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It must not have been difficult to obtain the green light for 2010's Red. All the correct elements for a lively, successful action-comedy were in place - it's based on a graphic novel, and the cast is comprised of a number of excellent actors who are now in their autumnal years. The cast is by far the biggest selling point of the enterprise, but this half-hearted action-comedy merely proves that even Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich, Brian Cox, Karl Urban, Ernest Borgnine and Richard Dreyfuss cannot enliven an incredibly substandard screenplay and a boring storyline. Despite the cast, director Robert Schwentke (Flightplan) infused Red with an appalling sense of kinetic movement - the film alternates between stale, static dialogue scenes and hyper-stylised action set-pieces. With boredom perpetually setting in between the sprays of bullets, the film is forgettable and underwhelming.
Retired black-ops CIA agent Frank Moses (Willis) is having trouble adapting to his new mundane lifestyle in the suburbs of Cleveland. The best thing in his life is a phone relationship with Sarah (Parker), a daydreaming government employee. When a hit squad attacks Frank's home and attempts to assassinate him, he realises that something is afoot, and slips back into action in order to investigate. After picking up Sarah to protect her, Frank's investigation leads to him discovering that there's a special list targeting him for assassination. For assistance in cracking the mystery, Frank recruits his old pals Joe (Freeman), Victoria (Mirren), and Marvin (Malkovich). Assigned to hunt Frank down is CIA agent William Cooper (Urban), who soon learns of Frank's RED status, or "Retired, Extremely Dangerous". Eventually the convoluted plot ends up involving the United States Vice President (McMahon) and a rich industrialist (Dreyfuss).
Based on Warren Ellis' comic book series, Red is hindered by an unnecessarily convoluted plotline filled with betrayals, conspiracies and assassinations. Evidently this confused director Schwentke, who was visibly keen to liven things up during the action scenes but was unaware of how to handle the clunky story which he had to tend to before the serious bloodshed could commence. Unfortunately, the screenplay is not as limber or lively as Schwentke would like, and the result is a motion picture that succeeds in the surface details but is a ponderous bore in terms of suspense and intrigue. Red simply limps along, with Schwentke unable to grapple with the tonal shifts or inject requisite energy into the dialogue scenes. Humour beats are generally held too long and feel out-of-place, while actors such as Dreyfuss and Malkovich appear to be given free reign to mug as much as they like. When it wants to be, Red is fun enough, and it certainly has its moment from time to time. It's therefore unfortunate that there's far too much narrative flab and not nearly enough action, wit or energy.
To the credit of the makers behind Red, the film begins with promise. It opens with an interesting examination of Frank's struggle to settle down into a suburban lifestyle after years of dedicating himself to his profession. Screenwriters Joe and Erich Hoeber afforded a welcome sense of humour to these early scenes, and the phone flirtations between Frank and Sarah are pleasant enough. Had the script continued to concentrate on Frank and Sarah's relationship once their lives come under fire, Red might have proved to be something special. Instead, the interplay fades into the background as the humdrum story takes centre stage and the supporting characters are introduced. And the larger the story gets, the further it drifts from the good stuff. It's hardly surprising that the script is so anaemic, flat and disjointed, as Joe and Erich Hoeber were also responsible for the woefully inert 2009 actioner Whiteout.
Bruce Willis was clearly on autopilot in the lead role of Frank Moses. Willis adopted his typical screen persona, but his work is distinctly dry - he seems uninterested, and there are not nearly enough one-liners for Willis to disperse. In fact, the star's cameo appearance in The Expendables, which amounted to five minutes, had more worthwhile humour. Also in the film for the pay-cheques are Morgan Freeman and Helen Mirren, whose roles are strictly one-dimensional. John Malkovich appears to be playing an extension of his role from Burn After Reading, but he was tragically restricted by the PG-13 rating which forbade extensive profanity. Mary-Louise Parker, meanwhile, is amiable enough. However, the less said about the remainder of the cast, the better - even Richard Dreyfuss and Brian Cox are boring. Urban is compelling enough, but he does not truly own the role - he's very interchangeable.
Red is long-winded, predictable, conventional and monotonous. It's also irretrievably neutered due to the PG-13 rating - it constantly feels as if the film is pulling punches, with awkward cutaways to avoid capturing bloodshed, and people just dropping to the ground without any discernible bullet-wounds. With the freedom of an R-rating (the picture was produced for a mere $50 million, after all), Red could have been superior - if ever so slightly. But this is half the problem. The other half is the lack of sparkling wit in the screenplay. With all intrigue having faded by the third act, the film becomes a sluggish chore which takes too long to reach its climax. The action beats are at times enjoyable, but there are too many potholes in the pace to justify seeing the film in its entirety.
3.8/10
