Red

For some (like me), the action film is one of the most enjoyable kinds of films around. They include intense fist fights, car chases, guns firing everywhere--you get the point. But for this film, besides Bruce Willis, the usual action stars aren't the typical suspects.This time viewers get to see John Malkovich, Morgan Freeman, and Helen Mirren kick some tail; a very entertaining concept especially being that Freeman and Mirren are both over 65. In the D.C. comic book adaption "Red," we follow four retired C.I.A. agents that have been labeled R.E.D. (Retired Extremely Dangerous) that are called back into business when the C.I.A. is told to take them out and you better not even think about calling any of them "old."


"Red" starts off a little slow as we meet the first retired agent, and main character, Frank Moses (Willis). Moses lives a quiet life by himself. Everyday he follows the same, boring routine but what he does enjoy is talking to a customer service agent named Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker) with whom Frank wants to start a relationship. Sure this first 7-10 minutes or so moves slowly but a good film needs to establish a knowledge of the character before jumping into the action which starts right after that 7-10 minutes. Moses' quiet life ends quickly one night when a hit squad attacks his home in the middle of the night. Being the C.I.A. tough guy that Moses is, he easily and brutally takes down this hit squad with ease. Knowing that they traced his phone, Moses sets out to get Sarah in order to keep her safe. To help fight off the C.I.A. and discover why they are after him, Moses must seek out his old team to help him out.


"Red" contains a good mix of different characters with different personalities. The first which we meet is named Joe (Freeman), Moses' old mentor who lives in a retirement home. Think this guy is too old to beat-up on the bad guys? Think again, though Freeman is in his mid-70's, he can still pack a punch. The next man is Marvin (Malkovich) a paranoid ex-agent who despises phones, satellites, and anything in "the system" that he think will turn on humanity. Malkovich's character provides many of the humorous lines and the comedic elements of the film. The last of Moses' allies is Victoria (Mirren) who misses her old life as a wetwork agent and knows how to fire a massive machine gun. Together these four form a very enjoyable team and even though they are all different, they can all kill anyone they want, however they want, which brings us to the main attraction of "Red."


THE ACTION! Ah yes, sometimes that's all a film needs to get the approval of most movie-goers. This isn't the kind of light action with sword-fights and punches that you sit and watch with no big reaction--this is the kind of action where the theater lets out "OOOO's" and "OH MAN's" in unison when Bruce Wills hit a man in the head...with a GRENADE LAUNCHER! And that's not all... we have intense car chases in which the man walks out of a speeding cop car to shoot down his pursuer, we have John Malkovich taking down an RPG missile with a pistol, and so much more that I don't want to spoil.


And then we have the bad guys like Agent Cooper (Karl Urban) and his team of C.I.A. agents, many of which get taken down by the four retirees which greatly resembles classic action film villains: menacing, relentless, and willing to stop at nothing to accomplish his or her goal. Of course with the villains come several twists and turns in the plot line but really, so do most action films. In fact in many ways, "Red" reminds me of the classic action film with it's high octane action, plot twists, menacing villains, and of course Bruce Willis. Having this "classic" feel made the movie very enjoyable for me as it's the "classic" action films that are the most enjoyable.


With the mix of action, characters, and comedy, "Red" succeeds in being a very enjoyable thrill ride but when it's all said and done...the most enjoyable thing about "Red" is watching people like Helen Mirren and Morgan Freeman, people who, most commonly because of their age, no one would expect to be in an action movie, beat up on everyone else. I give it 3 stars out of 4.


"Red" has a running time of 111 minutes and is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action violence and brief strong language.

The Social Network

It's hard to believe that it has only been six years since the creation of Facebook, the worldwide social network that I feel like I have been using for years. Though its also hard to believe that its taken this long for a film to made about the website's creation. Well I say its about time we see the "true" story of how Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook and viewers will most definitely be taken by surprise at the many unfortunate events that take place during Zukerberg's journey in, "The Social Network."

Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) is one of the smartest guys at Harvard (the smartest I've seen at least). It's clear from the beginning that this man is gifted in computer programing when he hacks into Harvard's database and retrieves pictures of the girls in the school to create a site called FaceMash where male students choose which of two girls is more attractive. This website ends up attracting so many hits in one night that it causes Harvard's Network to crash. Oh and by the way, he did all of this while he was drunk.

Now Mark is hated by the female population at Harvard and has been put on six months of academic probation. However the website that Mark created gains the attention of two male students named Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (Armie Hammer and Josh Pence though Hammer's face and voice are superimposed on Pence's character). These two come to Mark with the idea of creating a new website for Harvard students. Mark agrees to help the twins, but then goes to his friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield) and the two talk about a seemingly similar idea that they call "The Facebook." From there we see the many trials, lawsuits, and betrayals that occur throughout the birth of this new social network.

"The Social Network" isn't an inside look at Facebook's history like some might think, but rather a moving personal look at the lives of very interesting characters. The film dives into the main characters' lives in such a deep and powerful way showing the viewer the different sides, layers, and personalities of people such as the founders Zuckerberg and Saverin.

Going into the film I was not expecting to see a drama full of character development and I wasn't expecting to learn so many things I never knew about Facebook's background and creators (though there is debate on how much of the film is made up and how much is true). For example, I never knew that Sean Parker (played by Justin Timberlake), the creator of Napster, had a very strong influence and impact on Zuckerberg during the early years of Facebook.

I was also oblivious to the amount of betrayal, back-stabbing, lawsuits, etc. were involved in the whole story. When looking at the main element of the film Facebook, which centers around friends liking pictures and statuses, and connecting with people around you, I realized that the elements concerning its creation are the total opposite (betrayal, making enemies).

Of course the film wouldn't have been great if it hadn't had the fantastic performances given by its actors and actresses. "The Social Network" presented two male leads (Eisenberg and Garfield) that I haven't really seen before and they both gave powerful performances and I'm positive that this film with jump start each of their careers (Garfield's even set to be the next Spider-Man).

When I watched "The Social Network," I saw a film about a man who wanted to create a place where people could always connect with their friends, talk with each-other, and look at other people's lives through pictures and status messages when really, he didn't have friends and relationship outside of the computer. This concept along with others like choosing between friends and money, come together to create a moving, dramatic masterpiece that will change the way you think about the world's most popular social network. I give it four stars out of four.

"The Social Network" has a running time of 121 minutes and is rated PG-13 for sexual content, drug and alcohol use and language.