it was about a young Malcolm X.

ruhk wrote:

I plan of seeing it in the near future, but I read the comic when it originally came out (big Warren Ellis fan), and I fear my affection for the comic may have pre-spoiled this movie for me, as what I have seen bears no relation at all with what I've read. The comic was about a retired agent who has committed acts so detestable during his career that when a new CIA director takes over and sees his file, he orders the agent and his entire family immediately killed to prevent the public from ever finding out. With his family murdered, the agent's only recourse is to become the vicious bastard he was trying to put behind himself and slaughter his way to DC, killing everyone who is even remotely aware he exists. Very little in the way of comedy, and no adorable Malkoviches talking to pet weaponry.

Still, if it's as good as I've been hearing, mebbe I'll enjoy it despite it's mutilating the source material.

Yeah, when I first heard about it the impression I got from people was that it was nothing like the comic. It didn't feel very Warren Ellis to me either when I watched it. I guess it's kind of like Wanted in that regard, where it is only loosely related to what happened in the comic.

Still, for what it was, the film was awesome.

ccesarano wrote:

Oddly enough it kind of felt like a date movie if you had a girl that was much more interested in explosions and pulling heavy artillery out of a stuffed swine than, well, your average date tripe.

My wife loves Helen Mirren and on her suggestion, we're going on a date to see it tonight. Score!

I'll chime in to say: it is awesome and fun, I took my wife to see it on a date night and she loved it too, it bears little resemblance to the description of the comic source Ruhk described, John Malkovich brings the crazy and it is hilarious to behold, Mary-Louise is quite scrumptious, everyone else is badass, and Dhelor's comment kind of threw me off guard for a moment there.

I thought this thread was about the upcoming SyFy original movie, Red, featuring Felicia Day.

There's a 2008 movie entitled Red as well according to IMDB. Apparently Red is a popular title.

bennard wrote:

I thought this thread was about the upcoming SyFy original movie, Red, featuring Felicia Day.

I saw the trailer for that... doesn't look good.

What's great is that the youngest person in the cast is Karl Urban at 38. Mary Louise-Parker is in her 40's and everybody else is over 50 or 60. We need more pictures with older casts.

I thought this movie was about the continuing adventures of Morgan Freeman's character in Shawshank Redemption.

This movie is awesome, MUCH better than I expected!

It's nice to see an action movie with a sense of humor again.

ruhk wrote:

I plan of seeing it in the near future, but I read the comic when it originally came out (big Warren Ellis fan), and I fear my affection for the comic may have pre-spoiled this movie for me, as what I have seen bears no relation at all with what I've read. The comic was about a retired agent who has committed acts so detestable during his career that when a new CIA director takes over and sees his file, he orders the agent and his entire family immediately killed to prevent the public from ever finding out. With his family murdered, the agent's only recourse is to become the vicious bastard he was trying to put behind himself and slaughter his way to DC, killing everyone who is even remotely aware he exists. Very little in the way of comedy, and no adorable Malkoviches talking to pet weaponry.

Still, if it's as good as I've been hearing, mebbe I'll enjoy it despite it's mutilating the source material.

Warren Ellis seems pleased with the outcome.

Having never read the source material, I liked it. It was about what I expected from the trailers.

Not sure what my thoughts on that are. Could be the cynic in me, though, skeptical of sequels to movies that were fine on their own.