Director: Sylvain White

Cast:
Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Zoe Saldana
Chris Evans
Idris Elba
Columbus Short
Oscar Jaenada
Jason Patric

Synopsis:
After being betrayed and left for dead, members of a CIA black ops team seek revenge on those responsible.

Review:

As all of you well know, I like my action movies, and “The Losers” is exactly that. As with many action movies, this is definitely a guilty pleasure. The film is predictable (aside from one twist near the end), there isn’t a whole lot of character development, and the story is nothing new. On the other hand, you will have a great time watching this flick.

The thing that stands out the most in this film is its cast. Jeffrey Dean Morgan is a likeable lead as the “head honcho” of the team, delivering enough swagger and smarts to be a believable leader. Idris Elba is the only character who gets any sort of development, as well as the character we come to understand the most. Zoe Saldana finally gets to the play the tough and ridiculously sexy woman (not blue-skinned either) who helps the team get their revenge. Chris Evans plays his typical type of character, which I still enjoy, even after seeing the exact character in films like “Fantastic 4” and “Cellular”. His only real performance I’ve seen is his terrific portrayal in Danny Boyle’s “Sunshine”, of which I hope we’ll be seeing the more serious side again once he steps into the shoes of Captain America. His character here brings much of the comic relief to the film and is fun to watch. Columbus Short and Oscar Jaenada don’t get much screen time, but are still good additions to the team. The real highlight to the film in this cast is Jason Patric, star of films such as “Narc” and “The Lost Boys”. While he is great in serious roles, he certainly gets his chance to put his comedic charm to the test here, of which he pulls of perfectly. Having such a funny and somewhat likeable (if hilariously evil) villain is a strange choice, but really adds to keeping the film’s over-the-top and light tone.

Director Sylvain White has finally made a good movie, after the atrocious “Stomp the Yard” and one of those "…Did Last Summer” movies that went straight to video. White clearly has an eye for pacing and style, because that is what this movie is. He does a good job with the action sequences and some of the more comedic scenes.

Like I said before, this is nothing to write home about, but it delivers as a film to prepare us for the summer blockbusters to come. The film is stylish, fun, and action-packed. You get to look at the sexy Zoe Saldana nearly the entire movie; and when she’s not there, things are usually being blown up or Chris Evans always has something funny to say. The cast is really what makes the film so much fun, and I hope to see them together again in the near future if they decide to do a sequel.

Rating: PG-13 for sequences of intense action and violence, a scene of sensuality and language

Runtime: 100 minutes

Grade: B+