Fridae

That the funny books are serious business should leave little doubt upon any trip to the cinema these days. And it's no longer just the almost institutional pantheons of the Marvel and DC stables of superheroes that are getting their day in the sun. Minor characters from niche adult labels like Vertigo are getting their chances too, what with two hyperkinetic action-fests based on minor comic books ripping through cinemas lately. The first, Kick-Ass, was also reviewed by yours truly, who found it one of the most entertaining and well-made films of the year so far. The second, with a milder PG-13 rating in the US and a PG rating here, is The Losers.

Informed by same anarchic, cheerily violent yet strangely wholesome spirit that marked Kick-Ass, The Losers is a more modest, less ambitious film overall than Matthew Vaughn's deconstruction of superheroes. That does not stop it from being a lot of fun as well.

An opening raid on the compound of a drug lord during which 25 orphans are saved and then murdered sets the tone for the rest of this wild escapade. A crack team of US operatives, led by the pudgy but lethal Clay (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) carried out the hit, but are left for dead by their double-crossing superior, the smart-mouthed but ruthless intelligence operative Max (Jason Patric). The rest of the team includes sniper Cougar (Jaenada), technical and parkour expert Jensen (Evans), tactician Roque (Elba), and pilot/getaway driver Pooch (Short). Joining them is the mysterious African beauty Aisha (Saldana), who may be a damsel in distress, a ball-busting femme fatale, or both, given her formidable combat skills.

The film is structured almost as a series of wild capers in locations ranging from Bolivia to Miami, from Dubai to Mumbai, where the gang pulls off insane stunts with snappy dialogue and steely resolve. It is a credit to the cast as a whole that most of them add the spark of humanity to these largely caricatured character types. Especially show-stealing is Chris Evans' technical expert Jensen, who frets over his 8 year old niece's soccer results and intrudes enemy headquarters disguised as a courier boy, a flasher and a tech support guy while singing Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" in a campy manner in order to clear the elevator, making this the second major blockbuster I've seen in two months to use bad 80s pop as an anthem (the other being Monga). Zoe Saldana as Aisha provides the requisite fanboy eye candy as the sort of girl who seduces men twice her size and then pulls guns on them while clad in lingerie.

Such hijinks tend to overshadow the silliness and inconsequentiality of the plot, which boils down to Max trying to orchestrate a terrorist attack in order to enrich the military industrial complex in an already hackneyed display of post-9/11 conspiracy theory-making. Sylvain White directs mostly bloodless action scenes with so much élan you get the feel of a much "badder" film than what you see here.

The Losers is an above-average production that is solid, dependable and fueled by the gusto and élan of a game cast and tight direction.