| 1 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/RED_movie_5522.jpg]] |
| 2 | [[caption-width-right:350:Still armed. Still dangerous. Still got it.]] |
| 3 | |
| 4 | ''Red'' is an American action-comedy film very loosely based on the [[ComicBook/Red2003 three-issue comic book limited series of the same name]] created by Creator/WarrenEllis and Cully Hamner, and published by the DC Comics imprint Homage. The film stars Creator/BruceWillis, Creator/MorganFreeman, Creator/MaryLouiseParker, Creator/KarlUrban, Creator/JohnMalkovich, Creator/BrianCox, Creator/HelenMirren, Creator/ErnestBorgnine, and Creator/RichardDreyfuss, with Robert Schwentke directing a screenplay by Jon Hoeber and Erich Hoeber. |
| 5 | |
| 6 | Frank Moses (Willis) is a retired UsefulNotes/{{CIA}} agent trying to make the best of his simple life. For the past few months, he had been developing a tentative relationship with Sarah Ross (Parker), a civilian office drone helping him with pension checks. He had been planning on going to Kansas City to see her when a hired hit squad bursts into his house and tries to have him killed. Since they had him under surveillance, Frank realizes that they must know about Sarah, and he's forced to kidnap her while he seeks help from other former members of the intelligence community (basically all the remaining cast). Meanwhile, CIA agent William Cooper (Urban) is discovering that the entire ordeal doesn't seem to add up. What follows is part RoadTripPlot, part RomanticComedy and part action movie, as Frank gathers up his old CIA crew and gets to the bottom of their new [[TitleDrop R.E.D.]] [[FunWithAcronyms (Retired, Extremely Dangerous)]] titles. |
| 7 | |
| 8 | The film seems to have been made primarily so that a bunch of... matured actors, many of them famed for dramatic work, could ham it up with very large guns, and is fun to watch even if only because everyone in the cast and crew seem to be enjoying themselves. A sequel was released on July 19th, 2013. A third movie is in development, though no dates have been revealed yet. The status of the third movie is currently in the air, given Willis' 2022 disclosure that he has been diagnosed with aphasia and is stepping away from acting. |
| 9 | |
| 10 | This is one of the few DC movies to not be distributed by Creator/WarnerBros, but rather Creator/SummitEntertainment. |
| 11 | |
| 12 | ---- |
| 13 | !!These films provides examples of: |
| 14 | |
| 15 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 16 | |
| 17 | [[folder:''Red'']] |
| 18 | * ATeamFiring: Whenever the protagonists face policemen or Secret Service agents. Reaches ludicrous heights with the scene in [[spoiler:Moldova, where an entire platoon of soldiers, in a double file horizontal firing line, can't even nick Moses or Boggs]]. |
| 19 | ** Notably averted in one instance only: when Victoria is gutshot late in the first film. [[TemptingFate Right after she and Marvin exlaim that they remember the Secret Service being tougher.]] |
| 20 | * ActuallyPrettyFunny: Frank reveals that rather than killing Ivan's cousin Igor TheButcher, he flipped him and the man now weighs 500 pounds and runs a 7-11 franchise in Orange County. Ivan can't even be mad about it. He tells Frank in return that "[[HoneyTrap Veronique]]" was one of his; Frank is astonished then declares that whatever she was paid, she definitely earned it. |
| 21 | * AdaptationExpansion: Aside from the transition to comedy, as noted above, the movie also does a great deal of expanding on the reasoning behind the order to kill Moses, creating a rather elaborate conspiracy involving the [[spoiler: Vice President]], whereas in the original comic it is just the new director of the CIA finding out about Moses' record and saying "Holy Shit! We can't let this guy live as long as he knows this stuff!" Signed off on by Creator/WarrenEllis himself, since the comic is so short that he said it could maybe be a forty-minute film... if it had a musical number. |
| 22 | * AmoralAfrikaner: The "wet team" that attacks Frank in his home at the beginning are identified by Joe as an independent South African hit-squad-for-hire. |
| 23 | * {{Angrish}}: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], as Sarah currently has duct tape across her mouth. [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments This doesn't stop her from expressing herself eloquently.]] |
| 24 | * AntiVillain: Cooper is just [[PunchClockVillain doing his job]] and has no idea what's happening. |
| 25 | * ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: "I was hoping to not get kidnapped. Or drugged. I was hoping you had ''hair''." |
| 26 | * ArtisticLicenseMartialArts: Moses dislocates Cooper's shoulder with an inverted armbar, a move that targets the joint in the elbow and not the shoulder. |
| 27 | * AuthorAppeal: |
| 28 | ** You can see Creator/WarrenEllis' fingerprints all over the script in the form of [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Marvin Boggs]] -- an [[SuccessThroughInsanity utterly lethal]] and brilliant yet batshit insane drug-addled conspiracy freak ''[[TheCuckoolanderWasRight who is right about EVERY SINGLE ONE]] [[ProperlyParanoid of his paranoid freakouts.]]'' All that's missing is some cool tattoos, smoking, and some [[NanoMachines nanotech]] implants and you'd have every single one of Ellis' "heroes" crammed into Creator/JohnMalkovich, who is the [[EnsembleDarkHorse most memorable part]] of all the awesome things around him. All of this is rather amusing when you consider that Warren Ellis actually had no involvement in the creation of the character. |
| 29 | ** There's a fair bit of bondage in the movie, with emphasis on wide, tape gags. It can't be a coincidence that two scenes of two different people with them on are so close together, that there is an onscreen gagging of the main heroine, numerous cuts to her struggling while BoundAndGagged, and when she breaks free, unlike in almost ''every other'' portrayal of a gagged captive escaping their bonds, she does not immediately remove her gag, despite having both hands free. |
