Review by Doug Cooper
Stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Zoe Saldana, dris Elba, Chris Evans,
Columbus Short, Oscar Jaenada, Jason Patric | Written by Peter Berg & James Vanderbilt
UK certification 12 | UK RRP £23.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 97 minutes | Directed by Sylvain White
The Losers plays like a modern version of that hoary old TV series, The A-Team. Morgan is the Hannibal Smith-type character, the grizzled leader of a small black ops team of marines who are double crossed on a mission in Bolivia when tracking down a shady businessman. At the mass compound they infiltrate they find 25 young children being held captive in order to be employed as drug mules. They help the kids escape, loading them all onto a military helicopter that will take them to safety – only to see said helicopter blown up and everyone perish.
This all the work of dastardly villain Jason Patric, a multimillionaire bent on causing destruction. The rest of the movie features the team including Elba, Evans, Short and Jaenada, who all have respective skills in modern day combat - don't ask me what they are, I can't remember, but the credit titles give you a brief description at the beginning - being offered money to go back to the US to find Patric and kill him, despite being wanted men. The offer comes from Saldana, a kick-ass heroine. Morgan falls for her, but can she be trusted?
The plot itself is rudimentary, being merely an excuse for a series of action set pieces that are adroitly presented with razor sharp editing. The cast do what they can with their limited characters - Patric has a fine old time as the baddie, obviously enjoying himself by making the role quirky but never threatening, Morgan is a stalwart leader while Saldana looks worryingly thin. They share a tepid love scene together and the poor girl looks as if she could do with a fried breakfast.
There's nothing remotely original about it, reminding one at certain times of those cheesy action epics of the '80s and '90s that Arnie, Bruce, Chuck and Jean Claude all indulged in, but the in-your-face confidence of it all keeps one engaged throughout. It's a fast food takeaway of a movie, unedifying and disposable, but vigorously paced and watchable enough if you're completely undemanding. Take it or leave it.
EXTRAS ★★★½ An audio commentary with The Losers comic book creators Andy Diggle (writer) and Jock (the artist, who appears to only have one name); the featurette Zoe and The Losers (5:42), in which the director and cast drool all over Saldana (and who can blame them, right?); the featurette Action Style Storytelling (10:09), in which the cast, crew and comic-book creators talk about converting the comic book into a movie; the behind-the-scenes featurette Band of Buddies: Ops Training (5:41), which looks at the special forces advisers who trained the actors; the behind-the-scenes featurette Band of Buddies: Transforming Puerto Rico (5:21); the behind-the-scenes featurette Band of Buddies: Going Deep Into The Action (5:50), which looks at the action and stunts; a single deleted scene (0:40); and the theatrical trailer.