When the cast for Robert Schwentke's comic book adaptation Red came together, I thought that the action film involving a retired CIA black-ops agent's attempt to survive the attacks of a high-tech assassin would be a stone cold action thriller. With acclaimed award winners Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren in starring roles alongside accomplished actors such as Brian Cox, Richard Dreyfuss, Mary-Louise Parker and...Ernest Borgnine (?), I had no reason to believe otherwise.
Then I saw the first teaser trailer that hit the web today and my draw dropped - and not in a good way. As it turns out, the film has taken on the tone of star Bruce Willis' most recent credit - the painfully unfunny action-comedy Cop Out. I won't rush to judgment because I've been wrong about movies in the past, and Red's killer roster and high-octane action could be enough to make the movie watchable, but this is not what I was expecting.
Have a look at Red, which hits theaters on October 15th, for yourself: