RED

I’ve never been retired, but from my understanding it takes some getting used to.  To go from a life filled with day to day responsibilities outside of your home to suddenly being free most of the time can be hard to adjust to, especially for an ex-CIA agent.  That’s where we meet Frank Moses, dormant and domestic.  He spends his days calling the pension offices to falsely report missing pension checks just to talk to Sarah Ross who works in the call center.  His listless existence is shattered when a three man hit-squad break into his house.  He kills them, and then kills the extra squad stationed outside.  After fleeing his bullet-ridden house he is set on a path to discover who wants him dead and get his old team back together for a post-retirement mission.

“RED” is a fun adventure that will keep you entertained from beginning to end.  The characters are just deep enough to make you care, but the star of “RED” is the action set-pieces.  The mystery of the movie is interesting and keeps the story flowing as we meet new retired agents, each with their own kooky persona.  John Malkovich plays a laugh-out-loud hilarious conspiracy nut whose paranoia drives much of the comedy of the movie.  Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman are successful at playing the straight men, Helen Mirren and Mary-Louise Parker are the bad ass females and love interests of Brian Cox and Bruce Willis respectively.  Brian Cox plays Ivan Simanov who used to be a Russian spy working against the gang in the service, but now has become a friend.  His Russian accent leaves something to be desired, but it doesn’t distract from the movie too much.  The retired CIA agents are chased by an ambitious current CIA agent named William Cooper played by none other than Bones himself, Karl Urban. 

“RED” is a lot of fun. I recommend it if you enjoyed films like “Shoot ‘Em Up” and “Lucky Number Sleven.” 

A surprising 4.5/5