| 30 | * BackInTheSaddle: Moses, complete with the [[Music/{{Aerosmith}} appropriate theme music]] |
| 31 | * BadAssCrew: The Guatemala team, in spades. Exception of the CO and [[spoiler:later Vice President]]. |
| 32 | * BadAssInANiceSuit: Cooper, as part of his {{UsefulNotes/CIA}} day job. (Even when arranging assassinations.) Meeting Frank leaves him ''severely'' discomposed. |
| 33 | * BavarianFireDrill: Moses is dressed as a general, Sarah is posing as his aide. He needs to use a fake contact lens to get past a retinal scanner, but drops it. Sarah is [[NotWhatItLooksLike on her hands and knees]] looking for it when the doors open to reveal a group of soldiers. |
| 34 | -->'''Sarah:''' The general has dropped his contact lens. Perhaps you could ''help us?'' |
| 35 | * BerserkButton: Don't call Marvin "old man." It ends badly for you. |
| 36 | -->'''Marvin:''' ''[astonished]'' "Old man"...?\ |
| 37 | '''Frank:''' ''[shakes head]'' No respect.\ |
| 38 | '''Marvin:''' [[TriggerHappy Can I kill her now]]?! |
| 39 | * {{BFG}}: |
| 40 | ** Victoria's .50 cal machine gun. |
| 41 | ** As well as Bogg's .500 S&W Revolver. |
| 42 | * BloodKnight: Victoria. |
| 43 | -->'''Victoria:''' This is going to be ''fun''! |
| 44 | ** Presumably part of why she and Ivan work so well together, despite being former interagency StarCrossedLovers. |
| 45 | -->'''Ivan:''' ''(wistfully)'' I haven't killed anyone in ''years.'' |
| 46 | * BondOneLiner: "Old man, my ass!" |
| 47 | * BottomlessMagazines: Every single gun in the movie fired more ammunition than it is actually capable of holding. Averted in the case of Victoria's .50 Browning, which is belt-fed and not limited in this fashion, although admittedly we do not see the belt clearly [[spoiler:when the agents catch up to it and find it rigged to fire unattended]] and overheating from sustained fire might be a problem. We also see Frank change magazines when he jumps out of the police car, continuously firing at Cooper. [[http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Red IMFDB notes]] that the 8-round weapon still manages to fire 16 rounds after that reload. |
| 48 | * BoundAndGagged: Sarah in the car and hotel room. Almost taken to a ridiculous extreme when Frank wants to duct tape the grieving mother of a victim, until Sarah intervenes. In a BrickJoke, Sarah has to do this to an Iranian diplomat in the sequel. |
| 49 | * BridalCarry: Ivan and a wounded Victoria, [[StarCrossedLovers of course]] |
| 50 | * BruiserWithASoftCenter: Victoria calls Frank out for being one. |
| 51 | -->'''Victoria:''' You're all hard on the outside, but all gooey on the inside. '''Gooey.''' |
| 52 | * BrutalBrawl: Pretty much every hand-to-hand fight, but special note goes to the fight between Moses and Cooper. The fight consists of the two of them bashing each other with every object within reach, whether it's a coffee mug, a telephone, or an entire coffee table. |
| 53 | * CallingTheCopsOnTheFBI: Moses does this to Cooper during a chase scene. When Cooper gets cornered by the cops, he [[KnowWhenToFoldEm surrenders on the spot]] rather than try to fight them or explain. |
| 54 | * CarFu: Subverted when Cooper rams Frank's car in New Orleans -- ''while the car is still spinning'', Frank leaps out and empties his pistol at Cooper, who gets the hell out of there, realizing this harmless ''retired analyst'' is anything but. |
| 55 | * CassandraTruth: Boggs. He is almost ''always'' right when he assumes someone or something is a threat. Of course, no-one believes him until it's too late. |
| 56 | * ChivalrousPervert: Ivan, towards Victoria. |
| 57 | * {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Marvin Boggs. Justified: |
| 58 | -->'''Sara:''' Wow. This guy's insane.\ |
| 59 | '''Frank:''' Well, he thought he was the subject of a secret government mind control project. ''[beat]'' As it turns out, he really was being given daily doses of LSD for 11 years.\ |
| 60 | '''Sara:''' Well, in that case, he looks great.\ |
| 61 | '''Frank:''' Fantastic. |
| 62 | * CombatPragmatist: Both Moses and Cooper use anything they can find to beat the other senseless when they fight. Coffee mug, telephone, shelves, glass table, filing cabinet, you name it. Helps that Moses trained the guy that trained Cooper. |
| 63 | * CombatStilettos: Subverted with Victoria. The final showdown has her slipping off her dress pumps and putting on a pair of combat boots instead. |
| 64 | * ConcealmentEqualsCover: |
| 65 | ** The [[spoiler: Secret Service's]] cars. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], seeing as how they are the ''[[spoiler: Secret Service's]]'' cars and are armored in real life -- and subverted, as [[spoiler:a M2 Browning works just fine when the crew wants to rip them apart.]] |
| 66 | ** Averted for the assault in the beginning of the film, however, where the rounds fired are clearly shown to tear the house to pieces as though it were wet cardboard. If Frank had been upstairs, he would have been killed no matter what room he was in. |
| 67 | ** Also averted for those metal containers at the airport, although no-one was shot through them. |
| 68 | * ConvenientSlowDance: Victoria and Ivan are supposed to take advantage of one at the VP's party so she can hand off the gas canister for his part of the ruse. [[SubvertedTrope However]], they are just recently reunited StarCrossedLovers; he fails to notice when the music ends, and ''she'' forgets to hand over the canister until he starts to walk away. |
| 69 | * ConvenientTerminalIllness: Joe volunteers to be the distraction for the protagonists to escape from Alexander Dunning's house, which is surrounded by the CIA. He mentions earlier in the film that he's 80 years old and has stage 4 Liver Cancer, so he chooses to make "the hard choice". |
| 70 | * CrazySurvivalist: Marvin. Justified -- he was subject to a number of mind-altering experiments when he was in the CIA. |
| 71 | * CrucifiedHeroShot: [[spoiler:Subverted when Ivan saves Victoria. Who then carries her off in a BridalCarry.]] |
