Red can best be described by simply shrugging one’s shoulders. It’s the perfect physical reaction to fit this action/comedy where there is very little to hold onto or be thrilled by. With such a talented ensemble, this isn’t nearly as fun as it should’ve been. Robert Schwentke’s latest is a decently watchable film which is difficult to be excited or completely bored by.
Schwentke’s comic book adaptation of Warren Ellis’s gritty material lacks in punch and smarts. For a film that runs just over an hour and fifty minutes it feels tired, similar to its protagonist early on. Schwenkte’s handle of pacing is not as tight and as breakneck as needed. The stretches of characters conversing at length about the conspiracy going on, which is paper thin to begin with, is almost difficult to watch. If one forgets what’s going on, and it’s understandable why, the galore of exposition will remind you of the hollow events playing out. By the end of the film, it’s impossible to fully detail or recall who is out to kill the crew or why.
Most of the time when Bruce Willis is an action hero mode, we have pure movie magic. Here, not so much. Willis has always been an actor that you love for his average-joe sense and witty banter, but he has little to do to recapture that same grand screen-presence we’ve seen him triumph countless times before. John McClane is a character you want to save the day. With Frank Moses, that’s not the case. Moses is superior to most standard action protagonists, but he’s not the lovable hero we’ve seen Willis previously capture. There’s very little charm to Moses.
Frank Moses himself is retired, but extremely dangerous; hence the title. After a mysterious hit is put on him that results in his house being shot up to pieces, he’s pulled back into the world of espionage and gunfire. Likewise, his old colleagues aren’t exactly in their prime but also haven’t completely lost their touch: Joe Matheson (Morgan Freeman) is now living a quiet and dull life at a retirement home. Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich) is an over-the-top paranoid loner, and Victoria (Helen Mirren) is one of the few old school members that takes the odd job here and there to stay in the action. With the hits put on them, they’re all reunited to discover who is out for their heads.
This at most should make up for about ninety minutes, but there’s a fairly pointless (and prominent) subplot thrown in: Frank Moses is lonely and in love. Those love interested shoes are filled and wasted by Mary-Louise Parker. If the character of Sarah Ross was to be stripped from the film all together, it would be difficult to imagine anything substantial would be drastically altered. She’s inconsequential to the events unfolding. Parker does a respectable job and isn’t annoying like most love interests, but it’s a lackluster role.
Tonally, Red feels utterly self-satisfied almost to the point of being obnoxious. A film like this should be “cool,” and it seems to think that it’s just that. There’s an overabundance of self-referential moments reminding you how fun all the mayhem is and while sometimes that is the case, no one needs to be constantly reminded of it. The level of failed self-awareness is a glaring annoyance. Its tongue isn’t kept firmly in its cheek, but rather constantly shoved in your face.