‘The Losers’ Win Hearts and World War III

“The Losers,” a new film by Sylvain White opening April 23, follows the misadventures of a black ops team betrayed by an inside man. Left for dead in the jungles of Bolivia, the “Losers,” as they’ve been dubbed, decide to track down the man who betrayed them, an evil mastermind known as Max who plans to drag the world into a technological World War III.

Columbus Short and Chris Evans co-star as two members of a five-man team that spend the movie kicking butt and taking names. Short plays Pooch, the laid-back, family man who acts as the team’s driver while Evans is Jensen, the smart-alec computer whiz.

Short, who is best known for his roles in “Stomp the Yard” and “Armored,” is both a husband and a father, and says that those personal roles that have helped prepare him for this one. “It’s not a departure at all, it’s actually a great help,” he said. “I don’t know if I’d necessarily be able to tap [into the role] in the right way if I wasn’t actually a family man.”

In reply, Evans quipped, “I just tend to play smart-asses.”

Neither of them had read comic books as children but when cast in “The Losers,” a film adaptation of the comic series of the same name, both began to read the books.

“‘The graphic novel is fantastic, period. [The film] is one of the closest translations I’ve seen from graphic novel to film and that alone is going to set it apart,” said Evans.

Maintaining that level of integrity called for months of filming in the hot jungles of Puerto Rico as well as extensive military training before shooting could even begin. Both men learned how to handle and fire many of the weapons that they use in the film and also underwent basic tactical training so they could realistically portray a coordinated military team.

“We had a guy named Harry Humphrey down there who was the real deal,” said Evans. “You know, this guy’s seen battle; he’s got bullets in his leg and he’d trained actors before so he knew how to help people who have absolutely zero experience… it was like summer camp for the military.”

That camaraderie was especially important in a movie without a huge star in the cast. “A lot of this movie lives and dies on the chemistry of the cast,” said Evans, “Even if the script’s great and the director’s great, if you don’t care about the characters and the relationships they have with one another then I think we missed the ball.”

Despite the heavy emphasis on action, both men insist that this is a movie without a demographic. The film includes both action and comedy and also includes a strong female character who should appeal to everyone, claimed Evans.

“There’s really no demographic, this is a film that’s going to preach to the masses I think,” said Evans.

Short has worked with White once before, on “Stomp the Yard.” When asked about this second encounter, he replied, “It was just as amazing as the first movie to be honest. When we were doing ‘Stomp the Yard,’ when we went into our last week of production I told him, ‘You know, man, the next [movie] we do, let’s blow some stuff up.’”

This relationship helped to ease the process of discovering characters, as the movie relied heavily on the actors’ improvisation. “Sometimes what’s on the page might read well but on its feet it just doesn’t quite translate as organic or as believable,” said Short.

“The best directors are willing to evolve, and go with the flow; you have to be organic about it and White was very accommodating.”

When asked what will set this film apart from the other movies in the genre, both men agreed it was the humor.

“It was good to go back and do some good old fashioned mama jokes,” said Evans.

“We kind of reinvented it. You gotta’ step it up if you know what I mean,” quipped Short in reply.