The Losers – Review

The Losers is caught in between a rock and a hard place. It really doesn’t know what to do, or precisely where to go. On one hand, there’s a great deal of fun with the tongue-in-cheek attitude it has, but on the other, it’s weakly plotted, something it tries hard to hide, yet with all of the “cool” slow-motion-and there’s a ton of it-we get some time to think, that this razzle-dazzle is a failed magician’s trick, in hiding it’s plot, if you will. You’ll juggle these back and forth, weighing the options. Does it hurt your liking of it, or will you enjoy it for what it is?

Despite feeling like a car in neutral, The Losers is B-level action entertainment at a matinee price. It’s never too early to enjoy some popcorn.

Its set-up is rudimentary. Some mercenaries go after their double-crosser after a failed attempt at killing them off. Insert plenty of bullets. Somehow, director Sylvain White takes that one sentence and spread it out for 96 minutes, through some slick editing and cinematography. It’s stylized, and nothing new, but gives the film some edge-I hate that word, but it does-that makes the film glide, when the plot is meandering from point A to B. To the film’s biggest boon, is the casting. While certainly not names (yet), the cast really keeps the film afloat. Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Watchmen) is good, Jason Patric is super slimy, but it’s Chris Evans (Fantastic Four) and Zoe Saldana (Avatar) that steal the film. Evans’ scenes are the best. He’s goofy, but yet not too-over-the-top for the film. Don’t stop believin’…Zoe is marvelous, yet again.

The Losers is based on a DC/Vertigo comic book series, which is DC’s grittier line of stories. Oddly, the film ducks away from violence, even though bullets fly by and into people. I doubt the R-rating would have added much. Even though I really enjoyed the banter between the characters, the tongue-in-cheek swagger, the editing, when you see the opening montage, then the limp sequel-ready ending, it’s an unneeded bad taste in our mouths. This reveals that the whole thing was a little stale from the beginning. A little bit more punch and The Losers would’ve been a winner.

But it does have a cool bazooka moment, so I can’t be that hard on it.

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