Movie review – RED

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RED
Directed by Robert Schwentke
Starring Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, and John Malkovich

If you’ve ever wondered what your grandparents would look like if they were wielding AK-47s, then you need to watch Red.

Red is an action comedy set in different locales around the mainland United States. It follows Frank Moses (Bruce Willis), a retired, extremely dangerous “RED” agent who narrowly escapes an assassination attempt by a professional hit squad. Fleeing for his life, he picks up his love interest, Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker), a pension agent that he’s been finding excuses to call for several months, and kidnaps her for her own safety. As they try to make sense of the attack, they meet up with all of Frank’s old CIA buddies: his friend Joe Matheson (Morgan Freeman), an extremely paranoid but capable retired agent; Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich); and another weapons expert, Victoria (Helen Mirren). Meanwhile, Frank is being pursued by top CIA agent William Cooper (Karl Urban), who is doing everything he can to stop the retirees but fails at every turn.

As an action comedy, Red does not fail to deliver. As with anything Bruce Willis is in, there are a ton of gunfights and a lot of action. These actors are at the top of their game, and there are a few excellent performances. Helen Mirren as Victoria instantly made me think of Martha Stewart with a machine gun, and she pulled it off brilliantly. Karl Urban as William Cooper was also exceptional. It was amusing to watch him get taken to town repeatedly by the old folks and never give up. Of course, John Malkovich as Marvin Boggs was the cherry on the sundae for this movie. His performance as Marvin Boggs was phenomenal. Many of the best scenes in the movie were focused on his truly insane character.

Overall, this movie is a must see this fall. It merges comedy with action very well, and although there were some surreal moments in the action, it has a solid plot and excellent comedic writing. With such high-caliber actors in the main roles, Red is solid and entertaining. It will satisfy both your craving to see old people firing sniper rifles with total indifference and your craving to see an insane man attack people with a stuffed pig.

Edward Dodd
Contributor

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