Friday 12 August 2016

The Losers (2010)



An elite special forces team is sent on what seems to be a routine mission: mark a drug smuggler's compound for destruction from the air.  Things become complicated, however, when the team realise that there are over twenty children in the compound.  They attempt to abort the mission, only to have their mysterious handler "Max" refuse their pleas, while making it clear that he had known about the children all along.

When the team rebel against these orders, they find themselves targeted for death and - when they succeed in concealing the fact that they're not dead - posthumously blamed for the children being killed.  They go to ground in Bolivia while trying to find a means of gaining revenge on a man they've never met and know almost nothing about.  Which obviously seems like rather a vain hope; but then a mysterious young woman turns up with an offer: she'll help them get to Max if they'll help her kill him.  Which sounds like a perfect match, right?  Surely nothing could possibly go wrong.

The Losers drew comparisons to the A-Team on its release, and it is easy to see why: elite special forces team accused of a crime they did not commit and trying to prove their innocence; each member of the team a specialist in a certain discipline; and a similarly over-the-top, action/comedy style.  I suspect this film is a little more grounded - no-one flies a tank in it, at least - but only a little.  For instance, its villain is cartoonishly evil; he shoots a woman for not holding an umbrella correctly; and there's a scene involving the theft of an armoured car via use of a giant magnet.

I had a pretty good time with this movie, though it is certainly no classic of modern film.  If you're in the market for a 'dumb fun' action film with a likable cast though, then it fits the bill.

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