The Losers is that deceptive type of movie that is immediately enjoyable but an hour or so afterwards, you’re wondering why you plunked down a few dead presidents for a ticket, overpriced popcorn, and parking.

The Losers isn’t a bad film; director Sylvain White (Stomp The Yard) pumps up his film with adrenalized comic book violence and the requisite gallows humor (supplied by Chris Evans, who still retains the same smirk he’s employed in the Fantastic Four films).

And the pic is far from boring, thanks to Jason Patric’s amusingly sociopathic turn as Max, a terrorist who frames a special ops team headed by Franklin Clay (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), a nearly gone to seed agent who loves alcohol, three day facial hair, and hot young women (Zoe Saldana, oh so sexy as mysterious agent Aisha al-Fadhil).  Written off as dead, the team is enlisted by Aisha to take down Max, but Clay and his crew have their doubts about their new team member. Since Aisha looks the part of a modern day femme fatale, she’s bound to double cross them; or will the betrayal come from someone within the group?

Idris Elba, so memorable as crime lord Stringer Bell from The Wire, is Clay’s right hand who doesn’t trust Aisha and wants to remain underground.   But the rest of the team, which includes Columbus Short as getaway driver Pooch, Oscar Jaenada as silent assassin Cougar, and Evans as wise cracking hacker Jake Jensen, are game for a little revenge.  Since it’s based on a popular Vertigo comic book series, the movie’s action scenes, though not too memorable, are far from boring.  If you liked the TV series The A-Team, dig over the top graphic novels, and want to see Zoe Saldana scantily clad and ready for sex, then The Losers is not a bad hand to play at your local theater.

The recent release of Kick-Ass is continued proof that graphic novels can actually be entertaining and carry a bit of thematic gravitas, and unfortunately the characters in The Losers are far from memorable.  Morgan, so effective as the dark-hearted Comedian in Watchmen, looks disinterested, and Short and Jaenada really have nothing to do. Evans, however, is good enough as the comic foil for the rest of the squad, but we hope he drops the sarcasm as the lead in Captain America (Evans’ work in the cop drama Street Kings, is proof he has a shot of doing Steve Rogers justice).  Of course, it’s great to see Patric, who has done masterful work in After Dark My Sweet and Narc, go outside his comfort zone and play an unpredictable sociopath.

Sylvain White has left The Losers’ third act open ended for a possible sequel, but don’t expect a return visit from Warner Bros.  There are tons of mindless fun movies that come out of the dream factory, and although The Losers isn’t a complete dog, it’s not exactly a winner either.