AS SEX And The City Fans flock to multiplexes across the land to get their fill of relationship dilemmas, Cosmopolitans and Manolo Blahniks, respite comes loud and brash in the form of popcorn action-fest The Losers.
When a crack military team led by Colonel Clay (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) are sent to assassinate a Bolivian terrorist, they soon learn they have been double-crossed and left for dead by a mysterious villain known only as Max (Jason Patric).
Fuelled by revenge and assisted by the ambiguous Aisha (Zoe Saldana), can the rag-tag team get payback against insurmountable odds?
Simple
Inventive, original, ground-breaking - The Losers is none of these things.
Taking inspiration from its comic source material and a gaggle of 80s revenge flicks, it unashamedly delivers a shopping list of action filled fun.
Sinister, but comic villain (played deliciously by Jason Patric) - yes. The compulsory attractive woman in tight outfits - yes. A narrative putting the safety of the globe in jeopardy - yes.
It is this simplicity which makes The Losers so appealing and watchable: check your brain at the door and enjoy the over the top explosions and tongue in cheek comedy.
Pure action
Director Sylvain White rips entire shots straight from the frames of the DC graphic novel, but despite some homage in the book-ending credits, he never rams the comic down the viewers throat.
An adaptation it may be, but this is an action film, not a superhero one.
The A-Team-lite narrative presents characters which are stereotypes of their own caricatures, but it works.
Chris Evans barely breaks a sweat as cocky and quick-witted techie Jensen; though impresses with rooftop dashes and believable confrontations.
Backing him up are the silent but deadly Cougar played by Oscar Haenada and Columbus Short’s family man Pooch who acts as the emotional lynchpin to the film.
But the fire really comes between the trio of Jeffrey Dean Morgan, a scorching Idris Elba and Zoe Saldana.
Whether all three together or in pairs, their magnetic chemistry is undeniable and moves the film along during the few breaks between manic moments.
Some fight scenes may be a bit choppy, and the overt violence and foul language stretches the acceptability of the light 12A rating.
However, full of bravado , machismo, and fun-fuelled exploits; The Losers is the perfect antidote to 2010‘s high-brow arty movies and effects filled fantasy flicks.
8/10 - The winners.