SummaryRetired black-ops CIA agent Frank Moses reunites his unlikely team of elite operatives for a global quest to track down a missing nuclear device.
SummaryRetired black-ops CIA agent Frank Moses reunites his unlikely team of elite operatives for a global quest to track down a missing nuclear device.
I don't know the reason this got such poor reviews. It was a fun silly movie, with way better writing (and acting) than I expected, and several twists and turns. It was also really fun to see how much older actors, believably, could be badasses in their golden years. I mean, the oldest ones do less kungfu stuff and more intimidation or just practice their skills like a 30th level arch-assassin. In fact, it felt more like watching an RPG than a movie, but that was fine. The movie isn't meant to be taken anymore seriously than something like Under Siege, but hey both were really fun to watch.
I have not seen the first Red thats ok if i did not see the first one because RED 2 kicks ass. Based on the comic book novel by Warren Ellis and Cully Hammer i am a fan of Ellis's Work on Dead Space let me skip right to the point. There Back ! Starring Bruce Willis ( Sin City, Die hard ) , Mary Louise Parker , Jhon Malkovich , Helen Mirren, Award Winning Anthony Hopkins ( Hitchcock) , Katherine Zeta Jones , and Byung- hun lee who kick ass in the sequel. very talent actors,actresses. This will Moviegoers and Fans of Spy movies never forget the name" RED " 10 times better then James Bond movies are old then then today. Grade A+. Even if critics don't like picture watch anyway
While Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, et al. are still good for a few chuckles as a gang of superannuated government assassins, this globe-trotting action-comedy diversion applies a bigger-is-better philosophy across the board, upping the stakes, the firepower and the travel budget, but keeping real thrills and laughs at a modest trickle.
A sequel that has some snappy interplay, typically courtesy of Malkovich, but mostly feels like a cast working to manufacture what came naturally the first time.
Any movie that gives Helen Mirren a chance to shoot really big guns, wear an ermine astrakhan and channel Bette Davis as Queen Elizabeth can't be all bad, and Red 2 isn't, though it comes close.
"Red 2" was one heck of a ride and I enjoyed every second of it. I went into this film feeling skeptical because I didn't LOVE the original but this film blew it out of the water for me. This film was surprisingly funny and had a couple of twists that you may or may not see coming. Every actor & actress was great, nothing out of place. I give this film a solid 10/10, worth seeing at the movies.
This more ambitious sequel embraces even more it's comic book origins. With bigger and sillier action scenes, more interesting characters and a more out there plot, if you were a fan of the first, you will enjoy this sequel.
Bottom line: I didn’t expect much from Red 2 and I wasn’t disappointed; it is funny at times and is, overall, a pleasant enough movie.
I didn’t see Red because I was never the biggest fan of movies where the kick is that older people are doing things typically associated with younger people. I will say that I would rather see old people in a film than children. Both groups make snarky comments but I feel like once you reach a certain age, it is fine. I was pleasantly surprised by Red 2. It’s funny here and there and it isn’t really trying to be anything more than a comic book movie. It isn’t too stylized but it isn’t too realistic. “Stylized,” mind you, isn’t inherently bad but is when executed poorly. I suppose anything could be bad but it’s the difference between Kill Bill and Baytown Outlaws.
Red 2 is about a bunch of retired CIA (MI6, KGB, etc.) agents going back into action to track down a missing Cold War super-weapon before it falls into villainous hands. I liked each of the characters. I was a little wary of Mary-Louise Parker. She teetered on annoying but she was sympathetic enough to not make me hate her.
The humor in Red 2 is a lot like the following joke:
Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy whips out his phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps, "My friend is dead! What can I do?" The operator says "Calm down. I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead." There is a silence, then a gun shot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says "OK, now what?"
There is something matter-of-fact about the violence which intertwines with the humor. “It’s been months since you’ve killed anyone, Frank,” says Marvin (Malkovich). “That’s a good thing, Marvin,” Frank responds.
One thing I thought was kinda funny was the word choice. If you recall Live Free or Die Hard using ‘technical buzzwords’ like “download”, Red 2 uses the word “Internet”: “Ever since that document was put on the Internet....” and “There’s no way to take down the list after it was posted on Wikileaks on the Internet.”
A driving subplot is the relationship between Willis and Louis-Parker. He is a former operative and she is a former phone operator for the Social Security Administration office. Much like the rest of the movie, it isn’t tense or drawn out. It provides opportunity for quick little jokes such as the scene where John Malkovich (another retired CIA hitman) and Byung Hun Lee (the world’s best hitman) give relationship advice to Bruce Willis. I can imagine how having three hitmen talk about feelings might not seem worth a sequel, but it is. Instead of adding stupid jokes Red 2 let’s silly little situations speak for themselves. This is to say that Red 2 generally shows restraint, which I appreciate.
Overall, I’d recommend Red 2 for a Sunday matinee kind of thing. It could make for a cute date movie. It isn’t the best movie ever in any respect but it was good enough for me to want to see the original some time.
‘Red 2’ is so boring I couldn't wait for it to end. First, it has no focus: there are three villains and the main one appears after the middle of the movie. Second, it lacks plausibility, e.g. the protagonists break into the Kremlin through the wall of a toilet or kill all the guards in the Iranian embassy of London without any police chasing them. Third, the jokes are pathetic (the worst is the interrogation scene) and slow the pacing. Fourth, the characters have lost their charm and coolness: Frank has become an inexperienced boyfriend, Marvin talks like a marriage counselor and Sarah is incredibly annoying as she tries to seem smart and useful all the time. The cast is wasted here, 'Red' was much better.
****
The plot of Red 2 is surprisingly convoluted, but plot here is about as important as it was in Grown Ups 2. The real idea is that there are worse things you can do than spend time in the presence of such luminaries as Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Anthony Hopkins, David Thewlis, and Brian Cox, as they goof around with this sort of material. The first Red had the same basic idea, too. But it also had a jaunty energy and some surprising visual flair, probably courtesy of director Robert Schwentke, an underrated stylist. Now with comedy veteran Dean Parisot (Galaxy Quest, Fun with **** and Jane) at the helm, the new one is more about the jokes. It’s funnier than its predecessor, but also less human. Willis and Parker, who had some decent chemistry in the earlier film, are blander this time around. The script doesn’t give them much to do with one another besides bicker; otherwise, they seem to just be along for the ride. But there are some nice touches, too. As before, Malkovich makes for excellent comic relief, and there’s a mildly adorable ongoing romance between Mirren’s British assassin and Brian Cox’s ex-Russian secret agent. (Also, Dame Helen looks awfully fetching in camouflage.) But no movie with this much ass-kicking should feel so lifeless. Nothing in Red 2 is actively offensive, but for the most part, it’s hard to really care for anything that’s happening to these characters. The compositions are so drab that when the onscreen transitions come in which the action freezes into a comic-book frame and then swishes toward whatever foreign destination our characters are headed next the movie seems to be commenting on its own visual flatness. Oh, who am I kidding? Why even try? Old people! Guns! Chuk-chuk!