Red (2010)

Bruce Willis is one of the most renowned actors in the field, having recently been forced to retire for medical reasons. Still, he was churning out Direct-to-DVD films for years. In the 80s and 90s, he was best known for Moonlighting and the Die Hard franchise. Here, he leads an ensemble of veteran actors labeled RED (Retired, Extremely Dangerous). Willis plays Frank Moses, a fearsome force in the covert arena who is targeted for assassination by the CIA for mysterious conspiracy-related reasons. Of course, at this point, he has retired for years and is collecting his pension. When he’s not busy ripping up the checks, he can make a phone call to the center that disburses these pension checks so that he can have long, enjoyable, and flirtatious conversations with one of the call center employees. This is Sarah Ross (Mary-Louise Parker), and she has become a light in Frank’s otherwise dull life.

When we realize who Frank really is, it’s too late for the hit squad dispatched to… dispatch him. A team of trained, capable covert operatives unleashes a hailstorm of bullets on Frank’s house after their surgically precise team fails to get the job done. It’s almost Christmas, and this is the middle of suburbia. The only thing that’s not surprising about this is that nobody comes outside. Would you? Frank blows up his old life effortlessly and hits the road for Kansas to rendezvous with Sarah.

Before the CIA launched their mission, the pair discussed meeting in person. However, Sarah was hesitant because their relationship was so good, precisely because they didn’t have one in person. Much like Frank, Sarah is bored with her life because it is dull and uninteresting, with the only excitement she gets being romance books with all the tension and thrill involved in their plots. Sarah longs for a life that exciting, but when it is flung into her lap, she responds as one would expect your average, everyday person would. Confusion, terror, and a desire to get out of dodge. But there is no luck for that because their conversations have triggered the CIA into adding her to the hit list. You can always count on government hit squads to overzealously overdo their jobs.

This throws the pair into a cat-and-mouse game, with William Cooper (Karl Urban) hot on their trail at his boss’ request, Cynthia Wilkes (Rebecca Pidgeon). As RED unfolds, we glimpse what is going on as the breadcrumbs are doled out. An old operation has returned to haunt Frank and several associates, including Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich) and Joe Matheson (Morgan Freeman). While Joe has comfortably settled into retirement at a senior living facility, Marvin is more eclectic. Perhaps if the government were secretly dosing you with LSD for years and nobody believed you, you might be, too. It is with their help that the pieces begin to fall into place. A reporter stumbled onto a story and was murdered for it. Now, everybody who was even tangentially connected to the mission is being targeted for assassination.

This is why I love conspiracy films. Aside from the reporter who, mind you, makes sense as a target – when was the last time they kept their mouths closed in a movie – everybody else involved was blissfully unaware of what was happening. Marvin was the only one who might have had any inclination to say something. Even he was hiding out in the swamp rather than proactively getting involved until Frank and Sarah were driven into a corner that included his bunker. One other person involved in the mission is mentioned and seen on screen as Gabriel Singer (James Remar). He provides the most critical piece of intelligence, which points the finger directly at the person leading the effort who attempts to frame another party there. This is where the complexity of the conspiracy falls apart until you realize the real motive. The assassination of Vice President Robert Stanton (Julian McMahon). In one of the few instances where a Vice President is included, they aren’t conspiring against their boss. It’s a novel approach.

Alongside Marvin, Joe, and Frank, the five of them truly make the film a hilarious riot.

Victoria and Ivan’s relationship is played in contrast to Sarah and Frank’s burgeoning one. The pair were already on equal terms, considering they were each active covert operatives playing their cat-and-mouse game over the years. When it came down to it, neither could betray the other, though they were more than willing to let their respective countries think the exact opposite. As a result, we get to see the majesty of their relationship as they are reunited from an insider perspective rather than as one of those being fooled.

When they filmed the movie, two were in their fifties, another pair were in their sixties, and the last was in their seventies. We’re here to watch them traipse with heavy weaponry and undermine younger and more athletic foes with ease, finesse, and grace. Helen Mirren, especially, is one of the reasons that the original creator quite enjoyed the change to the original character. Who wouldn’t want to watch Helen Mirren flawlessly operate an M60?

Julian McMahon only shows up in the final act of the film. He plays his character completely differently from his two most famous roles – Cole Turner on Charmed and Christian Troy in Nip/Tuck. Here, he is initially presented as a charming and suave politician, only to be reduced to a blubbering mess as his Secret Service team desperately tries to keep him alive under heavy fire. Perhaps this should be expected, considering the scenario. Still, I am just so used to Presidents and Vice Presidents in film and television remaining calm under pressure.

On the other side, we have Alexander Dunning (Richard Dreyfuss), an arms dealer who, by the time of his introduction, is now the only person left alive on the list besides Frank and Marvin. Subterfuge is used to reach him, and while he comes off as sturdy as a piece of tissue paper, he proves to be every bit as capable and ferocious as one would expect an arms dealer who regularly works with the CIA to be. Then, in an extended cameo, is Henry Britton (Ernest Borgnine), the CIA records keeper who keenly observes those who have come before and those who are in rotation now.

Karl Urban is also in top form. He is introduced as a calm and calculating government assassin, calmly responding to his target before kicking a chair out from under him so that he dies by hanging in a framed suicide. William Cooper spends the rest of the film as if he were a dog’s chew toy in a subplot that would be repeated in the sequel with Byung-hun Lee. He is beaten, battered, bruised, and made to worry that his own family could be targeted by a vengeful Frank once Sarah is captured after one of their mission goes awry. Yet, he takes it on the chin and refuses to give up his pursuit of those whom he believes to be dangerous criminals who have potentially turned into traitors. He also keeps his wits about him, uncovering the conspiracy with only a handful of pointers as Frank and Sarah make their own investigation throughout the film. In RED, we are treated to a well-executed conspiracy with enough twists and turns that a rollercoaster would blush.

RED is an adaptation of a comic book. While it is loosely based on it – one might even say that it was inspired by rather than based on – that is not a disservice. The original comic miniseries was a severe and gory affair, while RED is played out as an action comedy film. Its success has essentially displaced the original, perhaps leading to dissonance for those who discover the comic after the fact. Yet, there are few times when a film or a television series adapts another medium, makes changes, and turns out well. To see a roaring success is enough of a win for most people.