Red

I’d happily replace gaps with drawn-out verbal filler in favor of action, which Schwentke handles quite easily. Thumbs up for those moments when the retired agents are having fun over the fact that in their youth the SS (Secret Service ;-)) wasn't a bunch of old farts because the actors are having a blast with it. However, the lack of a stronger villain and a thicker plot won't let me give that fourth star. 3 ½. (17/10/2010)

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)

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)

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)

The studios are well aware that there are no new acting elites being grown, and the younger ones (who are now all over 40 anyway) like Depp have expenses that could turn something like Addis Ababa into a lucrative metropolis, so they're trying to pull all the old '80s and '90s hot stuff out of the swamp to justify this totally unimaginative and perhaps illegally primal spectacle. By the way, they have themselves to blame for the acting youth, because they look for new stars based on the right curl of their bangs or the obligatory pigmentation. Red works in part because, for example, Malkovich and Mirren were quite good. But is it worth including Willis anymore just to stand there or walk around? The man has completely given up on making any effort to act and he goes through the entire film with one expression, which isn't fair for that kind of money, am I right? Anyway, it's a film shot on a vacation for all involved with horrible elevator music, resulting in a disgustingly chill out spectacle for undiscerning retirees and proponents of the notion that movies are about actors. For me, The A-Team rules. (21/03/2012)