Movie Review: The Losers

Update: The Losers opens today to mixed reviews. Keep reading to see my review from last month when I saw an advance screening.

This week I got to be at one of the first screenings for the new movie The Losers. Watch the trailer below:



The trailer is what got me interested in seeing the film, and it lived up to most of my expectations. This was a fast, fun little action movie with solid performances from the cast. The cast did a good job with the material they were given, but Chris Evans stood out from the rest. He brought humor and depth to his supporting role, and hopefully this bodes well for his turn as Captain America. I've been a fan of his since Not Another Teen Movie and The Perfect Score. He has consistently been the best part of a mediocre movie, and that trend doesn't end here.

The movie starts out strong, though kind of fizzles at the end. The opening scene was fantastic: it got me interested in the story and these characters and kept me on the edge of my seat. It kept up this pace until about halfway through when Roque has his big moment. After that, the story shifts and just never really recovers. The ending action scene should have been better than the opening, but it dragged and I was no longer invested as much.

While the version I saw did not have all of the special effects finished, what was there was exciting and great. I particularly liked the fight sequences and explosions, but what stands out most is the display of the effect of the "snook" weapon. (Did no one involved in this project think of that South Park episode and consider changing the name?)

The music throughout was distracting, but that is probably going to be changed a bit before the movie is released, since it seemed like a common complaint on the survey. If they end up changing some of the music, then I think it will really help the second half - the action scenes are all set to music and that was also part of the pacing problem I mentioned earlier.

Despite the music and lackluster 2nd half, I would still recommend this for a great weekend matinee or rental. While not necessarily worth the $12 it costs to see a movie in LA, it's definitely worth seeing at some point.

Rating: 2.5 out of 4 stars.