Red 2 Review

 

 

As a one dollar birthday card once read, "just like fine wine, you grow better with the years." Just like that wine, CIA operatives are the same way as can be seen in the recently released film Red 2. The Retired Extremely Dangerous crew is back with extreme action and hilarity all mixed into a two hour movie. Frank (Bruce Willis) is attempting a mission that not one of his fellow ex-CIA agents have ever accomplished: living a "normal" life with his girlfriend Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker). This dream is short lived, however, when an agent from a top secret branch of the FBI, MI6, and the Russian military all set their eyes on Frank and a missing advanced nuclear bomb they believe he was involved with hiding during the Cold War. Now he is forced back into the game (much to the delight of Sarah) along with his ever suspicious friend Marvin (John Malkovich) and weapon wheeling specialist Victoria (Helen Mirren). Between running from the FBI and MI6, dodging bullets from the world's top hit man (Byung-hun Lee) with a personnel score to settle, and an ex from the Russian government (Catherine Zeta-Jones), will Frank be able to save millions of people, improve his relationship with Sarah, and still aim towards a normal life? Perhaps this agent has finally met his match.

What was interesting about the first Red movie, was that it was not expected for there to be any realistic matches between retired agents and current trained operatives. And when it came to chase scenes (yeah it was cool when Frank easily stepped out of a speeding car shooting his gun perfectly, but realistically?) the audience was willing to bend their beliefs if for a short time. The same view is expected when going to see Red 2. The fight scenes are more impossible, the car scenes more ridiculous, and the amount of laws broken yet there being no consequences? Yep. It's definitely all doubled for this one. But there are a few movies that it's alright to do those things. Due to the comedic aspect of this film, it is okay to see Victoria shooting two guns out of different windows and hitting her targets all while the speeding car she is in skids sideways. If that was not in the movie, along with other similar improbable scenes, Red 2 would never have been able to be called an excellent sequel to the first one, which it certainly is.

This laughter driven action flick is a wonderful continuation of the Red franchise, bringing a once popular comic book story line out of obscurity and putting it back in the lime-light where it belongs.

Sincerely,
    The Night Owl