Evans steals The Losers, another comic book adaptation about a team of “black ops” agents out for revenge on the fellow who betrayed them, As Jensen, the wise-cracking, parkour practicing computer specialist, Evans bops and riffs in the best combat comic book tradition. Jeffrey Dean Morgan ( " Watchmen"), Chris Evans ("Fantastic Four"), Idris Elba ( " Obsessed"), Columbus Short ("Stomp the Yard") and Oscar Jaenada ("Che: Part Two") make up the CIA wolf pack forced to go rogue in the backwaters of Bolivia. It’s going for “thwap,’’ “pow,’’ and “bam.’’ The images in the frame speed up and slow down. But it’s more inane than hot — and predicted years ago by David Cronenberg’s “A History of Violence.’’ Morgan and Saldana’s actual love scenes are paint-drying affairs by comparison.
– The Losers has some bright spots, but overall the new comic book adaption is a muddled mess of CIA intrigue, uneven acting, wall-to-wall violence, and Zoe Saldana in her underwear. Some critical reactions: "The film had promising roots in the comic book's band of irreverent brothers," Betsy Sharkey writes for the LA Times. "But the plot? Who decided to kill the plot?" "The Losers is another plastic thingamabob that’s been hoisted up by one of those carnival claw machines," Wesley Morris writes for the Boston Globe. "The amusement it provides is cheap, disposable, and hardly worth the number of quarters you fed into the slot." The producers' ambitions were in the right place, but a Lethal Weapon-style romp is beyond their reach. "What they've produced instead is a busy, unsatisfying comic thriller, a grab bag of new faces and franchise movie refugees," Dan Kois writes for the Village Voice. The prize in the grab bag is Chris Evans, Roger Moore writes for the Orlando Sentinel. "Now we see why Evans was selected to play Captain America in the upcoming Avengers comic book epic."