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Saturday, April 20, 2024
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HOLLYWOOD THE LOSERS
EDITOR'S PICK
Rating: ***
Comic book adaptations are usually fun to watch. If nothing, it at least has
some style, cool action sequences, and witty dialogues. Yet somewhere along the
way into becoming a film, "The Losers" loses its way and ends up
becoming a much lesser film that what it could have been. And yet, it`s much
better than many that have come up lately.
When an attempt is made on the life of a group of five soldiers after they
successfully complete a mission on foreign soil, they are forced into hiding.
The leader, Clay (Morgan) wants vengeance on Max (Patric) who tried to kill
them, but the rest merely want to go back to the US.
However, the entry of Aisha (Saldana) changes the equation as she promises them
an entry to the US and their lives back, if they help her kill Max. Back on US
soil though, things change as secrets tumble and it will take a lot of wit and
quick thinking on these good soldiers, if they are to come out of the jam they
find themselves in.
"The Losers" begins with great expectations. The soldiers make a
daring save of a group of kids, risking their lives and completing the mission
at the same time. However, the film goes downhill after this great start, with
only a few moments reaching the high of the beginning.
The first meeting of Clay and Aisha as they fight ending in poses that seem as
if they are making love is ingeniously shot. And so is the one in which Jensen
(Evans) displays his telekinetic abilities.
Yet, even for an action film, it has to be based on something. And that, for
"The Losers", could have been politics. There`s no trace of any in
this film which could have done well to have covered a greater political
intrigue and massive cover-ups, like say the Bourne series whose shaky
cinematography it adopts to good effect.
The acting, especially of Jeffery Dean Morgan is believable. First noticed for
his portrayal as the Comedian in "Watchmen", he is a talent to watch
out for.
Despite its lack of lustre in the storyline, the decent wit, good
cinematography, slick editing and good action take care of a few of the film`s
discrepancies - enough only to mask it but not enough to make it a great movie
that it could easily have been.
An explosive action tale of betrayal and revenge, “The Losers” centers around the members of an elite Special Forces unit sent to the Bolivian jungle on a search and destroy mission. But the team—Clay, Jensen, Roque, Pooch and Cougar—soon find that they have become the target of a deadly double cross, instigated from the inside by a powerful enemy known only as Max.
Making good use of the fact that they are now presumed dead, the group goes deep undercover in a dangerous plot to clear their names and even the score with Max. They are joined by the mysterious Aisha, a beautiful operative with her own agenda, who is more than capable of scoring a few points of her own. Working together, when they’re not arguing amongst themselves, they have to stay one step ahead of the globetrotting Max—a ruthless man bent on embroiling the world in a new high-tech global war for his own benefit. If they can take down Max and save the world at the same time, it’ll be a win-win for the team now known as The Losers.
