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Title: The Losers
Written by: Andy Diggle
Screenplay: Peter Berg & James Vanderbilt
Company: Dark Castle Entertainment
Distributed by: Warner Brothers
US Release Date: April 30, 2010
Length: 98 min.
MPAA: PG-13

The Losers, a team of elite United States Special Forces, were sent to the Bolivian jungle for a mission.  One of their associates, named Max, betrayed them and their government declared them to be dead.  The Losers are forced to go underground with different identities in order to start a new life.

A few years later, a mysterious woman named Aisha arrives to talk to Clay. She knows who the Losers are and proposes that they seek vengeance against Max.  Clay accepts and gathers the Losers to meet her.  Aisha tells the men the whereabouts of Max and they plot out their revenge.

Meanwhile, Max creates a nuclear device that can deteriorate land and is willing to sell it to anyone for a high price.

Can the Losers extinguish Max’s reign and clear their name?

The Losers felt like a great escapism film and showed a good effort in the creative process!  It was an appropriate adaptation where it fleshed out the comic book’s story.  The film extended some story elements the comic book never focused on.  Its hooky scenes were filled with laid back humor that felt endearing.  The Losers didn’t take itself seriously, but had a lighter tone than the comic book.

The graphics stood out and were wonderfully incorporated into the film.  Jock, one of The Losers comic book artists, drew the character introductions and the end credits.  His art created an edgier and recognizable look for the film.

“Art-wise, Sylvain was really keen to get my art in the movie, so I did quite a few character shots and frame matches where it sort of zooms out of frames of the actors to my drawings, which is great.  That’s got to be a good thing, to see your artwork up on screen and to know that it’s going to be seen by millions of people.  It’s been a really amazing experience.” – Jock, Comic Book Resources

Although I enjoyed the movie, I noticed some things that I didn’t agree with. Many scenes felt as if they were cut too short or felt unnecessary to show. The first story arc in the comic book never showed Max’s face, so seeing it revealed on screen took away the ominous sense of danger I had from him.

Personal obstacles for the Losers were never clearly stated.  It felt weird that they were able to fix their personal problems and defeat Max without any real conflict.  Also, the film’s focal point was too confusing and the nuclear device was overshadowed by Max’s presence.  I hope there will be an extended cut with deleted scenes in order to alleviate some of those problems.

Side Notes: The film was adapted from the 2004 Vertigo comic book called The Losers.  Even though it went through a series of rewrites and push-backs, it was finally released on April 23.  The comic book was written by Andy Diggle and drawn by various artists during its run.  The Losers got its name from the DC World War II comic book series which was originally intended to be a revamp by Vertigo.  The comic book series concluded with The Losers #32 because it was only meant to be a two or three year run.

“It never sold gangbusters,” the writer said.  “Everyone always think it got cancelled – it was always intended to be two or three years long.” – Andy Diggle, Comic Book Resources

Jock, one of the artists from the comic book series, created artwork based on The Losers #12 for a promotional poster giveaway at San Diego Comic-Con 2009.  Andy Diggle and Jock were used as consultants even though they weren’t officially involved in the movie.

“We met Pete Berg first, who just wanted to sand it out and talk to us about it,” said Jock.  “What that actually meant was a night in an underground London pub just talking about the project.  That was great.  Since then, we met Jamie Vanderbilt a couple of times. Jamie was very keen to hear our thoughts on the various drafts of the script.” -Jock, Comic Book Resources

The first twelve issues of the comic book were reprinted in The Losers: Book 1. The rest of the issues will be published in The Losers: Book 2 to be released on August 4.

Princess Powerful
princesspowerful@comicattack.net