Good Times
This moderately faithful adaptation brings a great deal of laugh-out-loud fun and (thankfully) less seriousness than what most revenge flicks would have led you to expect from a film of this genre.
The Premise
:A band of close-knit soldiers are declared dead when a strategic military strike in Bolivia turns into a traitorous massacre. In reality, they are very much alive, betrayed, and know only the name of the man who betrayed them - Max. When they are approached by a mysterious woman named Aisha, they gain a choice between walking away and taking their chances with new identities, and risking their lives on a suicide mission to elimate Max.
The Good:
Apart from the hammy to downright silly tones presented with the best charisma that this ensemble cast has to play off of each other, the movie has great pacing. While the pretitle sequence closes on a catastrophic note, the Losers aren't hung up on how they were wronged, but rather, how they will make things right. Rather than a load of brooding angst and profound drama, the film moves briskly forward in a fashion that doesn't feel forced or awkward. Even Aisha (Zoe Saldana) is able to put aside her vengeful differences for the sake of the film. The pacing does not compromise the characters' motivations, however, and makes room for the rest of the treatment to play out.
As noted, this is an action-comedy, and doesn't grind to a halt to explain everything that happens with repitition. There is a particular light-heartedness that keeps the lights in your house turned on, even if there's no one home. It doesn't pretend to be cerebral, nor does it want to be. The goal of the Losers is to plant a smile on your face and make you laugh at its funniest moments. It does indeed, succeed in that task. Personally, my favorite scene would have to be when Jensen (Chris Evans) sneaks his way in and out of the Goliath building, a scene nearly identical to its moment in the third(?) issue, but with a few hilarious twists.
The Bad
:When you hear Pooch (Columbus Short) say: "if we do this, we are waging a war against the Central Intelligence Agency", you might be expecting the movie to become something like "the Bourne Ultimatum" where the protagonists use a bit of leverage to get their lives back, but in a righteous fashion. Most of the Losers guns are indeed, loaded with tranquilizer darts, and the bullets that are shot, do not kill - at least, not the unsuspecting military. This is not done for the CIA to take note of, just for the audience to know that these men are the good guys. In fact, without spoiling the ending, the film does not indeed, have a resolution, nor do we get the inclination that the CIA are even aware of their un-dead status. Without having read all thirty-two issues of the Losers series, I do not know if this is an alteration made in the script, or if that is indeed, how it plays out in the comics. Either way, the story promises a larger pay off than what is given, and I found that to be a bit disappointing.
In addition, while the majority of the actors are in top form, Idris Elba's Roque seems completely out of place. Because his character is much like a dark cloud over everyone else, this may be expected, however, his performance is without the proper intensity needed to propery deliver such rebellious lines.
Overall, "The Losers" is a great time, meant to entertain, rather than stimulate your brain.
3/5
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