Review - The Losers

The Losers (2010), PG-13, 98 minutes - I've been looking forward to this movie for months and it didn't disappoint. It's based upon a comic book series that was published by DC's Vertigo written by Andy Diggle and penciled primarily by Jock.

The Losers is the story about a special forces unit that witnesses something that they weren't supposed to. Their superior, an evil ghost of a man known only as Max, orders their elimination. One problem: they survive and go about making Max's life difficult in their efforts to clear their names and records.

As with most comic book based movies, the cast is integral to the story's transition to the big screen, and the cast of The Losers is as close to a perfect fit as you can get. Jeffery Dean Morgan (Clay), Zoe Saldana (Aisha), Chris Evans (Jensen), Idris Elba (Roque), Columbus Short (Pooch), and Oscar Jaenada (Cougar) are all living, breathing versions of the characters created on the page by Diggle/Jock. Ok, so Roque wasn't a black guy in the comics, but the personification is right on. The Max character (played by Jason Patric) is a little more over the top than he was portrayed in the comics, but it works with the tone of the film.

Chris Evans really steals the show as Jensen though. He's a light hearted, wise cracking tech/communications guy that injects humor into the story with just about every word he speaks. Example: the thought to be dead team is meeting a contact in a cemetery, trying to be inconspicuous and he rolls in wearing a bright pink t-shirt that says 'Go Petunias'. 'What? It's my niece's soccer team!' he says.

In this day and age of epic 2+ hour running movies, The Losers comes in at just over an hour and a half. It's a highly entertaining, humorous, action packed romp that is extremely faithful to the source material. It also does an excellent job of leaving the possibility for a sequel or sequels (the movie only covers the first arc of the comic series plus the couple later issues that fleshed out The Losers origin) while telling a fulfilling self contained story.

Check out the comic here.

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