Movie Review: RED

RED (Retired Extremely Dangerous), starring Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, and Helen Mirren, is about retired CIA agent, Frank Moses (Willis), who finds himself the target of government assassins, while he attempts to find a normal life post-CIA. I enjoyed this movie. The special effects and stunts were over the top, but that's exactly what you want in a movie like this. In one especially inplausible stunt, Bruce Willis exits the front seat of a spinning car, takes two steps to avoid being taken out by the back end of the car to shoot at a pursuer. Completely awesome!

The best character in the movie, however, is Marvin, played by John Malkovich. Moses seeks Marvin's help when he discovers that they are both on a list of ex-CIA agents to be taken out. Marvin had experiments conducted upon him while in the CIA and as a result, he is ultra paranoid that everyone is out to kill him. He avoids, cell phones, satellites, computers and anything else that might allow "Big Brother" to find him. He's completely unstable, and completely hilarious. He wants to shoot first and ask questions later.

Morgan Freeman and Helen Mirren are recruited as well. They go in search of who's out to kill Frank and Marvin. I give this movie 3 out 4 stars. It was action packed, and funny (most of the laughs provided by Malkovich). No academy awards here, but I had a good time. That's the number one barometer for me. If you like spy mysteries with lots of action, explosions and cheesy one-liners, you'll likely enjoy this movie too.