RED

Director: Robert Schwentke
Screenwriter: Jon Hoeber, Erich Hoeber
Starring: Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Mary-Louise Parker, Karl Urban, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren
Running time: 110 mins
Certificate: 12A

> Interview: Mary-Louise Parker

RED is the latest Bruce Willis film to hit screens and - after the travesty that was Cop Out - it's a welcome addition to the Willis canon. Willis (who, incidentally, is starting to look disconcertingly like William Hague) stars as retired CIA black ops agent Paul Moses, who spends his days rattling around a spartan house and phoning a call centre employee (Mary-Louise Parker) to chat with her about terrible romance novels and generally do some long-distance flirting.

This lonely existence is shaken up when he's visited by black clad assassins in the middle of the night and immediately - and enthusiastically - shifts into CIA mode to dispatch them all without even breaking a sweat. Realising his civilian identity has been compromised, Willis then kidnaps Parker (for her own protection, naturally) and sets about assembling a team of similarly retired yet bloodthirsty former colleagues and enemies (Helen Mirren, John Malkovich, Morgan Freeman, Brian Cox) to get to the bottom of the attacks.

Having not read the comic book miniseries on which the movie is based, I can't say how it measures up - although there is a comic book style and sensibility to the short scenes, visual effects and punchy dialogue. The plot moves along at a fair old lick with some nice interaction and dialogue between the characters. The fight scenes are long enough to create impact but won't outstay their welcome for the less hardcore action viewers. Karl Urban is also strong as the current handsome CIA golden boy gradually starting to question the organisation he works for - there are echoes of an early Alex Krycek at several points.

With all that said, there is also the feeling that the film lacks any depth. We get superficial backstory, but exposition can't take the place of emotion. It felt like a deliberate concession to the trashy spy novel style, but meant that sacrifices and declarations of love which occurred along the way lacked any emotional punch. There was also a lot of 'Now we're going to go here and visit these people to do this thing'-type dialogue to counter the jump between scenes. Useful to prevent confusion, but it stops the audience doing any work for themselves and becoming more involved.

Parker's character is very much a peripheral love interest (although engagingly played and resisting the temptation to disintegrate into a tearful hysterical mess). She seems to exist purely for reasons of plot rather than as a whole character to interact with the others. Her passivity is made all the more obvious when seen in conversation with Victoria (Helen 'The Queen' Mirren), who stares down the barrel of a sniper rifle while making small talk and works a floor-length gown while firing a submachine gun.

It's a fast-paced action-comedy with strong visual effects and enough spark in the dialogue to be good fun, but its trashy spy novel sensibilities mean the characters and plot will soon be forgotten on leaving the cinema.


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