| 72 | * CurbStompBattle: Moses vs. the FacelessGoons at the beginning of both movies. |
| 73 | * CuttingTheKnot: Faced with an unbreakable electronic lock, Frank simply [[MyopicArchitecture kicks a hole in the wall next to it]] and opens the lock manually. |
| 74 | * DirtyOldMan: Joe is a mild version. He pretends the TV is broken, or possibly sabotages it, so he can look at the butt of the nurse who tries to fix it. She catches him, but is only amused by it, likely due to the fact that, as far as the nurse knows, Joe is a harmless old man with Stage 4 Liver Cancer. |
| 75 | * DisguisedInDrag: In TheStinger sets in Moldova, Marvin Boggs is wearing a dress and a blonde wing for... some reason. He complains that next time, it should be Moses' ''actual girlfriend''. |
| 76 | * TheDragon: [[spoiler: Cynthia Wilkes.]] The twist is [[spoiler: who she's the Dragon ''for''. It's not the VP - it's Dunning.]] |
| 77 | * TheDreaded: The way the team talks about Victoria just before she is introduced makes it feel like they're reluctant to meet her and might not survive that. Totally justified, given the kind of work these people do, and the fact that when we actually see her she's hiding a ''submachine gun'' under a pile of flowers. |
| 78 | * DuctTapeForEverything: Moses' preferred method of subduing people; this is {{lampshaded}} (see BoundAndGagged). It is used at least twice on random hostages in the sequel. |
| 79 | * EstablishingCharacterMoment: |
| 80 | ** The first time we see Cooper, he's on the phone talking to his wife about his children while moving around a hotel room planting evidence. Then he ''hangs a guy.'' Then he accepts a mission to kill Frank. |
| 81 | ** Moses and Sara: Frank Moses wakes up at six in the morning (without his alarm going off) and goes through a cardiac workout routine even though he's retired, Sarah works in a cubicle wallpapered in postcards of places she would like to visit, and reads trashy romance novels while at work. |
| 82 | ** And then there's [[ProperlyParanoid Boggs]] and his ghille suit in his own front yard. |
| 83 | * ExactWords: When telling the story of when she was ordered to kill her lover, Victoria says she "put three bullets in his chest." [[spoiler:She never said she ''killed'' him.]] |
| 84 | * TheFilmOfTheBook: The movie was based on [[ComicBook/Red2003 a comic book of the same name]]. |
| 85 | * {{Fingore}}: Frank shows Joe an envelope containing the severed forefingers of the hit team sent to his house. |
| 86 | -->'''Joe:''' This used to be a gentleman's game. |
| 87 | * FlamethrowerBackfire: An agent shoots a RPG at John Malkovich, and he shoots the RPG, which explodes mid-air and kills the agent. |
| 88 | * FlippingTheBird: Marvin gives the SpySatellite that he ''knows'' is watching him the finger. |
| 89 | * {{Foreshadowing}}: [[spoiler: "You don't have people killed. I have people killed. I'm the bad guy, remember?"]] |
| 90 | * GirlWithPsychoWeapon: |
| 91 | ** Victoria and her wonderful arsenal of automatic weapons. |
| 92 | ** [[spoiler: The woman who Boggs threatens at gunpoint and her wonderful RPG.]] |
| 93 | ** Sarah [[JumpedAtTheCall desperately]] ''wants'' to be one of these. |
| 94 | * GovernmentConspiracy: [[spoiler:Turns out, not really. The Vice President's apparent cover up for his election is just a cover up for an Arms Dealer.]] |
| 95 | * GrenadeHotPotato: Boggs does a variant of this, sending back a grenade with ''the butt of a grenade launcher''. [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Batter up!]] |
| 96 | * GroinAttack: Marvin has this as his final resort when Frank closes in to convince Marvin that he's not trying to kill him: |
| 97 | -->'''Frank:''' Wanna take that knife out of my balls now? |
| 98 | * GuiltyPleasures: Sarah Ross likes to read trashy romance novels which she tells Frank Moses are terrible but so addictive. |
| 99 | * HandCannon: Boggs' revolvers most definitely qualify. Cooper's compensated Sig P220 Sport looks the part, but it's actually chambered in .45 ACP (the compensator makes up much of the bulk). |
| 100 | * HazyFeelTurn: [[spoiler:Cooper may be ruthless and ambitious, but he's more of a DesignatedVillain and an UnwittingPawn than anything else. Throughout the movie, his loyalties never actually change. Sure, he is first seen casually planting evidence before faking a man's suicide, but we're never given anything to actually indicate his target was a ''good guy'']][[note]][[spoiler:Besides, everyone knows that "Don't you know who I am?!" is something only bad guys ever say.[[/note]]... much like Frank before his retirement.]] |
| 101 | * HeKnowsTooMuch: The plot of the first film is driven by this. |
| 102 | * HeroicComedicSociopath: God bless Creator/JohnMalkovich. |
| 103 | -->''[Marvin shoots the main villain in the head after Frank had already killed him]''\ |
| 104 | '''Frank:''' Feel better?\ |
| 105 | '''Marvin:''' [[TriggerHappy Yeah.]] [[CasualDangerDialogue Wanna get pancakes?]] |
| 106 | * HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Joe, who lets himself be killed by a sniper to let the rest of the team escape.]] |
| 107 | * HiddenSupplies: Frank Moses has a supply cache of money and fake identification hidden under the concrete in his basement, which he accesses by smashing the floor with a sledge hammer. |
| 108 | * IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Each of the titles of the score album [[FunWithAcronyms contains the acronym RED.]] Examples include "Retired Extremely Dangerous", "Rapidly, Executioners Destroyed", "[[GratuitousSpanish Revenge Es Delicioso]]", etc. |
| 109 | * IfYouEverDoAnythingToHurtHim: Victoria to Sara: "So if you break his heart, I will kill you. And bury your body in the woods." Softened by Sarah's reaction: "Oh... wow... Okay" while nodding agreeably. Also somewhat subverted by the fact Victoria herself has no romantic designs on Frank; she's just speaking as a friend. |
