Aww, what did Space Cowboys ever do to anybody? It’s just a sweet old film about launching geriatrics into orbit to teach them young whipper-snappers a thing or two!
If you’ve never seen Space Cowboys, don’t. It’ll ruin your impression of Clint Eastwood’s late career Oscar streak. Before directing movies like Mystic River and Million Dollar Baby, he directed and starred in junk like Space Cowboys and Blood Work. Avoid at all costs.
As Cami ascertained in today’s comic, RED is very much like Space Cowboys in that it stars a cast of borderline-elderly actors running around, doing things they probably shouldn’t. I don’t care if it’s entering a low orbit around the planet or blowing up a pallet of C4, you have grandkids to worry about!
At least RED isn’t taking itself too seriously.
Except it kind of is.
In the way that Space Cowboys limply tried to assert the value of The Greatest Generation, RED is basically an “eff-you” thrill ride for Baby Boomers, rapidly approaching obsolescence.
I’ve ranted about this in the past. Bruce Willis is a key offender in this area. Look at Live Free or Die Hard. He can still kind of get away with it, though. Ever since he figured out he could shave his head and look like a bad-ass, audiences have kind of forgotten he is 55.
Sylvester Stallone is worse. The Expendibles was fun, but his extension of both Rocky and Rambo were a little desperate.
These guys need to let it go. Make room for the next generation. Right now, there’s really no one to take their place because the old guard won’t get out of the way.
And Bruce! Bruce… You’re dragging Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren into it with you? For shame.
RED might be a rental for me somewhere down the line if for no other reason than to see John Malkovich in full-on crazypants mode. He doesn’t play up his intensity for laughs very often, so when he does, it’s devastating.
It looks like the movie may have legs, considering it stood its ground with a $22 million opening this weekend against Jackass 3D. Johnny Knoxville and the boys raked in $50 million at the box office setting a record for a fall movie (September – October) ever seen. In fact, I nearly doubled the take from the original Jackass and its sequel Jackass Number Two.
I’m kind of lamenting the fact that I didn’t make it out to the theater this weekend to catch it. But Cami had relatives in town this weekend from Texas and we spent a lot of time hanging out with them. I don’t know if there’s a point of seeing the movie on a school night. I doubt it would generate the uproarious response it seemed to attract this weekend.
What say you? Did anyone see Jackass 3D or RED this weekend? What was your take? Did you have fun screaming at the infantile antics of the Jackass crew? Was RED a viable choice for anyone who can’t remember where they were when Kennedy was shot?
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And dry-heave into my purse for two hours? Pass.
Any interest in seeing RED?
I like all of the actors associated with it, but I'm kind of irked by the concept.
A bunch of retired CIA agents blowing stuff up to prove they've still "got what it takes?"
It's like Space Cowboys without outer space.
I didn't see Space Cowboys.
Unless you have an AARP membership card, you never had a reason to!
I really like the fall colors as the backgrounds.
Thanks.
I don’t know why, but I always try to do at least one autumn comic. Winter, spring and summer don’t really exist in the Theater Hopper universe. Nor should they exist elsewhere.
Meh, I wasn’t as put-off by Space Cowboys as you were. To me, it was just an excuse to turn my brain off for a couple of hours and enjoy the ride. Certainly better than anything Johnny Knoxville has ever been a part of, for sure.
I kind of though Space Cowboys was charming. 🙁
I’ve heard that RED was very boring, and I’ve heard that it was a lot of fun. So…who knows. I want to see it. Love Helen Mirren and John Malkovich. I think it looks funny.
The real problem is there really isn’t a next generation of action stars since people like The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) and Vin Disel have apparently decided family movies are easier and better for the $$$.
That is true. They totally skipped over the Commando and Predator stages of their career and went straight for Twins and Kindgergarden Cop.
I think Dwayne Johnson is a little more versatile because he actually has a sense of humor and natural charm. But it’s too bad we didn’t get the second coming of the action star like we deserved.
If I recall correctly, I heard Dwayne does the kiddy movies because he has kids of his own, and made a professional decision that he wasn’t going to star in anymore movies that his kids couldn’t see.
I mean, kind of a professional suicide, but the guy made a choice that he didn’t want to explain to his children that he wasn’t actually killing people on screen. It’s just something fathers have to do.
As someone commented elsewhere – “Helen Mirren with a machine gun – ’nuff said.”
Kind of hard to argue that logic, I agree. 😉
I saw RED this weekend, and my girlfriend really enjoyed it. I also found it amusing, and worth seeing, however, other than John Malkovich, nothing really stuck with me. Malkovich was amazing in it though. If you don’t catch it in the theaters, a rental would certainly do it justice.
I disagree with you Tom on Bruce Willis. I will always want to see him in action films. He’s Bruce Willis. He’s awesome. He is action comedy, with emphasis on action. The opening of RED is incredibly calm, with Bruce doing normal, everyday things like put on a bathrobe and eating breakfast. It’s actually a little comical, cause it is Bruce Willis. He NEVER stays still doing something normal, and it was a bit surreal. Points to the director for committing 5 minutes of screen time to that.
I found RED to be enjoyable. It is not in the running for great film craft but it is an excellent bit of light storytelling with very strong actors holding it all together.
Helen Mirren is a dream and Morgan Freeman is just as laid back and great as Morgan Freeman needs to be in a movie.
Bruce Willis and John Malkovic are great at drawing the audience into the characters they create.
Even the delightful yet forgotten Mary-Louise Parker is charming and for a girl being rescued she has a strength and certainty to her character which keeps her from playing a victim in the role where the character has no control.
It is a super fun movie. Much better than Jackass 3D
=sighs= I *liked Space Cowboys, just like I’m sure I’m going to really like RED.
