The number one movie at the box office this weekend was Jackass 3D. It’s the typical gross-out comedy designed for the M-TV generation. It had the largest opening in October movie history, I hate to say. I am glad to say, I didn’t watch it. I saw the number two movie for the weekend, Red. Red is a hilarious movie. It’s an action movie, filled with random acts of violence. It’s a date movie. And surprisingly, it’s even a comic book movie. How this movie lost out to Jackass 3D, I don’t know. I’m actually quite embarrassed for America because of this transgression.
The movie stars many of my favorite actors from yesteryear. Bruce Willis is the lead, a retired CIA agent, who suddenly had a hit ordered on him. He has a crush on Sarah, played hilariously by Mary-Louise Parker. I don’t want to share too much, but she has a special relationship with a royal of duct tape. He is assisted by his fellow former agents, Morgan Freeman and John Malkovich, in his best role since he was Cyrus the Virus. They are also aided by Mi-6 agent Helen Miran and a retired Russian KG-B agent . Between the six of them, they have to take on one of the greatest spy agencies in the world.
A reporter gained access to classified information, but was murdered. She had a list of names on a hit list, including the aforementioned people. Bruce Willis was trying to enjoy his retirement, and was busy hitting on the agent in charge of his social security checks. Suddenly, one night his house was shot up by a veritable army of agents. This being Bruce Willis, the army was badly outnumbered. When he escaped, he decides to gather his old crew, and find out who is after them. Freeman was happily enjoying his time in a retirement home, and Malkovich was hiding out somewhere in Florida. The team, meanwhile, was being chased by former Starfleet doctor, Karl Urban. It makes for quite a show. Eventually, the team discovers a political motivation for the CIA’s attempts to assassinate them all.
This is very much a popcorn movie. Every few minutes, there are a couple of crazy explosions. Being based on a comic book, there are several over the top sequences, including John Malkovich’s gunfight with a lady using a rocket propelled grenade launcher. It was worth it, though. He takes it all in stride. The man deserved an Oscar for this movie. There are also several close calls for the heroes, and not all of them make it out alive. Don’t expect crazy Sixth Senses revelations. Don’t even expect buddy cop humor like in Lethal Weapon. But if you want a good diversion from the real world for a while, this is definitely worth the price of admission. Willis is always a good leading man, and his cohorts each bring some of their best in years.
