Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on January 2011

Red: © 2010 Summit Entertainment, LLC. All Right Reserved.

This is not so much a movie as it is one of those “opportunities” to watch A-list actors, in this case aging ones, having fun at work. Kind of a geriatric Ocean’s Eleven. Or Space Cowboys with spies. Or The Expendables with good acting. The plot is simple: a quartet of retired CIA black operatives (Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich and MI6’s Helen Mirren) is targeted for termination by elements within their former employers because they know too much or something, and they must make use of their considerable collective (and cinematic) skills to outsmart the whippersnappers now running things. The title is an acronym for “Retired: Extremely Dangerous.” I kept expecting Sean Connery to show up. So it’s basically fluff, but it’s entertaining fluff. It’s fast-paced, never takes itself too seriously and has a good sense of humor. Especially Malkovich’s turn as an LSD-addled lunatic. Supporting cast includes Mary-Louise Parker, Brian Cox, Richard Dreyfuss (channeling Dick Cheney), and even Ernest Borgnine (at 93). Edifying and ennobling it’s not. But it’s a satisfying guilty pleasure watching this veteran cast deal with material on this level. And in a way it’s, well, classy.