'Losers' is a winner

In the midst of the lukewarm offerings at the theaters this month, “The Losers” is about as good as it gets when it comes to good-old-fashioned blow-’em-up popcorn action.

Adapted from the Vertigo comic book of the same name, “The Losers” is a somewhat predictable story of a special-ops military team that is betrayed, framed and left for dead. They then beat impossible odds to get revenge, with plenty of crazy plots, big explosions and massive machismo.

This film is interesting not because of its dime-a-dozen story, but rather in the execution of that story, with clever dialogue and fun characters.

Comic movie veterans Jeffrey Dean Morgan (“Watchmen”) and Chris Evans (“Fantastic Four,” soon-to-be “Captain America”) bring life to a potential snore-fest. Evans is particularly fun to watch, proving he has the chops to handle the role of Captain America he will soon be filming.

Combine those two with a kooky cast of misfits and some sci-fi sex appeal from Zoë Saldana (“Star Trek,” “Avatar”), and you have a recipe for fun.

But the movie really starts to shine when Jason Patric chews scenery as the villainous Max, whose laissez faire attitude and casual homicide left me simultaneously shocked and amused.

None of the elements in “The Losers” are new or original, but the whole project is put together with such grace, such pitch-perfect execution that I found myself overlooking some of its flaws. It’s amusing, charming and has a raucous tongue-in-cheek attitude that balances out the moments where it goes over the top.

The whole thing is reminiscent of films such as “Bad Boys” and “Lethal Weapon,” harking back to a simpler time with less CGI and more bullets.

It will be interesting to see how it stacks up to “The A-Team,” which seems almost identical in plot and tone and comes out in June.

Regardless, “The Losers” is immensely enjoyable and a great example of a genre that has felt played out for years (remember “Die Hard 4”?). It’s a great flick to take your buddies to while you recover from Little 5.