The Losers marks a return to form: An action movie with cars, stunts, guns and perfect weather. The Dark Knight, or any other super-serious comic book movie shot in front of a blue screen, it is not.
Based on the graphic novel of the same name, The Losers gives viewers a familiar “us-vs.-them” shoot-’em-up story. These titular characters make up a CIA special operations unit on the run from its own organization. If they want to get home, they must break back into the United States.
In a conference call with The Diamondback, actors Columbus Short (Death at a Funeral) and Chris Evans (Push) talked about the merits of their action film.
“It was a movie that was refreshing,” Short said. “We needed this but we haven’t — we hadn’t — had the fun, action movie since Lethal Weapon and Bad Boys. So I just thought it had that tone but was new and fresh.”
Evans already has one comic book movie franchise behind him (Fantastic Four) and another coming up with the release of The Avengers next month. According to Evans, there are two sides to every adaptation he has worked on.
“It’s easier, in a sense, from an acting standpoint but again you have a blueprint,” Evans explained. “It’s like doing a film based on a novel. You have some kind of reference to give you a world to create a character in.”
“[It’s] more difficult, in a sense, that you have fans who have specific ideas, and you don’t want to disappoint. So it’s a double-edged sword, but again, when you go into movies like this you take that into consideration.”
Neither Evans nor Short claimed to be fans of comics growing up, but both seem to love them as source material. And even as part of a sea of action movies, Short said The Losers should stand out.
“I’ve used weapons before in previous jobs that I’ve had,” he said. “But there are weapons that I had no idea about. I’ve never fired a shotgun … these big assault rifles, tactical weaponry — I didn’t know about them. And so it was an adrenaline rush. I thought it was just super cool to be able to do this for a living and learn about it.”
However, The Losers isn’t all about the action. As Short explained, the dialogue presented its own challenges as well.
“There was a lot of improvisation,” Short said. “Sometimes, what’s written on the page might read well but, on its feet, it just doesn’t quite translate as organic or as believable.”
Added Evans: “We had plenty of rehearsal, but on the day, things changed. And again, when you have a cast that gets along as well as we do, it makes it easier. You can get a kind of meaning on the chemistry that we have off-set and hope that that just kind of comes to surface on-set. And as far as I’m concerned, I’m pretty sure it did.”
waldo@umdbk.com