I have mixed feelings. I loved Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner’s work. It also good to see more comic series/graphic novels getting attention that aren’t about capes of any sort. Sure, the movie is a comedy and comic series isn’t, and that could blow up in everyone’s face, but it isn’t a bad thing.
The screenplay is written Jon and Eric Hoeber, however, who some might remember wrote last year’s awful ‘Whiteout’. That may not entirely be their fault, but it’s still not a very bright spot to have on one’s CV.
So if the movie is good, excellent. I’d definitely want to see it, and hope it points people towards the original work and Hollywood toward taking more chances on the comics industry, beyond the latest Batman or Spiderman (though ‘Scott Pilgrim’ probably had more weight in this this year than ‘Red’ will ever have). If it’s bad, though, I’m going to be disappointed.
I saw RED this weekend and found it entertaining. Now if I can just manage to see Secreteriat….
Have you seen Seabiscuit?
Same difference.
Oh good. A movie my mother-in-law will like then. (Horse Crazy for the past 5 to 6 decades)
I saw RED this weekend, and I really enjoyed it. It’s got a great blend of action and comedy, giving plenty of both. RED is the movie the Expendables tried to be.
Also, seriously, Tom. You’re going to pass up a movie with Mary-Louise Parker? REALLY? Plus, HELEN MIRREN WITH A MACHINE GUN? Let’s get serious here.
Tom I love your comics, but sometimes the blog cracks me up even more! If there was any justice to the critic/observer community you’d be raking in the dough. How many movie critics can use the word “obsolescence” in a review and not come off like a condecending twit? Keep up the good work!
I sincerely appreciate the compliments! Thank you!
Yes. If there were any justice in the world, I would be raking in the dough. With that I can agree! 🙂
My question regarding the Jackass 3D opening gross record is this: is that number in adjusted dollars? As a measuring stick for a movie’s performance, I’m far more impressed by tickets sold than by dollars earned. Between inflation and the fact that Jackass is charging more anyway for a 3D movie, the fact that it beat Scary Movie 3 by a mere $2.4 million isn’t all that impressive.
Actually, that’s a very good point.
But you know how it is when it comes to headlines. No subtlety.
You make a point about older actors not ‘getting out of the way’ for younger stars. Two points:
1. Welcome to the Baby Boomers. Doesn’t matter if they are actors or CEO’s, they won’t go down until they die.
2. You realize your advocating for Shia to step into the role right?
C’mon, man. Shia’s not an action star.
That’s why we have Michael Cera.
Oh… no.
That’s why we have Jesse Eisenberg. Don’t forget that he was able to slay a certain Ghostbuster in “Zombieland.”
I think it’s funny how every review I’ve read for the movie have said that it’s about “geriatric” action heroes. I mean, Bruce Willis is 55 and still making kick ass action flicks. When did 55 years old put one in the “geriatric” category?
Stallone is in his 60s and he made The Expendables, which was a big success in theaters.
I think people should just go see the flick because it’s (probably) a fun action flick, and not because it has a cast of “old timers.” Just my opinion.
55 isn’t geriatric, but it might as well be in action-movie terms.
Stallone and Willis still make these movies because they still have clout – good for them, but bad for fans of action movies as a whole.
So long as these stars remain viable, Hollywood isn’t going to make any effort to cultivate a star for the next generation. So when these guys eventually kick off, there won’t be anyone there to fill that role.
I think there is a huge opportunity here that the studios aren’t seeing and it’s going to cost them in the long run.
Hey, I saw an advanced screening of RED a few weeks ago and I actually really liked it a lot. I think it’s worth seeing.
Certainly, there’s a little of the “hey, were just as good (or even better than) you young uns”. But it certainly doesn’t dominate. It’s got a decent plot and has nice comedy parts and the action is good. It’s a fun movie and was entertaining.
I don’t think the studios have to worry that much about finding a new action star. There will always be plenty of muscle bound guys to do action films. If you’re talking about building up their rep as an action star, that is going to take just as much effort/money now as it would if they waited. Or possibly more since they would be competing against their older established stars that are still making movies if they started now.
As far as younger action stars go, Karl Urban made a really good showing in RED. He has a pretty impressive scene with Bruce Willis that, on first viewing, stands up to just about any in recent memory. Every time he shows up on screen he screams “tough but smart”. Just thought that was worth mentioning.
As for The Rock (Dwayne Johnson, whatever), he has a new movie coming out that looks totally bad ass, Faster. And his short appearance in The Other Guys was solid.
All of that aside, I think the problem is that the whole idea of an “action star” is going away. The concept that you are either an action star, or a comedic actor, or a serious actor is becoming less and less important.
Some of the best action movies of the last decade or so have been (off the top of my head): Kill Bill, The Matrix, The Rock, Casino Royale, Hot Fuzz, Face/Off, The Dark Knight, Gladiator, Equilibrium, Goldeneye, Mission Impossible, The Bourne Identity, Iron Man, 300, Spiderman, and so on. None of those movies have “action stars” in the lead roles (unless you count David Carradine…). Do we really need a crop of new “action stars” when it’s possible to make movies that good without them?
By the by, the same is true of comedies, though to a lesser extent. Mark Wahlberg was great in The Other Guys, Robert Downey Jr. was brilliant in Tropic Thunder and looks to be great in Due Date.
Also, for the record, RED was pretty awesome. Funny, good action, great chemistry, and I totally buy each of the actors still being fully capable of what they were doing on screen (there’s just something about Bruce Willis that screams “extreme competence” to me, he always feels like the one person in the room that knows what he’s doing).
Those are very good points. Tough to argue them.
I guess if comedic actors were ONLY doing comedic roles and action stars were only doing ACTION stars, I would probably complain that they aren’t diversified enough.
Hey I liked Space Cowboys AND R.E.D. I wonder what that says about me 🙂