| 110 | * IHaveYourWife: [[spoiler:Played with when Cooper and Moses do it to each other. Cooper captures Sara, then Moses calls him to let him know that he is in Cooper's house and won't harm his family, in return for a guarantee of Sara's safety.]] |
| 111 | * IJustWantToBeNormal: Moses, sorta. He doesn't want to be ''normal'', but he'd really prefer it if people would stop shooting at him. Though he mourns the boredom with his life, asking Victoria how she deals with it, who reveals she became a mercenary to deal with the boredom. |
| 112 | * ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: Played with through the movie with all the bad guys, but especially the Moldovan soldiers at the end pursuing Frank and Marvin across an empty field. |
| 113 | * ImprobableAimingSkills: [[spoiler:Boggs shoots down an RPG with his [[RevolversAreJustBetter S&W]]. Dead center]]. Also notable is the absurd timing. [[spoiler: Rocket Propelled Grenades are ''fast''. Boggs put a bullet dead center on the tip of an rocket propelled grenade, ''after'' it had been fired, but ''before'' the shooter was outside the blast radius.]] Also a case of RealityIsUnrealistic: [[spoiler:''Series/MythBusters'' tested this, and the grenade doesn't arm until it is already a good distance away from the shooter, since the RPG is an inertia-triggered weapon.]] |
| 114 | * ImprovisedWeapon: Combined with BatterUp, Boggs uses a grenade launcher like a bat and hits a grenade right back at the the guy who threw it. |
| 115 | * IncrediblyObviousBomb: Marvin drives the Secret Service in the direction he wants by charging towards them while strapped with dynamite and a ridiculously large Micky Mouse clock. |
| 116 | * InspectorJavert: Cooper. [[spoiler:He turns when he finds out what's really going on.]] |
| 117 | * JumpedAtTheCall: |
| 118 | ** Sara, in an interesting variant; while the only reason she got involved was because Frank kidnapped her, which she definitely isn't happy about, once the true situation was explained she became an enthusiastic participant. |
| 119 | ** A clearer example is when [[spoiler:Ivan explains the nature of the "favor" he wants from Frank,]] and Sarah turns around and childishly begs, "Can we go?" |
| 120 | %%* LadyOfWar: Victoria. |
| 121 | * LighterAndSofter: A LOT, compared to its source material. |
| 122 | * LivingOnBorrowedTime: [[spoiler:Joe, who decides to sacrifice himself due to terminal cancer.]] |
| 123 | * LockingMacGyverInTheStoreCupboard: Invoked by Moses when he hides in a broom closet long enough to build a bomb out of the materials he finds. |
| 124 | * TheManBehindTheMan: Or rather "[[InvertedTrope The Man in Front of the Man]]" -- [[spoiler:Dunning is the real BigBad, and Wilkes is TheDragon. Stanton is a mere pawn and scapegoat. Cooper is just doing his job.]] |
| 125 | * MandatoryUnretirement: Well, he was just [[IJustWantToBeNormal trying to be normal]], until the assassins [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive kicked in his door.]] |
| 126 | * MasterApprenticeChain: Brought up in this exchange; Moses has Cooper in an armbar: |
| 127 | -->'''Moses:''' Kordeski trained you?\ |
| 128 | '''Cooper:''' Yeah...\ |
| 129 | '''Moses:''' I trained Kordeski.\ |
| 130 | ''[Moses dislocates Cooper's shoulder with a cringeworthy *SNAP*]'' |
| 131 | * AMatchMadeInStockholm: [[InvertedTrope Inverted by Frank and Sara]]: their relationship had already started with the phone calls, reading the same books, and the intent to meet up soon. The kidnapping threatened to deep six the burgeoning relationship until Sarah realized that Frank wasn't some sort of paranoid nutcase and there really was someone trying to kill both of them. |
| 132 | * MoodWhiplash: Played for laughs when Moses and Ivan reminisce about their [[UsefulNotes/ColdWar past job]]. Ivan mourns the loss of his fellow agent and cousin, whom Moses has supposedly killed. It is all very sombre. After downing a drink, Moses deadpans that said cousin is actually still alive -- a defector who is now quite obese and owns a chain of 7-11s. Ivan is shocked at the news that Igor is still alive and a defector, but laughs at his weight and business. |
| 133 | * MookHorrorShow: |
| 134 | ** Moses kills the hit team at the beginning of the movie one-by-one seemingly from out of nowhere. The last guy even panics and [[MoreDakka empties his machine]] [[ShootEverythingThatMoves gun wildly]] until it jams and he desperately tries to unjam his gun before Moses kills him. |
| 135 | ** During the climactic sequence, [[spoiler:we keep cutting to the Secret Service's perspective as they just try to do their jobs, protecting a man they don't know is corrupt. We don't see any actually die. The DVD commentary notes that Victoria's gun would've realistically punched through even an armored limo and killed all of them.]] |
| 136 | * MoreDakka: |
| 137 | ** M-16s aren't enough, they brought [=SAWs=] to try and take down Moses in his house. |
| 138 | ** And of course, as mentioned already: [[spoiler: Victoria and the "Ma Deuce" heavy machine gun.]] |
| 139 | * MuggedForDisguise: |
| 140 | ** Frank steals a fireman's uniform to get out of the CIA building after being shot and bleeding over his white shirt. |
| 141 | ** PlayedForLaughs with the waiter who's suddenly pulled into an industrial garbage bin by an unseen person (later revealed to be Martin). |
| 142 | * MyopicArchitecture: The CIA's ultra-secure records room has an "unbreakable" door with an "unbreakable" lock... set in a ''[[CuttingTheKnot very]]'' breakable wall. |
| 143 | * NeverMessWithGranny: Victoria. She looks so sweet and innocent! |
| 144 | * NeverSuicide: We are introduced to Cooper as he's staging one of these. |
| 145 | * NoMereWindmill: Boggs is extremely paranoid thanks to years of being dosed with LSD. He's still right, though. |
| 146 | * NonFatalExplosions: Marvin shoots an RPG out of the air and suffers no injury. The one who fired the RPG, however... |
| 147 | %%* NonIdleRich: Victoria provides the page image. |
| 148 | * NoodleIncident: |
| 149 | ** Whatever happened [[spoiler: at the end of the film. All we know is that it involved Moses pushing Marvin (in a dress and makeshift leg splint) in a wooden handcart with a nuclear bomb while a very angry army is in hot pursuit. There are also explosions.]] |
