Review: RED

It's been a rather backwards-looking season at the movies and after a summer that's given us The Expendables, The A-Team and Predators, it's Bruce Willis' turn to step up to the plate and into his old shoes as the action hero of the day.

Okay, so Bruce did that a little while back with another Die Hard sequel, but RED is the action movie that's left to stand on its own two feet. Of course, it's not just Willis' show. He's the central character, but the plot, loosely based on the Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner comics and revolving around a group of retired CIA and secret service agents who suddenly find themselves on a hit list, gives a chance for other actors... of a certain age to join in the fun. The posters make much of Willis' co-stars being John Malkovich, Morgan Freeman and Dame Helen Mirren, but Richard Dreyfuss and Brian Cox are also along for the ride, the latter rather poorly served by the publicity as he's every bit as essential a character as Freeman, if not more so.

And what a joy to see Ernest Borgnine. In a supporting role, perhaps, as his screentime doesn't add up to much, but he's a genuine screen legend.

So, a world-beating cast, then, but how does the movie stand up against the other nostalgic flicks of the summer?

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