A Winner In Terms Of Comic Book Movies

The Losers is essentially a movie based around revenge. An elite US force are double crossed and announced dead after a mission in Bolivia. The Unit, comprised of Clay, Jensen, Roque, Cougar and Pooch, join forces with the only prominent female character in the film, Aisha. The ultimate goal to seek revenge on the man behind the betrayal, the dastardly yet somehow loveable, Max.

In terms of plot the movie is a little bit predictable, the whole undercover agents and revenge babble, what makes it memorable are the performances of the actors who really make you love the characters no matter how evil they are or whether you agree with their actions. We have Clay (portrayed by Jeffrey Dean Morgan), the leader who as a viewer you can’t help but respect. He has the usual, heroic qualities and is the typical character everyone has to like. There’s Aisha (Zoe Saldana) the mysterious female that balances out the patriarchal film, even if the character isn’t ultra feminine. The performances of Chris Evans, Óscar Jaenada and Jason Patric in their respective roles of Jensen, Cougar and Max who lighten the darker, violent and revenge elements of the plot and stop it being the generic action movie.

The other thing that makes the movie worth the watch? The comedic theme that runs through it, several lines come to mind when I consider this aspect including “liking the angle of the dangle?” and “Clay and his Unit? That sounds like a porno, Wade.” I won’t linger on the comedic scenes though, because I’d hate to reveal a tonne of spoilers.

I’ll admit, my main reasoning for seeing this film was the cast, as I myself haven’t read the comic series. I haven’t even read the comic series the comics were based on. I was a fan of Morgan after seeing his portrayal of the Comedian in Watchmen and similarly with Evans and Saldana, I was impressed with both Johnny Storm in the Fantastic Four movies and Uhura in Stark Trek. And despite the heavy criticisms Saldana seems to be facing, mainly that she’s losing her charm and not making brilliant movies I really enjoyed it. I wouldn’t, however, recommend it to everyone. It isn’t exactly a mature movie (I mean that in the aged based way, not the themes, there is a reason it has its UK-15 rating) as it can be childish in places. It is also excessively violent, and though I liked the insane amounts of shootings etc, I understand some others wouldn’t.

All in all, The Losers has quickly become one of my favourite movies, though I mainly put that down to my personal tastes for an okay movie with lots of bullets flying around.