| 150 | ** Sara's been kidnapped, duct-taped, drugged, and driven hundreds of miles while unconscious. It's not the worst first date she's been on. |
| 151 | ** Marvin thinks Frank is there to kill him, because the last time they met, he tried to kill Frank. Frank assures him he's not, and no further details are given. |
| 152 | * NoSuchAgency: This exchange in the CIA secure documents depository provides the page quote: |
| 153 | -->'''Cooper:''' I didn't know this place existed.\ |
| 154 | '''Records keeper:''' It ''doesn't''. |
| 155 | * NotMyDriver: [[spoiler: The Vice President and two Secret Service Agents finally make it to a limo that gets away from the attack... only for Frank Moses to turn around in the driver's seat and taser them all. This is a particularly good example, because viewers may have been expecting the ''earlier'' Service limo to be Moses, except Ivan blew that one up too.]] |
| 156 | * NotTheIllnessThatKilledThem: When Cooper and the CIA have the retirees surrounded at gunpoint in the woods, [[spoiler:Joe volunteers to step outside of the house first, knowing full well that the agents are going to open fire instead of arresting them peacefully. Despite objections, he insists on making the HeroicSacrifice to give everyone else a chance to get away]], because he knows that his pancreatic cancer is only giving him a few months left, and [[FaceDeathWithDignity he's just waiting for his life to end at this point anyway]]. |
| 157 | * OldFlame: Victoria and Ivan. |
| 158 | * OnlyAFleshWound: |
| 159 | ** Averted. When [[spoiler: Moses gets shot in the shoulder]] they have to seek medical assistance, and [[spoiler:when Victoria gets shot by the secret service agents, she]] chooses to stay behind, because the wound seriously impairs [[spoiler:her]] ability to ''walk,'' much less complete the mission. [[spoiler:Ivan carries her out, and presumably patches her up offscreen.]] |
| 160 | ** Played straight with Cooper [[spoiler:after Moses dislocates his shoulder; he has a sling for one scene and then it disappears without any apparent residual pain]]. |
| 161 | * OutsideRide: Subverted. Cooper tries to jump onto a car he is chasing, with a respectably badass maneuver. He's almost immediately shaken off. |
| 162 | * PhoneTraceRace: Set up when Frank calls Cooper and Cooper is encouraged to keep Frank on the line long enough to let the trace run, though in this case the trace is actually completed successfully long before the call ends [[spoiler: because Frank was calling from Cooper's house and wanted Cooper to know it]]. |
| 163 | * PrecisionFStrike: Cooper gets one towards the end, especially noticeable as there honestly isn't much swearing in the film up until that point. |
| 164 | * PrettyInMink: Victoria in a white mink coat. |
| 165 | * ProperlyParanoid: Marvin believes that he was a guinea pig in a mind control experiment, thinks a helicopter is following him, and even holds up a InnocentBystander with his HandCannon because he thinks she was an enemy agent. [[spoiler: [[TheCuckoolanderWasRight He's right about all three]].]] |
| 166 | * PunchClockVillain: |
| 167 | ** The numerous police, feds and secret service agents that try to either apprehend Moses and the crew or protect the VP. Impressively, the heroes never kill a single one of these guys, instead only taking out the mercenaries and CIA assassins whose job is to eliminate them. |
| 168 | ** Also, Ivan in a way. If the movie was set during the Cold War, Ivan and Frank may well have been mortal enemies trying to kill each other. However, with the Iron Curtain fallen, Ivan becomes more of an ambivalent ally who misses the excitement and subterfuge of the Cold War, sees an opportunity to rekindle an old love affair, and wants to collect on the favor Frank owes him. |
| 169 | * PutDownYourGunAndStepAway: To Moses when he's holding [[spoiler:the Vice President]] hostage |
| 170 | * PuttingTheBandBackTogether: Joe happily quotes the trope when the team has Victoria, Sara, Joe, Frank, and Marvin. |
| 171 | * RetiredBadass: Moses and his team. There's a reason R.E.D. stands for "Retired, Extremely Dangerous" after all. [[TooDumbToLive People seem to have a problem comprehending the last two letters.]] |
| 172 | * RetiredBadassRoundup: This film and ''Film/TheExpendables'' are the modern TropeCodifier. |
| 173 | * RevealingCoverup: Bonus points for being a cover-up ''of'' a cover-up. [[spoiler:In 1981 a young Army officer snapped and massacred an entire village in Guatemala. A number of CIA agents, including Moses, were shuttled in to clean up the mess. Now, some 30 years later, a young reporter named Stephanie Chen has gotten wind of the thing, and tries to get the scoop from someone else who was involved, arms magnate Alexander Dunning (Dreyfuss). ''He'' calls the young Army officer -- Vice President Robert Stanton -- who panics and just decides to kill everyone. (Again.) And this brings us back to Frank and Sarah. All of this is revealed to be a ruse because Dunning was planning to make Stanton the president and use the incident to blackmail him. Any surviving witnesses to the original incident (Frank, Joe, the people the reporter talked to) had to go because they knew too much.]] |
| 174 | %%* RevolversAreJustBetter |
| 175 | * RivalsTeamUp: Besides Joe, all the help Moses recruits was at best, an ally due to politics, at worst, mortal enemies during the Cold War. |
| 176 | -->'''Moses:''' Why would I be trying to kill you?\ |
| 177 | '''Marvin:''' Because the last we met, I tried to kill you.\ |
| 178 | '''Moses:''' That was a long time ago.\ |
| 179 | '''Marvin:''' Some people hold onto things like that. |
| 180 | * RuleOfCool: |
| 181 | ** Creator/HelenMirren with a Browning M2 .50 caliber machine gun. |
| 182 | ** ''Casually stepping out of a car'' while it's doing a ''donut'' automatically qualifies your film for this. |
