Panel Report: RED | The Empire Blog

Panel Report: RED

Posted on Thursday July 22, 2010, 23:08 by James Dyer in Comic-Con 2010

Retired Extremely Dangerous is what RED’s title stands for, but while a film about aging, retired CIA spooks might not seem like a kick-ass property, even those unfamiliar with the graphic novel have got to respect the film’s cast pedigree. Representing the stellar lineup, Helen Hirren, Karl Urban and Mary Louise Parker are all in attendance at the panel, not to mention John McClane himself, Mr Bruce Wilis.

You can’t help but respect Mirren, who turns up wearing a Harvey Pekar t-shirt (to explosive cheers) and goes on to joke that with her and co-star Morgan Freeman in the film, audiences “have got both the queen and God in this film.”

If the Pekar nod got Mirren mega geek props then Urban sets out to top that by shouting at the crowd: “Are you out of your Vulcan minds?” in his best Dr McCoy. Cue mass screamage and wailing as the Trek contingent makes themselves known. Urban really is geek catnip: every time he speaks, or if one of his co-stars even mentions his name there’s a shriek from somewhere in the room.

Perhaps the best question of the day so far: “This one’s for Bruce Willis and Hellen Mirren, what do you think it would be like to be John Malkovich?” Mirren: “I don’t know, Bruce? Which end would you like to be? Top or bottom?” Aaaaand that’s an image we won’t be rid of in a hurry.

The all-new trailer for the film debuts and it’s far more impressive than the teaser that’s been online for some time now. Standout moments include Willis stepping out of a moving car as if it’s stationary and casually firing at Urban as the swinging tailgate just misses him. Another scenes sees John Malkovich shoot an RPG out of the air with his pistol, he pauses and signs off the trailer with “too old my ass.”

A question for the girls on the hardest thing about doing action: “You know, the most difficult thing about shooting a gun on film is not pulling a silly face when it goes off,” says Mirren. “I found myself sticking my tongue out or squinting. So try to keep a straight face if you find yourself shooting a gun on film in the future.” “Alec Baldwin told me ‘just look like you constantly have to pee’”, chips in Parker. “That’s the best way to look like you’re in danger.”

On a side note, we can’t help but notice that the quality of fan questions is lacking a certain something this year. If we hear one more person ask a star about their training regimen we’re going to kick off. Where are the customary nutters demanding sex and talking about alien abductions? Very disappointing, let’s hope it picks up as the Con goes on.