The Losers - What Did You Think?
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I didn't have high expectations for Sylvain White's The Losers. White's filmography wasn't terribly impressive to me, and the plot led some of my fellow critics to refer to the film's titular group of operatives as "a poor man's A-Team." Still, I held out hope that we'd at least get an enjoyable action romp. Sadly, it turns out I was mistaken.
I'd heard fairly good things about the comic book that the film is based on, but the property does not make the transition gracefully to the screen. The film's tone fluctuates rapidly from outlandishly over-the-top all the way to ultra-serious. It feels less like a film that's trying to be convey a broad swath of emotion, and more like a film that's spinning wildly out of the director's control. This might be forgivable if the action sequences were any good, but The Losers is filled set pieces that are completely devoid of any tension whatsoever. Never at any point during the film did I ever feel as though these characters were in any danger. The film never achieves a sense of what the stakes are in each scene, and as a result, I found it difficult to care or even understand what was going on. There's also an absolutely preposterous love story thrown into the mix for good measure.
On the bright side, I thought Chris Evans brought a great deal of charisma to his role, and he's the source of a large percentage of the film's scarce laughs. But overall, The Losers demonstrates that making a Kick-Ass movie is tough (see what I did there?). Enough from me, though. What did you guys think of The Losers? And feel free to mention SPOILERS in the comments.
The Losers is now out in theaters everywhere.