Red

So I had actually been wanting to see this movie since I heard about it mainly because of the oh so impressive cast. I was also hoping it would be a success for Summit . I ended up seeing it as part of the Movie Mondays Film Club. It opened up on October 15 and made over $21 million on it’s opening weekend.

The plot is about a rag-tag team of retired special ops agents consisting of Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich, and Morgan Freeman. Also rounding out the impressive cast are Mary-Louise Parker, Richard Dreyfuss, and Brian Cox. The team reassembles to save Bruce Willis when he becomes a target on a hit list for super deadly assassins.

I’m always concerned when an action movie is only PG-13 and needless to say I had reservations going into this movie as well. Somehow they were able to pull off believable action and violence, more or less, in this movie. The plot was interesting enough to keep you entertained throughout, although there were several cliché’s strewn about. The plot was basically character driven and they were what kept my attention. The characters were unique and plausible. They were quirky enough to remain likeable although I suspect this outcome was more a result of the actor’s abilities rather than the script and dialogue.

The editing in this movie was nicely done and right on pace with the plot. There really weren’t any lags in action and nothing felt out of sequence. There were some pretty awesome action sequences that were done very well in this movie, in particular there was a shot were Bruce simply stands up from a moving car. It was seamless. I liked the director’s attention to the cinematography in this movie, while it was nothing extremely special, it was thoughtful. There was one shot in the car with Bruce Willis and Mary-Louise Parker than pans from the back of the car to the front and turns around to face the actors, all in one continuous shot! So instead of just cutting from a shot in the back of the car to the front, he had a camera run along a track on the ceiling of the car ( I must assume ) in order to get this shot. I always love it when they don’t choose the easy way out in regards to cinematography. While I’m certain, this shot will go unnoticed to almost everyone, I really enjoyed it.

Like I’ve already mentioned, the entertainment factor came from the actors in this movie. It was just a delight to watch these highly experienced actors work with each other. Even though this cast has achieved a cumulative number of three Oscar wins and at least nine nominations, they all have a priceless aptitude for comedy as well. I wouldn’t call this a laugh out loud comedy, but it was quite humorous. I really enjoyed Helen Mirren and John Malkovich in this movie. I’d read that they originally wanted to get Meryl Streep for her part, and while who doesn’t love Streep, I’m so glad they went the other direction.

Overall, I was a little surprised that this movie was as well done as it was. I was a little scared coming into the movie but somehow they were able to pull off a humorous yet believable PG13 action movie. What’s even more surprising is they pulled it off with a budget of only $58 million. I was thoroughly entertained with this movie. “Time to open up the pig” – Red