The Losers

Over-stylized, over-the-top, overtly sexy action movie that does the funny and the explosions to full effect.

Writer Peter Berg and director Sylvain White do an almost identical line for line/scene for scene film of the The Losers Vertigo/DC comic. It’s the fantastic casting, kickass visuals and fast pacing that make this worth taking a look.

THE SETUP:
The Losers are an elite group of military operatives who are betrayed by a high-ranking/corrupt CIA agent named Max (Jason Patric) in the middle of Bolivia. To get their lives back, they must team up with a mysterious mercenary (Zoe) to return to the States, kill Max and destroy the documents that frame them. (I tried writing this plot with more than 2 lines, but it wasn’t necessary).

THE THOUGHTS:
As I’ve stated before, I’m a little bit of a comic book geek so to see two comic book based movies, two weeks in a row…bliss. Unfortunately Kick-Ass didn’t quite meet my expectations.  The Losers did.

First off, the acting. You could tell the actors were loving every moment of scene time with the crazy action sequences and the heightened sense of reality. The stand outs for me were Jason Patric, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Chris Evans…and of course, Zoe Saldana. That there is a bad-ass, chick or otherwise. Each took their parts and just, for lack of a better thesaurus word, oozed.

Jason Patric (Max) – smarmy evil.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Clay) – cool charm.

Chris Evans (Jensen) – beefcake comedic relief.

Zoe Saldana (Aisha) – kick your ass, have sex with you, blow you up with a rocket launcher and kiss your charred remains good bye…with a smile. (I’m a fan.  COME ON! Star Trek, Avatar, and this?!…I’m forgetting Death at a Funeral on purpose).

The rest of the crew covered the bases and definitely felt like a close unit of combatants and friends.

The action and the visuals were great. Gun fights/knife fights in hotel rooms, airplane explosions, armed robbery…they for sure used the money they saved by not hiring top named actors and threw it into the booms and ka-pows. It may not have been HUGE SUMMER MOVIE type action but for this movie, it was perfect.

The script was the weakest part of the movie. Some of the lines I felt were a little off as things people wouldn’t really say. It would probably have been a bigger issue if the actors hadn’t taken them and made them their own. Especially Morgan and Patric. Go with it and have a good time.

The Losers Rating:

2 tickets – good movie, take a friend. A comic book movie that doesn’t really feel comicy but that doesn’t mean it’s not fun. Keep your moist toilettes at home, this is pure testosterone and “blowin’ up real good” (for you SCTV fans). Did I mention Zoe’s in it?

Rating system:

½ ticket – rip up your ticket.
1 ticket – go, but don’t tell anyone.
2 tickets – good movie, take a friend. 
3 tickets – tell everyone you know.

Coming Attractions:
Get Low (release date: July 30, 2010) – I like Bill Murray. He’s at his best when he’s doing comedy with serious overtones so I’m looking forward to this movie. But then the cast of Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek and Lucas Black doesn’t hurt either. Did I mention it’s based on a true story?

Random Recommendations
Friday Night Lights (2004) – Directed by Peter Berg and starring Billy Bob Thorton, this is the real, truly and absolutely story of football and its religious fervor in the southern U.S.  And you don’t have to be an American to enjoy and relate to the story of the kids under this extreme pressure. Watch the documentary to see what became of them.

Narc (2002) / Rush (1991) – I had a hard time picking one of these Jason Patric movies…so I picked both. Engrossing stories of guys in waaaay over their head as undercover narcotics officers: In Narc, dealing with the brutality of Ray Liotta’s character and in Rush, dealing with the drugs themselves. Both worth renting. Especially Rush, because any movie is better with Sam Elliott in it.

Narc

Rush