GRADE: B+

MINI REVIEW: Based on the cult D.C. Comics graphic novels about a team of geriatric ex-CIA agents, “Red” is sure to be one of the biggest crowd-pleasers of the year. Completely derivative and entirely predictable, it is also indisputably fun, a film that begins winking at the audience from the very first frame and never lets up until the last.

Directed by: Robert Schwentke

Starring: Bruce Willis, Mary-Louise Parker, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Brian Cox, Richard Dreyfuss, Ernest Borgnine

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action violence and brief strong language.

Running Time: 111 minutes

Based on the cult D.C. Comics graphic novels by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner, “Red” is sure to be one of the biggest crowd-pleasers of the year. Completely derivative and entirely predictable, it is also indisputably fun, a film that begins winking at the audience from the very first frame and never lets up until the last. Think “Ocean’s Eleven” with lots of things that go boom.

Frank (Bruce Willis) is classified RED (Retired—Extremely Dangerous), an ex CIA agent who is finding life out in the pasture more than a little dull. The only highlight of his month is calling the Office of Personal Management to fallaciously complain about lost pension checks because he likes the sound of the voice of the woman who answers the phone (Mary-Louise Parker).

It turns out Frank knows one secret too many and when a professional hit squad tries to take him out, Frank embarks on a cross-country trip to enlist the help of his former colleagues—Joe (Morgan Freeman), Marvin (John Malkovich) and Victoria (Helen Mirren)—in unraveling one of the biggest cover-ups in government history, a mission that will take them from deep inside CIA headquarters to the corridors of the White House.

There is no doubt that “Red” is preposterously over the top and ridiculously unrealistic. The action and violence in the film is cartoonish in a way that Wiley E. Coyote and the Roadrunner would instantly recognize. But that is not simply part of, it is the lion’s share of the film’s charm. It does not attempt to be anything more than absurd. It knows its power comes from its outlandishness and it revels in it. Director Robert Schwentke stages the action with confident, goofy aplomb, and more than a little nod to comic book aesthetics. To call “Red” playful is a colossal understatement. It never removes its tongue from its cheek and neither should you.

The rest of the film’s charm comes from the chemistry generated by its terrific cast (the plot is essentially just one big contrivance to get new faces on screen, including Brian Cox, Richard Dreyfuss and Ernest Borgnine). This is the real “Expendables.” Malkovich is hilarious as a paranoid Hunter S. Thompson who thinks everyone is out to kill him (because they are). Dame Helen Mirran looks like Martha Stewart on the outside but Rambo on the inside; you won’t see anything sexier this year than Mirran wielding an automatic weapon. Karl Urban’s career continues its stratospheric trajectory (“The Lord of the Rings,” “The Bourne Ultimatum,” “Star Trek”). But the undisputed highlight of the film is Parker who is pure gold; her comedic timing has never been better and she has rarely been more manifestly adorable.

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