Red

Red is a “costume show” with a senile plot, which is more about individual attractions than creating a coherent whole. You’ll have fun, enjoy Willis playing Willis, Malkovich reminiscing about the good old days of Burn After Reading and the regal Helen Mirren in a white dress, shooting a heavy machine gun. With a better script, this could have been one of the best movies of the year, but that sadly didn’t happen. Karl Urban might get some major roles in grade-A blockbusters. Robert Schwentke, circling around him at an intersection, elevated Michael Bay-like turning around the guy with a gun to the level of sophisticated ballet. Exactly between three and four stars; I’m giving four because I gave three to Resident Evil: Afterlife :-) (29/10/2010)

For Willis's exit from the spinning car, for Malkovich's mad Malkovich and his pig, for Helen Mirren standing in her evening gowns behind a machine gun, for Freeman in the nursing home and general's uniform, for Mary-Louise Parker's eyes, for Bruce's bloody brawl with Karl Urban, for Ernest Borgnine, for great action scenes like the one at the airport - which are both thrilling and entertaining - for the witty one-liners and the cool script, for Richard Dreyfuss's character, for Beck's music, and for the way the end credits roll... I give it all four and a half stars. Red is really great fun with many memorable moments, which should not be missed by any fan of action lightened with humor. I don't give it five stars only because of the occasional "too much comic-book-ness", which was especially evident in the actions of the commandos and special forces - they simply behaved like assholes (the beginning in Moses' house, the shootouts in the garages). (20/02/2011)

Finally, Bruce is acting! in a good film. Red is primarily a family movie with something for everybody - granny, grandpa, mum, dad and for big and little kids alike. The plot is as old as the genre itself, and that goes for most of the cast, but it’s enough for a series of pleasant escapades for one dusty team of agents. The best portion of gags were delivered by John Malkovich who is an expert at paranoid smegheads… and this model is one of his best, by the way. Cute Karl Urban is used mainly in the action/battle passages and Schwentke’s now certainly already patented 720°shot comes off really well. Certainly a very pleasant surprise. (08/01/2011)

Even a master carpenter makes mistakes sometimes. I have long ranked Bruce Willis as an ultimate action icon, whose films tend to be just the right staple in my cinematic menu, but Red is one of the unwanted exceptions. While Bruce performs up to his standard, and for the most part the FBI and CIA together don't even come to think of him, the main storyline is too weak, the actual quality and fun action is downright sparse, and I didn't like how the story tried to be too cool all the time. Freeman has a desperately small role to pull it up somewhere, and as for the villain syndicate, bland is the word. Apart from Willis, the only one worth mentioning is the infernal "old man" John Malkovich, whose perfectly (un)measured performance in similar action titles is something I always enjoy. Anyway, I'm curious about the second one, with more imaginative direction and acting refreshment, they still may have a few rounds left. (19/04/2011)

The only thing atypical about Red is that, the main roles of former special agents in this action comedy with a terribly hole-ridden script and music that, with its attempt to create a relaxed feeling, remotely resembles the lightness and elegance of Ocean’s Eleven, are played by usually non-action actors, perhaps with the exception of Willis. Some may find this cool, while others may shake their heads. But the originality of the idea with retired agents cannot be denied. Unfortunately, it does not reach the top in terms of quality, not because it is not sufficiently self-conscious or slow-paced, but because it is sterile and half of the film basically consists of generic location changes culminated by one action set-piece or another. (23/07/2015)