Main cast: Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Franklin Clay), Idris Elba (William Roque), Zoe Saldana (Aisha al-Fadhil), Chris Evans (Jake Jensen), Columbus Short (Linwood “Pooch” Porteous), Óscar Jaenada (Carlos “Cougar” Alvarez), Holt McCallany (Wade), and Jason Patric (Max)
Director: Sylvain White
Based on the comic series of the same name published by Vertigo, The Losers is a straightforward no-nonsense action flick whose glorying in violence and humor gives it an ample amount of charm.
When the movie opens, we meet an US Special Forces team that is in Bolivia awaiting orders from their superiors. We have Clay, the leader, along with Roque the second-in-command, Pooch the stereotypical “My pregnant wife is waiting for me back home!” fellow, and Jensen the white guy who wants to be an actor and who also doubles as comic relief in the team.
They get their orders soon enough, but when they realize that the man whom they are told is a drug dealer has children and women in the base, they call for an abortion of the mission. That is when they learn that the person at the end isn’t their superior, but someone called Max who is planning to use them for his own agenda. Our heroes try to stop him by rescuing the women and children from the base, but things go spectacularly wrong. The US government blames them for the mess, they are thought to be dead, and our heroes are stranded in Bolivia with no money and no way to go back home.
Things change when Clay meets the mysterious Aisha, who promises them that she will bring them back to the USA if they will help her bring down the person responsible for their problems: a mysterious crime-mogul named Max who apparently has extensive contacts and cohorts even within the government. Lots of fun and explosions ensue.
The Losers won’t win any award for originality as the characters are action movie stereotypes and the plot itself is a little too ridiculous even for a movie of this nature. But the pace never relents and the action just keeps pumping from start to finish. This movie is all about the kicking of rear ends, explosions, violence, and humor to make these elements palatable and even funny. The male cast has great chemistry together and it is easy to believe that they are soldiers who work well together.
The weakest link, however, is Zoe Saldana’s character Aisha. The problem here is that the scriptwriters of this movie do not know what to do with Aisha. She therefore alternates from being a surly action girl to a femme fatale with secrets – her character is all over the place and it is hard to get a good idea of who Aisha is. It also doesn’t help that Ms Saldana is way too thin here. Not only does her bread stick figure make it hard for me to believe that her character can take down a man of Clay’s size in combat, it is also unpleasant for me to see her ribs sticking out like that when Aisha is wearing revealing clothes.
Still, no matter. Unlike its name, The Losers is a most entertaining thriller at the end of the day.
