!44: The Losers - These Characters Seem Pretty Cool, Why Are They Losers?

!±8± The Losers - These Characters Seem Pretty Cool, Why Are They Losers?

When I hear of a title like The Losers, I naturally imagine a plot along the lines of a group of high school misfits who, after four years of bullying and oppression, finally decide to take a stand against the jocks and cheerleaders who ridiculed them during their adolescence.

A plot that I don't think of, however, is an elite Special Forces team of beautiful, muscular CIA agents who, after being betrayed and left for dead by a corrupt member of the United States government, seek some justified vengeance by kicking a lot of ass and blowing all kinds of stuff up. Doesn't really sound like a bunch of "losers" to me. Actually seems pretty cool.

Regardless of my misconceptions towards the title, The Losers is in fact the name chosen for the upcoming film from Dark Castle Entertainment and Warner Bros. The film adaptation could be described best as a movie based on a comic book that was based on a comic book.

The original comic of the same name was published in 1970 by DC Comics and told the story of Captain Johnny Cloud and his contribution to an American Special Forces group in Europe during World War II. The story was then updated and re-imagined by Vertigo Comics (an imprint of DC) in 2003 and remained only slightly faithful to the original by substituting the All-American soldiers with badass CIA agents and instituting the revenge theme.

And now, because Hollywood made a rule that all successful to mildly-successful comic book franchises must be turned into a movie, The Losers makes its way to the big screen. The man calling the shots on the film was director Sylvain White, a relative new comer to the industry whose previous directorial efforts include Stomp the Yard and the forgetful I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer.

The choice of White to direct had many fans of the source material worried because of his lack of experience with the genre, or any genre for that matter. Luckily, the positive buzz that has been garnered from early reviews and trailer reception has for the most part silenced the critics. The script White had to work with came courteous of writer/director/actor Peter Berg whose previous writing credits include Friday Night Lights and Very Bad Things.

In my opinion, what will make or break this film is the chemistry of the cast, which is headed by Jeffery Dean Morgan, an actor who has transitioned from dreamy Grey's Anatomy hunk to comic book action star flawlessly. His portrayal of The Comedian in last year's Watchmen was one of the main highlights of the film.

Portraying the rest of The Losers is Chris Evans (Fantastic Four, Push), Idris Elba (Obsessed), Columbus Short (Armored), Oscar Jaenada and the ridiculously hot Zoe Saldana, whose resume is rapidly becoming very impressive. She starred as Captain Uhura in the reboot of Star Trek and used performance capture to play Neytiri in the mega-blockbuster that is Avatar. Jason Patric (Narc, Sleepers) rounds up the cast as Max, the corrupt government insider hell bent on killing The Losers.

It is interesting enough to note that The Losers was created with a PG-13 rating in mind, something that all parties were a part of in hopes of acquiring a younger, wider audience. The MPAA did in fact slap it with a PG-13 making it the first Vertigo Comics adaptation and film produced by Dark Castle Entertainment not be rated R. How this pans out is yet to be determined.

Something is still bothering me though. The Losers comic book from 1970 clearly defined why the characters called themselves "The Losers." Because each member of the Special Forces team was a commanding officer who all lost men under them to casualties and felt personally responsible, the deemed themselves "The Losers." Pretty simple.

But I can't for the life of me figure out why the good looking, incredibly skilled characters in this film or the comic book it's based on call themselves losers. They all seem pretty cool to me. I guess I'll just have to go see the movie to figure it out. It opens nationwide on Friday, April 23.