| 183 | ** As does shooting an incoming RPG with a ''revolver bullet'' and causing the explosion to back blast onto the person who fired it -- "Old man my ass" indeed. |
| 184 | * RunningGag: Marvin in drag during the stinger mission snippets. |
| 185 | * RushedInvertedReading: Sarah with Forbes magazine while waiting for Frank at the CIA building. |
| 186 | * ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules: [[spoiler:When Cooper is offered the opportunity to become head of the CIA if he kills Frank and the Vice President, he opts to help Frank kill the villains instead.]] |
| 187 | * SensualSlavs: Ivan is this to Victoria, and Katya to Frank. |
| 188 | * SequelHook: |
| 189 | ** Played straight, [[spoiler:then subverted as we actually see the events that were implied to happen. See NoodleIncident.]] |
| 190 | ** The ''sequel'' has one too! Han [[spoiler:threatening to kill Frank, as he was originally instructed to do, certainly sounds like a set-up for a third movie.]] |
| 191 | * ShootYourMate: Victoria mentions to Sarah how MI-6 once ordered her to kill an enemy agent she'd started a relationship with. When asked what she did, she replies, "I put three bullets in his chest." [[spoiler:The agent was Ivan, who still loves her and took the bullets as a sign of her enduring affection - if she'd ''wanted'' to kill him, she would have shot him in the ''head''.]] |
| 192 | * ShoutOut: |
| 193 | ** In the scene in Red 2 at [[spoiler:the asylum where Bailey is being held]], one of the more prominent inmates is [[ComicBook/{{Transmetropolitan}} bald, Caucasian, and covered with black tribal tattoos]]. |
| 194 | ** Victoria and Ivan have an [[Film/StarWarsTheEmpireStrikesBack "I love you / I know" exchange]]. |
| 195 | * ShowdownAtHighNoon: Marvin with his HandCannon vs. a CIA hitwoman with her RPG. |
| 196 | * ShownTheirWork: Former CIA field officer Robert Baer was a consultant for the film, and does DVDCommentary. The film is largely accurate, but he notes the usage of cheats for the sake of story. The Back Room, for example, is more or less real, but the RED designation isn't. There's a scene where Moses makes a cell phone call from the library, and Baer notes that in real life, Frank would've stolen a phone from someone if he didn't have time to find a pay phone. Most hilariously, he says that a lot of Boggs' paranoia about "the grid" is justified, and ''he'' often sounds like the character. |
| 197 | * SinisterSurveillance: Coupled with SpySatellites and [[BlackHelicopter Black Helicopters]]. Marvin's ProperlyParanoid about them, as the CIA [[spoiler:taking out the second witness]] shows. |
| 198 | * SmallGirlBigGun: Victoria Winslow with a tripod-mounted Browning, [[spoiler:the redheaded CIA agent with a rocket launcher]]. Neither are young, but both are toting [[{{BFG}} improbably large weapons]] for their stature. |
| 199 | * SmugSnake: William Dunning, who ''revels'' in his immorality. He thinks it's hilarious to project a speech about his company's "peacekeeping" activities to cover up illegal weapons deals, and that's only the beginning. |
| 200 | * TheSmurfettePrinciple: Victoria and Sarah are the only female characters in the team, and Sarah is not even an official member, being a civilian who was caught up in the mess along the way. |
| 201 | * SomeoneHasToDie: Our heroes can't see any way to escape Dunning's compound that doesn't call for someone to pull a HeroicSacrifice. [[spoiler: Joe volunteers, citing his ConvenientTerminalIllness.]] |
| 202 | * SpeakingUpForAnother: Downplayed. Sarah is unused to the cloak and dagger world she's found herself in, and she has concerns about Marvin's sanity after Frank introduces her to the reclusive man. |
| 203 | --> '''Sarah Ross:''' [talking quietly about Marvin] Wow. This guy's insane. |
| 204 | --> '''Frank Moses:''' Well, he thought he was the subject of a secret government mind control project. |
| 205 | --> '''Marvin Boggs:''' [in another room, checking files] This'll take a minute. |
| 206 | --> '''Sarah Ross:''' Sure. |
| 207 | --> '''Frank Moses:''' As it turns out... he really was being given daily doses of LSD for 11 years. |
| 208 | --> '''Sarah Ross:''' Well, in that case, he looks great. |
| 209 | --> '''Frank Moses:''' Fantastic. |
| 210 | * SpyFiction: A nice mixture of Stale Beer and Martini, with a few forays into parody. |
| 211 | * StandardFemaleGrabArea: Sarah and the CIA agents. Of course, they are armed agents and she's a cubicle monkey. It would presumably be much less effective on, say, Victoria. [[spoiler:The only person to even get close enough to try doesn't even get a chance.]] |
| 212 | * StuffBlowingUp: Mostly during the CIA ambush. |
| 213 | * SuccessThroughInsanity: Boggs, who's... kinda messed up in the head due to being fed LSD for 11 years. He keeps a ''grenade launcher'' in a ''stuffed pig'' he carries everywhere; and even uses the grenade launcher as a baseball bat to hit a grenade back at an attacker -- and that's before he [[spoiler:shoots an RPG round ''dead-on''. Also, his ProperlyParanoid streak helps the group anticipate and deal with or escape several encounters.]] |
| 214 | * SuperCellReception: |
| 215 | ** Cooper apparently has some kind of super cellphone which can get reception in a steel-plated, deep underground CIA vault. It ''is'' the CIA, after all. |
| 216 | ** Victoria communicates with the rest of the team, who are in Dunning's inner saferoom for private negotiations, via walkie-talkie. Either Dunning is incompetent or the radios are magical. |
| 217 | * TemptingFate: Played straight on several occasions, and lampshaded at the end of the movie when Sarah expresses relief that they survived; Marvin immediately says something bad will now happen. Surprisingly, nothing does. Except Ivan mentions he has a little job for them in Moldova... |
| 218 | * TitleDrop: Retired, Extremely Dangerous. |
