Film Reviews

The Losers

• Rating:
• Director: Sylvain White
• Starring: Chris Evans
• Details: US/96mins 15A

Only occasionally advertising its budgetary constraints, this moderately priced DC comic adaptation is a lot of fun - if only in the clichéd "leave your brain at the door" sense. But c'mon, a film based on a comic that was obviously heavily influenced by The A-Team is not to be taken seriously, and luckily the cast and director, White, don't. There is plenty of bang for your buck here, as various bad guys are disposed of in a McGyver-like manner, with flash cuts and overzealous camera work only adding to the enjoyably frantic feel of proceedings.
The Losers are a ramshackle group of highly trained operatives, who defy orders during a mission in South America to save some children. When they find out that the dastardly Max is the man behind a subsequent tragedy, in which they were implicated, they retreat to Bolivia for three months to regroup and figure out their next step. When Zoe Saldana's mysterious stranger offers them a way back into The States - by killing Max - the guys have an offer they can't refuse. But, naturally, all is not what it seems.
Its sensibilities firmly set in the 80s, the tone here is extremely simple, and designed to probably appeal to younger male teenagers. That's not to say that older audiences won't find this stylishly assembled production entertaining, they certainly will, but The Losers is the kind of film where henchmen die after a wily quip from one of our heroes, but expel no blood. Everyone has a smile on their face, and everyone seems to be enjoying themselves; with Chris Evans a notable stand-out from the team, and Jason Patric's Max a hilariously passive aggressive villain.
The rating does, of course, cause some of the action to lack penetration, while some members of the team are invariably given the short end of the stick in terms of dialogue. One or two lines are boarderline cringe-worthy, and the final twist(s) doesn't really work and feels out-of-place.
Whatever the intricateness of the plot, as a purposely gung-ho package designed to please the audience and no one else, The Losers is a far from a failure.

Review by Mike Sheridan