Are you ready for Red?

Even CIA agents who have gone into retirement can still have a piece of the action—and they get a lot of that in Red. In the big screen adaptation of the DC comics miniseries by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner, Bruce Willis plays the role of retired spy Frank Moses. After spending time away from the service, Frank finds himself in the middle of a frame up. Together with his former colleagues Joe (Morgan Freeman), Marvin (John Malkovich), and Victoria (Helen Mirren), Frank uses his CIA experience to save their lives. The result is an action-packed film that takes viewers on a cross-country ride and gives them a fun sneak peek into the top-secret world of spies.

From page to screen

Countless graphic novels have been made into movies over time. So what makes Red different from the rest? For starters, the graphic novel version is relatively short. Unlike most big screen adaptations, the question with Red was not how to squeeze some 500 pages of text into a 90-minute feature. Rather, the challenge was how to turn a 66-page graphic novel into a 115-page script. It might have been an ambitious project, but screenplay writers Erich and Jon Hoeber definitely stepped up to the plate.

Unlike its literary counterpart however, Red the movie veers away from the darker side of the story. Instead, the movie adaptation is an action comedy that should leave a lighter aftertaste with viewers.

Another interesting thing about Red is that its protagonists are not exactly the typical young heroes. Frank and crew have already gone into retirement, remember? The movie proves that even 50- or 60-something heroes can still kick ass.

As Willis shares in an interview, he did one of the toughest fight scenes he’s ever done for this movie—which says a lot. Even Mirren performs some memorable action scenes including one where she fires a 50-calibre machine gun while dressed to the nines. Add to that the fact that the retirees had to stand up against a young team of antagonists armed with the latest gadgets. Red is not your run-of-the-mill action movie, that’s for sure.