| 219 | * TooDumbToLive: Just about everyone in the film under the age of forty. They look at Moses and the other {{Old Master}}s and only see "old guys", never quite realizing, despite repeated humiliating defeats at their hands, that ''anyone'' who has managed to survive to a ripe old age [[InHarmsWay in that career field]] is '''obviously''' really damned good at '''''[[WhyWontYouDie NOT DYING]]!''''' The one exception being [[OnlySaneMan Cooper]]; as soon as he finds out what [[OneManArmy Moses]] really did, he treats him with the appropriate severity. |
| 220 | * TrailersAlwaysSpoil: |
| 221 | ** The trailers for the film make it clear that [[spoiler:Joe didn't really die the first time we think he did]]. |
| 222 | ** They also show [[spoiler:the CIA hitwoman whom Frank earlier thinks is an innocent bystander facing off against Marvin]]. |
| 223 | * UncomfortableElevatorMoment: When Sarah drops the contact and the soldiers burst in, there's a long awkward pause before she effortlessly bluffs them. |
| 224 | * VillainBall: With Alexander Dunning actually shouting at Joe and Moses (and the audience), "I am the Bad Guy!" before getting knocked out by Joe. [[spoiler:Sure enough, he is.]] |
| 225 | * WeNeedADistraction: Several examples, including Ivan spraying an aerosol to make everyone think there's a gas leak. |
| 226 | -->'''Ivan:''' [[LargeHam OH MY GOD! GAAAAAAASSSSSS!]] |
| 227 | * WhamLine: [[spoiler: [[OhCrap "You're at my house!"]]]] This is the scene that really cements just how far Frank is willing to go to keep [[DamselInDistress Sarah]] safe. |
| 228 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler:The guilty-yet-repentant Vice President is shot in the gut by Dunning at the climax, but is clearly still alive the last time we see him. We never do find out what happens to him from there, though.]] |
| 229 | * WhatMeasureIsAMook: Played with. The team kills the wet work team, CIA assassins, and various mercenaries who are actively trying to kill them; but most of whom are presumably unaware of the conspiracy. They are very careful however not to kill any of the police, FBI, and Secret Service they encounter, who are completely unaware of the conspiracy. |
| 230 | %%* WhiteShirtOfDeath: Victoria wears a white dress and [[PrettyInMink white mink coat]] to the final showdown. [[spoiler: It later becomes a non-wedding example of BloodSplatteredWeddingDress, though Ivan complicates matters by carrying her around like a bride over the threshold]]. |
| 231 | [[/folder]] |
| 232 | |
| 233 | [[folder:''Red 2'']] |
| 234 | %%* AdvertisedExtra: Arguably Catherine Zeta Jones' character Katja. |
| 235 | * AntiVillain: [[spoiler:Han, who is actually still a decent person and whose motives for wanting to kill Frank are very much justified. (Frank framed him as a traitor and essentially ruined his life, not that he didn't have his reasons for doing so)]] |
| 236 | * AppliedPhlebotinum: [[spoiler:The Nightshade bomb's primary component is Red Mercury, which gives the bomb the power of a nuclear device without the radiation.]] |
| 237 | %%* BadAssInANiceSuit: Han. |
| 238 | * BerserkButton: Stealing Han's plane makes him want to ''hurt'' you before he kills you. |
| 239 | %%{{BFG}}: Han's minigun. |
| 240 | * BlackDudeDiesFirst: Inverted, as the black {{Mook|s}} is the last one Frank kills at the Yankee White building. |
| 241 | * BloodKnight: |
| 242 | ** Han seems to ''really enjoy'' beating the crap out of people. |
| 243 | ** Jack Horton seems to truly find sadistic glee and satisfaction when his job involves beating up, torturing, or killing people. |
| 244 | ** Victoria is casually pouring acid over a man... who appears to be dead... in a bath tub... in a hotel room... while on the phone. |
| 245 | * BondOneLiner: A young agent tells a handcuffed Victoria that despite her reputation as a legend, he's never heard of her, as he approaches to kill her. She proceeds to bounce him off the table, wall, and floor, having escaped from her restraints. |
| 246 | -->'''Victoria:''' Well; you've heard of me, ''now.'' |
| 247 | * ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: [[spoiler:Dr. Bailey. Though he does his fair share of front-stabbing too.]] |
| 248 | * CombatPragmatist: Han beats the crap out of policemen with the door of a store fridge. |
| 249 | * ConcealmentEqualsCover: Averted, as Han's minigun ''shreds'' cars and stone statues to pieces. |
| 250 | * ContinuityNod: At Marvin's [[spoiler:funeral]], Frank mentions how the mission they performed in Moldova at the end of the first film made Marvin a national hero there. |
| 251 | * CurbStompBattle: Han vs. a whole bunch of policemen in Moscow. |
| 252 | * DressingAsTheEnemy: Kansas-born Sarah has to dress up as a guard in the Kremlin. [[spoiler: The fact that the Russian soldier flirting with her did not immediately catch this means he was likely too horny to care.]] |
| 253 | * EnemyMine: Frank manages to convince [[spoiler:Han]], who was sent to assassinate him, to join forces in order to stop the BigBad. |
| 254 | * EstablishingCharacterMoment: When we first see Han, he is going into an extremely high security building where he is literally stripped of all of his clothes and equipment in order to get close to his target and manages to assassinate him with a folded picture (that the target gave him!) and waltzes out of the building without anybody realizing what had happened. |
| 255 | * FakingTheDead: Marvin starts the film by warning Frank someone is coming after them, then apparently blowing himself up. |
| 256 | -->'''Sarah:''' ''[at Marvin's funeral]'' He looks so lifelike...\ |
| 257 | '''Frank:''' That's because he's ''not dead''. He does this ''all the time''. |
| 258 | * FauxAffablyEvil: [[spoiler:Bailey still seems rather polite even after he's stopped ObfuscatingInsanity and revealed himself as the BigBad]]. |
| 259 | * FemmeFatale: Katja. Apparently, she did quite a number on Frank when he was a young and inexperienced agent, and she's still got it. |
| 260 | * FlatWhat: {{Implied}}. Frank, Marvin and Katja clearly have this look on their face when Sarah manages to persuade The Frog to help them by simply begging him. |
| 261 | * FlippingTheBird: The Frog does this to Sarah and Boggs in the sequel while they are stuck in their car. [[spoiler:Then he is hit by Frank's car]]. |
