The Losers

A crack commando unit are framed for a crime that they didn't commit and have to go on the run to clear their names. If you can find them … Cue brass section. Oh, hang on. It's not The A-Team. It's The Losers. With the saturated colours and attention deficit direction of a pop promo, this comic book adaptation (isn't everything?) is long on pyrotechnics and quips, and notably short on plot and characterisation. Yet by shunning stars in favour of an ensemble of lesser known actors the movie is able to deliver its laughs and thrills with an amiable efficiency.

This is undercut by a disconcertingly coy attitude towards violence – no doubt to gain a younger audience share – which only serves to raise comparisons to a certain Saturday afternoon kids' show again. In an underwritten role, Jason Patric camps it up as a globe-trotting evil genius in a white suit, The Man from Del Monte gone bad. [Keir Roper-Caldbeck]