The Losers (2010)
Director - Sylvain White
Starring - Jeffery Dean Morgan, Zoe Saldana & Chris Evans
3.5 stars
The Losers epitomises the one thing that we go to the movies for; to be entertained. If you take nothing out of this movie, you are still sure to have spent a pretty amusing 97 minutes.
The story is based on a comic book series back in the day and is about a group of CIA black ops who are betrayed and presumed dead. Not ones to back down from a fight, they turn vigilante and set out to clear their names and get revenge on the bloke who set them up. After receiving help from a mysterious woman in Bolivia, they set the wheels into motion for their next attack.
Sound familiar? It is. In fact, there is no denying that it pretty much follows a very cliché approach to the whole Action/Comedy genre. That doesn’t matter because The Losers doesn’t try to be anything it’s not and thanks to an excellent cast, it remains refreshingly funny.
The group is led by Captain Clay (Jeffery Dean Morgan) and consist of tech man Jensen (Chris Evans), knife-wielding Roque (Idris Elba), long range shooter Cougar (Oscar Jaenada) and their versatile driver Pooch (Columbus Short). They are met by Aisha (Zoe Saldana), a woman wanted by almost every secret agency in the US and begin their plans to take down the man who got them into this mess, Max (Jason Patric).
As I said, this cast helps to lock up the success of this film. It’s fair to say that the group of ‘Losers’ definitely carries the narrative. The scenes without them are dull, boring and almost a little awkward and plain and simply have you waiting until they come back onto screen. Chris Evans stole the show for mine. His character Jensen kept the entire narrative energized and crisp and was just ridiculously funny. Evans never slipped out of character and his delivery on so many brilliant one liners was ever so memorable. The other characters complemented him brilliantly and I think the mix of personalities actually worked really well. They created this very compatible group of men who worked very well with each other and each actor slotted in perfectly to shore up that connection.
It would be remiss of me to talk about acting accolades and not mention my girl Zoe Saldana. The woman just oozes sex and her incredible hotness and body to die for just lift this movie to another notch. She also does play an important character and does it well. She is well cast and despite my chauvinistic sexualisation of her, she is a very talented actress. If I fell in love with her as Neytiri in Avatar, imagine how I feel now after watching her strut her stuff in human form!
What didn’t work, as I mentioned, were the scenes without the main group. These scenes mainly involved ‘the bad guys’ and their plots to stop ‘the good guys’. These scenes are necessary in action films so that the narrative can progress and the audience can actually understand what is happening. What didn’t work for me was how these scenes panned out. Max, the chief ‘bad guy’ was an awful character. Not awful because of his crude actions, he wasn’t well rounded, he wasn’t overly aggressive, he was awkward and he just didn’t work. I couldn’t stand him, and not in the same way I can’t stand the generic bad guys in other films. He wasn’t a well thought out character, was very hard to understand and worst of all, horribly played by Jason Patric. Combine this with the bunch of Indian nerds that he bullied and their ridiculous forced accents it became a recipe for disaster. It was attempted humour gone horrible wrong and this really took away from the film as a whole. Fortunately it had enough ammunition behind it to keep me plugged.
I had been waiting to see The Losers for some time and I’m glad I finally got around to doing it whilst it was still on at the cinemas. It was a very fun experience and I can’t honestly say it was an incredibly enjoyable journey. You don’t have to think too hard, you can just sit back and enjoy the ride. It’s all about that entertainment value I spoke about. I love a good drama, it’s the reason I want to get involved in the industry. There is nothing better than telling a good story. But its movies like this that make it clear for me that you still need the contrast. These action/comedies most certainly do have a place in the cinematic world. Would I want to see one every week? No. Will I rush back to see The Losers? Probably not, but I have no doubt I will own it on DVD someday. Still, they are essential films that are so good to see from time to time.
I really do recommend that you see it. It’s funny, it’s full of action, lots of shootings, killings, explosions… everything you expect to see, you see. If you aren’t sold on my rant about the entertainment value, go see this because of Chris Evans. He is dead-set brilliant and so damn funny.
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