Review: 'Red 2'

We are at a truly weird place with our action movies these days. I don’t think anyone could have forseen the ‘Over the hill action star’ sub-genre we are enjoying today. That being said Red was a breath of fresh air after the first Expendables flick. The story was thought out, the acting was great, the action (mostly) believable. It’s no surprise that we got this weekend’s follow-up Red 2. 

This time around we catch up with Frank (Bruce Willis) trying to resume a normal life with Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker) when a nuclear threat from a cold war era program threatens to reemerge. Teaming back up with old partner/buddy Marvin (John Malkovich) and running into the decidedly un-retired…and still off-puttingly attractive, Victoria (Helen Mirren) the groups heads off to an activities day that you are unlikely to find on any nursing home schedule. 

I’ll be completely honest; I enjoyed the movie but had some issues. The issues stem mostly from how good the first flick was. The best example would be Malkovich’s portrayal of Marvin, while fun, it seems to be one of those things that has the biggest impact when catching you off guard the first time you see it. The story remains fun and the addition of Anthony Hopkins to the cast really kicks the whole shebang up a notch. There’s no “real” feeling to any of it as there was in Red but all the same it’s a fun 2 hours of cinematic entertainment. Bruce Willis continues to amaze as the action star with the longest shelf life. I wonder sometimes what he’s like in his personal life, the effortless way he can still command an action movie makes me think that he’s living these roles out in some make believe world deep in the wilderness. Anthony Hopkins is another that deserves a mention…I honestly don’t think this guy has different levels of acting. He’s Oscar caliber even when the movie he’s in is not. 

Suprisingly good action, a good throwback story, stellar cast and great writing (or at least delivery of that writing) make Red 2 a solid recommendation for the weekend. If you’re still behind on your summer blockbusters (RE: Pacific Rim) it won’t kill you to hold off on Red 2  until DVD but if you want to get out, and you enjoyed the first one, then Red 2 is the movie for your this weekend. 

3 out of 5 Guttenbergs