Contributed By Howard Kuay
Once an action hero, always an action hero.
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| PHOTOS COURTESY OF SHAW ORGANISATION |
Veteran star Bruce Willis, along with an all-star cast including Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren, kicks middle age in the butt with this action-comedy flick adapted from the cult D.C. Comics graphic novel by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner.
RED (which stands for Retired, Extremely Dangerous) is about a group of ex-CIA top agents who are now living mundane retired lives, until they find themselves at the other end of the law. Their friends are dropping dead one by one, and they’re next. Reason: the secrets they were once privy to has just made them the Agency’s top targets. Now framed for assassination, they must use all of their collective cunning, experience and teamwork to stay one step ahead of their deadly pursuers while unravelling one of the biggest political cover-ups in the government’s history—think Ocean’s 11 with a good dose of espionage and over-the-top action.
This being Robert Schwentke’s action directorial debut, RED shines in terms of the technicalities such as the camera angling and pacing, but is slightly lacking in the story-telling department—there’re a few good gags and sequences, but nothing mind-blowing. Thankfully, the delicious chemistry among the cast members plugs the hole where the plot should have been.
Still, seeing Willis swooning in love, Freeman in a retirement home and Mirren waving a sniper rifle makes this an adventure worth catching.
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