The Losers (2010)
Anyone Else Would Be Dead By Now.
Let’s stick with some action and add in some comedy. We go from a space-based budget to a comic-based modern “budget” A-team. This easily ties into the group of “haven’t I done this before” that seems to crop up ever so often this year, so it feels like a return to all around enjoyment! Well, I suppose enjoyment is a subjective term in this instance, but let’s find out if with the selection of tonight we find ourselves the winners or The Losers.
What happens when you take a band of quirky military brothers who have to go it on their own after being betrayed by who they work for? Well, you get about seventy different movies and I have both described tonight’s movie while also offering you nothing of use for information regarding it. In a way, that also speaks a bit to how commonly we visit the idea when it comes to movies, games, reading materials - all that sort of thing. Of course, you can also make the argument that if we keep doing it then it can’t possibly be that broken - if you like the misfit good guys trying to stick it to the evil man, then you are someone who will never run out of material to consume. Does this one stick to it’s source? You should know by now that asking me that is almost always a silly questions, but thanks for giving me the benefit of a doubt - I have no idea though, not familiar with the source material in the slightest. They do throw some comic-looking panels and a transition or two in there occasionally though, so I suppose it’s not totally removed, right?
Our plot follows a band of soldier-types who get sent out on a mission to take down a bad man and his drug empire. The plan goes south after a truck unloads a bunch of kids and command refuses to call off the airstrike - but don’t worry, they are good at what they do and get all the kids out of there before the strike hits. Unfortunately, they don’t foresee the near immediate double cross by command that blows up the chopper they just loaded with rescued kids instead of themselves. The soldiers have to play dead so that one day they may sneak back and return to their lives, all while some of them harbor a understandable but unhealthy vendetta against the man who played them like a fiddle. Enter a mysterious female element who says she can facilitate this dream - as long as they kill the man behind the betrayal. Something smells fishy, but a fish who wants the worm rarely cares about the hook.
Characters are a thing here, but don’t expect novels of development. New information can arise from a person, and maybe there’s some change of hearts here or there - but most are played straight the entire movie and have their specified role. The sniper is a crack shot and plays the quite boss, but you won’t really find any sudden cracks in his demeanor to suddenly make him this more fully fleshed out person - if you understand me. To that extent, the movie offers characters that are enjoyable enough within their place that it’s not grating and you enjoy their air time - although I’m sure mileage might flow a bit variably depending on how much a person can stomach certain elements - like the “funny man” or the obviously over-the-top evil man himself who although is played for jokes at times spends his entire screen time trying to twirl a mustache I’m surprised they didn’t give him. Perhaps it’d have been too cartoonish?
Is that a vending machine?
The actors do a good job in their role. Chemistry feels like it’s there between the main group, which is good considering we are supposed to be rooting for them. Some of the twists and turns do come out of nowhere - largely only the ones that haven’t been hinted at at all during the runtime until the moment they want to do the reveal. Individual character highlights probably go to the driver and the tech guy - probably on account of either having the most jokes per minute screen time or the most attachable driving force (haha, I can do puns!). Our leading lady feels capable, but doesn’t necessarily feel like she has a ton of chemistry with the others character-wise on account of not really being one-of-them as much as a suspiciously helpful employer. Still, even when Evil McBadderson decides to one up his evilness the actors all feel like they are doing a good job and not just phoning it in when on paper it really seems like the movie would be rife with half-hearted attempts lacking any seriousness.
The effects are largely well done, with a few moments here or there where it probably could have been done better but it’s certainly good enough. Plenty of gun fights of varying degree of thrills, a good smattering of explosions including a real fancy sci-fi style dissassembler bomb, and of course most of the tropes to go along with it. You won’t find any long, drawn out gun battles with solid oners or overly impressive martial arts, but you will still get adequate and enjoyable ballistic fights and some hotel-room fist fights. Violence levels, despite people getting shot, blown up, and thrown off of buildings is surprisingly minimal - most people just die, sometimes with a freeze frame like it’s some sort of laser tag “you got me!” without any real blood at all. A few hero characters get to bleed some, but detailed in the same way as any old action flick - oh no, they got the red liquid on them! Not the red liquid! I mean, one should still account for a child’s maturity level and grasp on reality before just throwing them into any old action flick - but this is way safer than most the things I watch.
Audio is balanced well. Line deliveries are good, be it surprisingly so or not. The soundtrack is great - largely on account of it just using a lot of classic that I already like (like Black Betty) more than any actual super memorable tracks or themes of it’s own.I wouldn’t necessarily call it music that had to be there in that part in some sort of specific mash up kind of way, but with how often we always hear me call out how music just did it’s job and faded away, it’d be wrong for me to not point out anything in the other direction too. Jokes can be good, sometimes lame, but as with any sort of humor it’s really going to be dependent on the person how much they enjoy it. That being said, there’s certainly at least one in there thatshould get a groan out of near anyone, even if they do laugh afterwards.
Standard way of showing off how cool your sniper is.
Want an easy to watch action flick based on a comic that will feel all to familiar without being regrettable that you watched it? This, and if I’m being honest the dozens other like it, will all fill the role. Actors do a good job, the plot isn’t complex enough to hurt your head or get you lost if you look away for a second, and there’s plenty of action that feels like it was thought up by a comic book person spread out in it. It doesn’t overstay the attention span, and it might not be the A-Team, but perhaps you’ll find the Losers aren’t as big a set of losers as the name implies.