RED

It's been a while since I've watched a film with such a good looking bad guy, but Mr. Karl Urban certainly makes a welcome deviation from that particular norm. A sentiment that can (happily) also be used to summarise the content of the film itself. Not your typical "secret agent faces up to his old employer when they decide they want to kill him" story (Bourne this 'aint), RED deals with a team of retired (and extremely dangerous, hence the acronymic title) field agents, fighting for their lives against the organisation that is still paying their pension.

Right from the set-up, the calibre of the cast list leaves you with no illusions that this should deliver. Names such as Willis, Malkovitch, Freeman and Mirren leave you firmly with high expectations for a string of really solid performances. Pleasingly, they don't disappoint. What makes it all the more delightful is that the script they are working from gives them so much scope to have fun, which comes across so blatantly in everything that they do; full of wit, and very genuinely funny in many places, they all look like they are having the time of their lives.

No-one wanted to be the first to lose the staring competition.

All that enjoyment from the cast really translates back off screen. Not even Brian Cox's ever so slightly dodgy Russian accent, or the vaguely grating postcard based location-setting mechanic could irritate enough to distract from what is a thoroughly enjoyable film. Never does it take itself too seriously, and it's all the better for it. Plus, with rumours of a sequel on the way, RED might just invent itself a new genre entirely. Retired superheroes? (The Incredibles doesn't count). Retired boxers? (Nor does Rocky Balboa). Let's just hope they stop before someone decides to bring High School Musical-ers out of retirement...