The Blogtastic Blogfest That Is Getmeoutofthis.net!

As normally happens, Essner pulled me out to go see a movie film, and this film was called The Losers. I really didn’t know anything about it before I saw it. I had saw some annoying pop-over ads on websites, and I vaguely knew it was based on a comic, but nothing else, really. I had little expectation.

The movie was completely fantastic.

The Losers isn’t trying to be anything more than a fun, entertaining action movie, and that’s exactly what it pulls off. There are great fights and action sequences galore, with plenty of ranged and melee combat. There’s explosions. Action stuff happens, and it is completely satisfying.

At the same time, the movie is actually pretty hilarious. It’s not that what happens is particularly funny. It’s not slapstick or anything, or completely over the top a a la Shoot ‘Em Up. It’s simply that the characters are just really witty and entertaining in their speech. Jensen, in particular, says some damn funny lines, and fulfills his role as comic relief really, really damn well. However, he’s not a “joke” character, and still manages to get up to plenty of bad-assitude. All the heroes do. It’s actually pretty spectacular that way. Everyone is a badass, everyone plays their role and shines, and everyone has some really funny lines at some point in the film.
Similarly, the villains of the piece, Max and Wade, are similarly hilarious. Wade’s over the top level of straight man routine, done in a way where you know the character is doing it just because he knows what kind of reaction he’s going to get, sets up some really damn funny moments. They have a damn good interplay, and are suitably villainous while being completely likable.

The plot is forgettable. Some bad things happened, they’re getting revenge, there’s some sort of magic science bullshit threat, etc. But it’s no worse than any other action movie you’ve seen, and by far the humor and spot-on characterization make this movie shine above other stupid action flicks I’ve seen recently. This is a movie that I’d be glad to have on my shelf someday. I was thoroughly and completely entertained the entire way through. Essner told me that, apparently, this movie is getting bad reviews. Honestly, I can’t imagine that being the result of anything but having completely off-base expectations. This is a funny action movie. It’s not trying to be art. If you want to just relax and enjoy some action and some laughs, The Losers is a damn good choice. You should see it.