| 262 | * TheFunInFuneral: At Marvin's funeral, not only does Frank go on about how the government doped him with LSD but stabs a needle into Marvin's hand because he's completely convinced Marvin is faking it. Which he is. |
| 263 | * GatlingGood: Han uses a gatling gun against Frank and Marvin when he's ''really'' angry. |
| 264 | * TheGuardsMustBeCrazy: Victoria is trying to bypass the electronic lock on a door leading to a secret prison wing. When she can't manage it, Frank simply knocks on the door, causing the guard on the other side to ''open it'' and complain about how they're not following standard protocol. He realizes his mistake a bit too late, of course. |
| 265 | * GunsAkimbo: Both Han (as expected of a Hong Kong-based badass) and Victoria get to do this during a car chase. |
| 266 | * HeelFaceTurn: |
| 267 | ** [[spoiler:Horton appears to truly enjoy his work of murdering and torturing to get the information he needs. However he appears to truly believe he is defending America and appears horrified when he learns about the weapon later in the film.]] |
| 268 | ** Played straight with [[spoiler:Han, who ends up being VitriolicBestBuds with Frank.]] |
| 269 | * HoistByHisOwnPetard: This is [[spoiler:how Frank ultimately defeats Dr. Bailey and his Nightshade bomb, by discreetly leaving it on Bailey's plane so that when it blew up, it took Bailey with it.]] |
| 270 | * IHaveYourWife: Horton tries this with Moses, but Moses isn't fooled. |
| 271 | * ImprovisedWeapon: The fights between Frank and Han show them both to be quite adept at using whatever happens to be on hand to absolutely demolish any nearby enemies. |
| 272 | * InterrogationByVandalism: The Frog gets some of his expensive wine collection smashed, but it's of only limited effectiveness. |
| 273 | * JumpedAtTheCall: Frank is trying to plan his and Sara's future together, while she would prefer to go on another mission. Frank's friends keep pointing out [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys she's with him for the excitement]], and he eventually resigns himself to the inevitable and presents her with a gun as a gift. |
| 274 | %%* LostSuperweapon: [[spoiler: Project Nightshade.]] |
| 275 | * MadScientist: Dr. Bailey has shades of this. |
| 276 | * MissionControl: Han Cho Bai appeared to work with one before [[spoiler:Moses stole his plane.]] |
| 277 | * MookHorrorShow: Early in the film, Moses single-handedly takes out a squad of 7 special forces-type mooks, one by one, much to their growing nervousness. |
| 278 | * MoreDakka: One of Han's ambushes has him trying to shoot down Moses with a minigun. |
| 279 | %%* MurderTheHypotenuse: [[spoiler: Katja]] |
| 280 | * NapoleonDelusion: Victoria infiltrates an insane asylum by donning a crown and ermine and carrying on about being the Queen of England. |
| 281 | * NoodleIncident: The film ends with one: [[spoiler:Whatever case required Sarah to dress as a cha-cha dancer in Venezuela... who happens to be carrying an assault rifle. And Marvin's dressed as Carmen Miranda, apparently for his own amusement.]] |
| 282 | ** Just ''what'' Victoria was doing ''before'' she dumped a dead body in a bath and ''melted it with acid.'' |
| 283 | * ObfuscatingInsanity: [[spoiler:Done by Dr. Bailey]]. [[spoiler: He comes across as very confused and forgetful, which makes sense considering he was locked up for 35 years.]] |
| 284 | * OrAreYouJustHappyToSeeMe: Marvin is curled up to Frank while they're pinned down by Han. Frank asks if Marvin has a stick of dynamite in his pocket. |
| 285 | -->'''Marvin:''' [[CrazyPrepared Yes, but I'm saving it for an emergency.]]\ |
| 286 | '''Frank:''' ...this is kind of an emergency, isn't it? |
| 287 | * ProfessionalKiller: Han Cho Bai. It was his backup plan, after Frank torpedoed his career as an agent. |
| 288 | * PunctuatedForEmphasis: '''Where's. My. Plane?!''' [[note]] In my ass! [[/note]] |
| 289 | * RuleOfCool: Creator/HelenMirren doing a GunsAkimbo from the inside of a drifting car. |
| 290 | * RunningGag: Throughout most of the film, Han keeps demanding that Frank return his private plane after he steals it. |
| 291 | * SequelGoesForeign: Apart from a short stint in Moldova in TheStinger, the first film was set entirely within America. Here, most of the action takes place in UsefulNotes/{{Paris}}, UsefulNotes/{{London}} and UsefulNotes/{{Moscow}}, and there are some scenes in UsefulNotes/HongKong and [[UsefulNotes/{{Venezuela}} Caracas]] as well. |
| 292 | * SeriousBusiness: Han ''really'' wants his plane back. |
| 293 | * ShootTheHostage: |
| 294 | ** After Moses takes one of his Mooks hostage, Horton shoots him after figuring out that Moses is still outnumbered 7-1 and handcuffed, forcing him to retreat. |
| 295 | ** At the end of the movie [[spoiler:Sarah is being held at gunpoint by Dr Bailey and begs Frank to shoot rather than let him detonate his WeaponOfMassDestruction. Frank just puts down his gun, but only to fool Bailey into thinking he's won.]] |
| 296 | * ShootYourMate: [[spoiler:Helen does this again]], only to [[spoiler:main characters' car.]] |
| 297 | %%* SmugSnake: Jack Horton. |
| 298 | * ThousandYardStare: Sarah has this after she's forced to kill a guard. Being taken hostage by the BigBad snaps her out of it. |
| 299 | * TuttiFruttiHat: At the end, the team are on a mission in Caracas and Marvin is crossdressing again, complete with a fruit bowl hat that catches a stray bullet in the banana. |
| 300 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Whatever happened to Han's team anyway? |
| 301 | * WickedCultured: |
| 302 | ** Bai enjoys fine wine and expensive, tailored suits when not torturing people to death. |
| 303 | ** The Frog also fits this trope, as he enjoys collecting fine wines between meetings to sell weapons to terrorists. |
| 304 | * WireDilemma: Marvin Boggs is trying to defuse a bomb. He cuts the wire and the timer speeds up. He cuts all the wires; it doesn't stop. |
| 305 | [[/folder]] |
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