Review: The Losers

The Losers is an adaptation of the comic series which I know little about. I think this review might be completely different coming from a fan of the comic that brought about this film so keep in mind that I’m treating this as a completely separate entity. The Losers is an action packed romp with a lot of explosions, chases and some good ol’ watered down violence. The plot centers around a Special Ops force who are in Bolivia to kill a target. They soon realize they are actually the target as they are framed for a crime by a a rich, powerful villain by the name of Max. Max is played by Jason Patric who appears to be trying to break out of his ‘good guy’ comfort zone.

The five members of the gang all have their own niche talent. Clay is the leader of the gang played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan who you’ll know from Grey’s Anatomy where he plays sweet ‘in need of a new heart’ Denny Duquette, also from P.S I Love You where he plays ‘get over your dead husband with me’ William and of course Watchmen where he plays ‘The Comedian’. I guess he’s a comic book fan. His team comprises of Cougar (Oscar Jaenada)- the super sniper, Jensen (Chris Evans)- the techy whizz kid, Pooch (Columbus Short) and Roque who are guess are good at using weapons or something. They narrowly escape being murdered but are presumed dead and as Max has set them up as criminals anyway, returning home is not an option. They are stranded in Bolivia trying to make a plan of what to do next when opportunity knocks on their door. Obviously, this opportunity comes in the form of eye candy with Zoe Saldana (also features as eye candy in Star Trek and Avatar) who plays Aisha. Aisha wants revenge against Max and gives them the opportunity to get home in return for hunting down Max.

So, the verdict. The plot is extremely weak and completely riddled with clichés. It was a completely unimaginative, muddled mess. I laughed more at this than I have at any recent comedy. Maybe that’s what they were going for. The villain was one of the worst I have ever seen, though I did get a few hearty laughs out of the stupidity of it all. What I mean by this is that one of the losers was shot in the shoulder, the next minute they were climbing up a barbed fence and shooting a gun with their ‘bad’ arm. There was no mention of it again. The next thing, another one of the losers was shot in both legs. ‘Do you think you can walk?’ asks his pal. ‘Of course not, I’ve been shot in both legs.’ I breathed a sigh of relief. Within minutes, he’s walking around unsupported. There are also several cheesy hat tips that I couldn’t quite get past either.

The Losers was nicely edited however, using an interesting comic book style that differentiates it from other action movies. There’s lots of action, special effects and the acting is pretty good for what they had to work with. The plot might not be great but it doesn’t drag either, it moves along quickly enough so it’s not boring. The end of the film is left wide open for a sequel but all in all, I won’t be holding my breath for that. With a coherent plot and some better chemistry between the characters, I might have given this the thumbs up but I’m sorry to report that this one is a loser in my book. I have absolutely no doubt that this movie will find an audience though, especially among teenage boys.

Rating: 4/10 Nicely edited, the action sequences were well shot, I laughed a lot at how ridiculous it was.

Recommended for: When you want to switch your brain off, Teenage boys, people that like to laugh at movies, cliché lovers, people that don’t mind a LOT of cheese with their action, those that love the song ‘Don’t Stop believing’ by Journey. It features a good bit.

Not recommended for: People looking for a serious, heartwarming tale of friendship in the face of adversity, those looking for a new film to sit proudly next to Watchmen in their DVD collection.