Red

Many action movies strike out for different things. “Snakes on a Plane” attempted to mix suspense and action (and awesome one-liners). “The Matrix” attempted to mix ‘philosophy’ with action. Some movies are simply for action, such as “Rambo” and “Predator”. “Red” mixes action and humor, and not simply as jokes thrown in amongst the explosions and gunfire. The movie almost gleefully offers outrageous action sequences, obviously pointing out the hyperbole of some scenes. Unfortunately, the movie seems to forget itself at times and tries to weave a serious skein of a love story and some semblance of a moral lesson into an otherwise exciting and humorous film. Nevertheless, “Red” manages to stay pleasing through to the end.

“Red”, based on a graphic novel of the same name from D.C. Comics, is directed by Robert Schwentke and stars a massive cast: Bruce Willis as Frank Moses; Mary-Louise Parker as Sarah Ross; John Malkovich as Marvin Boggs; Morgan Freeman as Joe Matheson; and Helen Mirren as Victoria. The film takes place sometime in the present, and ranges across the United States.

The film opens with Frank milling about his home in retirement. Little appears special about him, aside perhaps from keeping in good shape and his crush on his pension advisor, Sarah Ross. This, however, is not to last as Frank is suddenly assaulted by assassins in the night. Frank is revealed to be an ex-CIA agent, and the attack sets him on a race to gather his old CIA team together in order to solve the mystery behind who wants him, and them, dead. At the same time, Frank picks up Sarah and, through their forced partnership, slowly tries to win her heart.

As stated before, Red delights in nearly absurd action sequences. Frank is the quintessential ‘bad-ass’; everything he does is spectacular, and Bruce Willis is perfectly paired with the part. From the beginning, when Frank disposes of his would-be assassins, the audience is left with a sense of his impressive skills and, foremost, with the coolness of his behavior. Frank performs several other stunts, but one stands out for its blatant absurdity: During a chase, Frank spins the police car he stole and, while it spins, steps out of the car while firing his pistol in one fluid motion. The car barely misses him as it spins to a stop. One further example: After Frank meets up with Marvin, the two have a gunfight with several assassins. One fires an RPG (already obvious overkill) at Marvin and he retaliates by shooting one bullet at the RPG. Not only does the bullet hit the RPG dead center, but it detonates it and kills the assassin. Most of the first half of “Red” is replete with these outrageous scenes, though the action begins to die down near the end of the movie. These scenes revel in the absurd, rendering them simultaneously humorous and ‘bad-ass’. These exemplify what is good about “Red”. Unfortunately, the film soon latches onto its story and forgets what made it appealing.

“Red”’s plot revolves around two obstacles and a moral lesson: Frank’s wooing of Sarah and Frank discovering why someone wants to kill him, on the one hand, and loyalty/solidarity, or perhaps friendship, on the other. The latter half of “Red” switches gears with regard to the plot; previously, the movie considered things very humorously and light-hearted. Frank's abduction of Sarah and her attempts to escape are comical, and Frank is so much more skilled than his would-be assassins that there is no danger to his life. After Frank's team is finally reunited, however, the stakes suddenly ramp up; Sarah and Frank's relationship becomes much more serious and the danger presented to Frank's team is much more real. Frank narrowly misses death twice, and the movie makes us realize that Frank must face his mortality. This dramatic change in style comes off as very unsettling; why is the love and danger presented around Frank initially so frivolous, and then suddenly so grave? Though some vague attempts at humor are made in the latter half, they simply feel hollow compared to the events earlier. While this should be understandable within the context of the film (Frank does not yet realize the gravity of his situation until halfway through), the tone changes so dramatically that the movie comes off as disjointed, rather than mirroring Frank's level of seriousness. This disjunction prevents “Red” from really standing out as an action-comedy and instead creates some sort of a chimera of action-comedy-romance-suspense-drama that fails to exemplify any one part with greatness. The moral lesson, the author admits, may be tenuous; “Red” is certainly not a morality play. Yet “Red” smacks of a lesson: that nobody, even someone as 'bad-ass' as Frank Moses, can accomplish something alone. Frank is woefully inept without his team. Even when his team splits up in the final scene, they still rely on each other when things begin to go wrong. It is only through their teamwork that they succeed. While this is certainly not a bad thing to have, this lesson stands in opposition to the beginning of the movie which paints Frank out to be a one-man army. The gravity of this point, however, is certainly debatable.

“Red” is an enjoyable action-comedy that tries not to take itself too seriously. The humor derives from delighting in the absurdity of previous action movies; “Red” exaggerates action scenes to the point of the ludicrous. The film forgets itself, however, and tries to finish the plot in a very serious manner. This disjunction is too obvious and jarring to be overlooked, and this keeps “Red” from really excelling as either an action-comedy or an action-suspense movie. “Red” is simply a decent, if sometimes humorous, action movie.