Today I was in a movie watching mood so I decided to do a double feature of new movies and it just seemed to work out that Mary-Louise Parker was in both of them. This might be due to the fact that she was in two of the movies that came out this weekend. Anywho the first movie that I went to see was RED 2 and I absolutely enjoyed it. When RED came out in 2010 I thought that it was fantastic and if you know me, you know that I love action movies, that I love this resurgence of old action stars in movies again, and when their is some humor and witty banter within these movies, I tend to absolutely love them. That being said, it is not an award winner and somewhat stupid and predictable but I enjoyed the entire ride.
RED stands for Retired, Extremely Dangerous and I think that understanding some basics about the previous movie is important for this one, as it jumps right into the story and doesn't spend any time telling anything about the past stories. I will be re-watching RED (2010) shortly and will give a more in-depth synapsis in that post. Basically here are the relationships. Frank, played by Bruce Willis is retired and has been having a phone relationship with Sarah, played by Mary-Louise Parker, when he gets drawn into danger he seeks out Sarah because she is the person that can be used against him because he cares about her. Marvin, played by John Malkovich, is Franks best friend and highly paranoid about everything. Victoria, played by Helen Mirren, is ex MI-6 and a crack shot. She goes way back with Frank and Marvin. Ivan, played by Brian Cox, is an ex romantic interest of Victoria, who she was contracted to kill and shot in the chest years previously.
RED 2 continues on the story of RED (2010) with Frank and Sarah living their life together with Frank dedicated to protecting her and Sarah rolling her eyes behind Frank for being a homemaker. They get a price put on their heads again after information comes out on the internet that Frank and Marvin know where a bomb made during the cold war was hidden in Russia. They get tipped off by Victoria that Han, played by Byung-hun Lee, a contract killer and someone with history with Frank is on the path to kill them. During this hunt for the information and the bomb, they run into a past love interest of Frank, Katya, played by Catherine Zeta-Jones. They work together and against each other to try and save the world and as Frank would say, do what is "right."
For me this movie had the right balance of action, camp, wit, and ridiculousness. I laughed at parts and overall really liked the interplay between the actors. That being said, the movie is not that surprising and the plot is minimal, but it does keep moving. I think that John Malkovich really stole the show when he was on camera and it was great how he played all of his little nuances. Also Helen Mirren continues to be fabulous and kick-ass. I think that Catherine Zeta-Jones was the weak link and her part could have been cut out of the entire movie.
I liked the length and mix up of action scenes. They were good lengths and did not ever get really drawn out like a lot of action sequences now a days, and there were change ups with the type of actions with fist fights, gun fights, and chases. I liked the addition of Lee, he added a nice note to the film.
I think it is important to like a little ridiculousness and campiness in your movies to enjoy this movie and if you liked the first RED this is worth a watch. This is not a must see and could probably wait until it is released on DVD or television.
My Rating: 2
My Enjoyment Rating: 3
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