For the days leading up to Christmas, Strangers and Aliens presents 24 Christmas movies that aren’t Christmas movies, but really kind of are, for various reasons.
Hat tip to Hank Harwell from the Geekklesia blog for suggesting this one to us . . .
#21 — Red
What it’s supposed to be: A stylish stylish movie adaptation of the DC Comics series about hitmen who were out of the game getting back into the game. Starring a whole bunch of older actors who are awesome, and building on the goodwill their awesomeness brings to the screen before we even see a frame of film.
Why it’s a Christmas movie: The movie opens in the Christmas season, with Burce WIllis (welcome back, Bruno, after Twelve Monkeys!), the lonely retired hitman trying to make some actual human connections. Christmas just punctuates his problems in that regard.
Thoughts: Nothing says “peace on earth, goodwill to men” like casual killing and lots of explosions!
I’ll say, though, this movie has style and energy and laughs and romance and actors with enough cool to chill an igloo! Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Karl Urban, John Malkovich, Earnest Borgnine, Helen Mirren…
The plot is good, as far as these kind of movies go. It’s smart and twisty and action and exciting and engaging. They do a lot with a little, jamming more story in than you’d expect, but they do it by creating a story that presents only the information you need, as you need it.
Like James Bond? Like Die Hard? Like clever action movies? You’ll like Red. And now you know that you have permission to like Red at Christmas! It will fit nicely as a Bruno double feature with our next strange Christmas movie.
Is It Naughty or Nice? Special thanks to Hank for pointing this one out to me! Because this movie is absolutely, unequivocally:
Santa Ben’s Verdict: Nice.
Your verdict? Let me know below in the comments!
Next: Die Hard & Die Hard 2
Previous: Harry Potter Series
You can follow this series of posts by clicking here: Strange Christmas Movies
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