Let the comic book movie onslaught begin! Or, actually, you know, continue. But I am certainly not complaining, no sir, not me. The thing about all these comic book movies is that it actually gives me a chance to catch up and/or read some series that I just don’t have the time or money to keep up with. Hey, it’s hard work buying and reading all these things.
Let the comic book movie onslaught begin! Or, actually, you know, continue. But I am certainly not complaining, no sir, not me. The thing about all these comic book movies is that it actually gives me a chance to catch up and/or read some series that I just don’t have the time or money to keep up with. Hey, it’s hard work buying and reading all these things. There are a LOT of great series out there and just not enough time to get to them all. So, some of these movies are worth checking out, if only for their “Cliff Notes” quality.
The Losers is one said comic. I haven’t had the chance to read it, so this was a perfect excuse to know more about it. In a nutshell, it’s about a team of C.I.A. black ops guys that get betrayed and left for dead while on a mission. They aren’t too keen on that, so they decide to find out who is responsible and kick their ass. All permanent-like.
Not knowing anything about this comic series may or may not be a benefit; I have no idea if this film is better or worse. In this case I think it’s a plus, because this was actually pretty fun. It’s stylish, the actors are good, and there’s lots of stuff blowing up and getting shot. And they keep the plot pretty simple and straight-forward. No crazy weaving multi-layered plots twists to tax my “let’s get the summer movies going” brain. Not to say it’s dumb or boring, but I would say that it’s not particularly complex or completely unique.
What IS unique, however, is the wonderfully dastardly performance by Jason Patric as the delightfully evil antagonist, Max. I think he is as awesomely evil in this role as he was awesomely bland and two-dimensional in Speed 2. Finally a role I’ll remember him in! Strangely, just when I was thinking “Hey, what ever happened to Jason Patric?”, he turns up in this and entertains me. Good for him. And the audience.
In fact, pretty much everyone in this is good. Jeffery Dean Morgan has a busy career ahead of him ever since his turn in The Watchmen as The Comedian. You’ll be seeing boatloads of him now, and one can only hope we won’t be sick of him by next week. If you like him now, you better enjoy it. That being said, of course, I do like him now. He’s charismatic, has heart, but can still play a tough guy. Zoey Saldana shows up here as Aisha, who has a common goal as the Losers, and she’s great to watch kick a lot of ass. Hot chick with a rocket launcher anyone?
Columbus Short is great as a guy named ‘Pooch’. Yeah, that’s right. But he gets some good lines in this. Also Chris Evans who played Johnny Storm in the Fantastic Four movies is actually pretty good here, too. I know! I’m as surprised as you are! I mean, really, who saw that coming? Luckily, I barely remembered he played that role so it didn’t affect things. I sure don’t see how he’s going to pull off being Captain America, though.
Seriously, though? It’s all about Jason Patric as Max. He must have really had fun playing this role.
All in all, this is another pure popcorn turn-off-your-brain, action film. It’s fun enough that if that is the kind of movie you’re looking for, then go enjoy it for what it is.
~ Neil T. Weakley, your average movie-goer, eagerly awaiting Iron Man 2, but will certainly be taking a chance on Nightmare on Elm Street this week.
