Editorial
Front Page - Friday, May 21, 2010
The Critic's Corner
David Laprad
When it comes to the movies, there’s nothing sweeter than going in with zero expectations and then finding yourself blown away as you walk out of the theater two hours later. That adrenaline rush is what I felt after seeing “The Losers,” an action picture based on the comic of the same name.
“The Losers” is one of those rare films that hits all the right notes, and does it with such confidence and skill, you can’t help but wish the people who put it together could make more movies so there’d be fewer bad ones.
Take the story, which is clever, but not too much so. “The Losers” follows the members of an elite U.S. Special Forces unit sent into the Bolivian jungle on a search and destroy mission. Their orders are simple: find a terrorist compound and mark it for a bomber. But when the team – Clay, Jensen, Roque, Pooch and Cougar – see children being bused onto the site, they try to abort.
A voice on the other end of their radio says the mission is still a go, so the Losers move in, kill the bad guys, rescue the kids and escape with seconds to spare. As they’re waving goodbye to the children after loading them onto a chopper that was supposed to take them out of the jungle, the bomber circles around and takes out the bird, killing the kids.
Ouch. If a movie isn’t going to pull punches, it’s good to know that up front.
With their handler believing he was successful in killing them, and their resources depleted, the Losers travel to the nearest town and blend in while Clay, their leader, tries to figure out how to return to the States.
Opportunity presents itself in the form of Aisha, who approaches Clay and says she can not only get the team home but also clear everyone’s name; all they have to do is kill the owner of the voice on the other end of the radio, Max.
“The Losers” has its share of double crosses, twists and turns, but for the most part, its easy to follow. There are a few points on which I’m sketchy, but I think the filmmakers glazed over those things to keep viewers from thinking the story was too dumb for them. That might not be the case, but I feel better believing it is.
Even when the plot got away from me, I was still digging the rest. For example, the actors don’t treat the dialog like words they have to say to move the story forward, but as things their characters would actually articulate.
Take the scene in which Clay escorts Aisha back to his hotel room after they meet. Their conversation has a slow, deliberate cadence that builds until they throw aside all pretenses and tear apart the room in one of the more brutal movie fights in recent memory.
There’s hardly a wasted line in the movie. Even an early scene in which Clay and Rogue argue about returning to the States reveals tension that could have serious consequences down the line. “The Losers” might be comic book pulp, but its smartly written comic book pulp.
Even though writers Peter Berg and James Vanderbilt were serious about putting together a tight script, “The Losers” is at times laugh-out-loud funny. When Pooch takes two bullets to the legs, Jensen asks him if he can walk, eliciting a sarcastic reply. Later, when Clay asks Pooch if he can stand up, Pooch smiles and says, “Oh, I get it. It’s stupid question day and no one told me.”
Director Sylvain White also remembered to include several crowd pleasing scenes, the most memorable of which is a sequences in which Jensen takes out two goons with his “telekinetic powers” and holds off a third by threatening to stop his heart with his mind.
Never mind that Cougar, a sniper, shot the other two with tranquilizers from across the block.
Credit for how much fun “The Losers” is must also go to Jason Patric, who appeared out of nowhere to steal the movie via a supporting role. As Max, he’s both outrageously evil and hilarious.
The character is essentially a spoof of movie villains, but Patric makes it work.
Director Sylvain White allowed Patric to go over the edge, but wisely keeps other things reeled in, including his work behind the camera, which is stylish, but only to a point.
By now, you’ve probably guessed I liked “The Losers,” and I haven’t even touched on its ending, which is interesting, or the fact that it has a heart. The glut of big budget action movies coming out in May will bury it, but it’s worth seeking out, whether at a bargain theater or on DVD later this year.
Email David Laprad at dlaprad@hamiltoncountyherald
.com.
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