Red
2 forgoes seriousness and a sensible plot to bring you zany one-liners, cliché
driving sequences, and a cast that seems to be having more fun than a bunch of
eighteen year olds at a strip club on 25 cent wing night. But sometimes you have to rate a film by its title and not by what the Motion Picture Association expects. This movie was not written to be stuffed in the category of straight drama. It's written to be off-the-wall ridiculous with a side of action and absurdity.
STORY:
Frank
Moses (Bruce Willis) is trying to be happy with a normal life of weekends spent
perusing Costco with his main-squeeze Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker). But unbeknownst to Frank, Sarah feels as
though the relationship is getting a little stale. She misses her wild and crazy ex-CIA, tough
guy. Sooner than she can say
"relationship counseling," Marvin (John Malkovich) shows up and
announces there might be some trouble in Frank Moses-Ville. Mini guns, cowboy hats, hilarious stunts,
silly product placement, grenades, bad Russian accents, red mercury,
refrigerator doors, and Pringles ensue.
Oh and there's a nuke scenario somewhere in there too.
"It's okay, Bruce, we'll get you and John on some really good Meds and you'll never
have to go back to that crazy hospital again."
THOUGHTS:
Let's
make it real easy. If you liked the
original Red film, then you'll have no problem with Red 2. If you thought Red was just some wacky
garbage Bruce Willis accidentally fell into, then this movie will not change
your mind. What was introduced in the
first film is even more over-the-top
in the second. The sets are bigger, the
fights are more outrageous, and the guns have grown considerably in size.
"Alright, on three, everyone say 'Cheese.'"
If
you haven't seen the first film, there's no need to go out and watch it,
because the entire world of Frank Moses is seen and questioned through the eyes
of his newly acquired love, Sarah.
Mary-Louise Parker seems to be having the most fun on set watching an
aging—but lovable—cast make asses of themselves to produce a decent
action/comedy romp. You'll come to
realize that you have more affection and love for the actors, than the
character roles they're portraying. And
there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.
John
Malkovich is positively out of his mind. Helen Mirren, who plays Victoria, shows off
her love of violence. Anthony Hopkins
gives a spectacular performance as the recluse doctor with a shady past. And Neal McDonough from Band of Brothers and
Justified, tries to maintain a cool, steely frame, when underneath is just
screaming for an opportunity to laugh.
If you're wondering about Mr. Willis, it seems he decided to show up on
set and have at least some fun, making the film enjoyable to watch, as opposed
to the recent Die Hard disaster.
"You think you have it bad in the trunk? I'm riding around with a guy wearing a
cowboy hat, carrying a jar of spiders."
Now,
a full-blown silly action movie would be nothing without its exotic sets. You'll be whisked from Hong Kong, to England,
to sexy Paris, and even have a quick lay-over in beautiful New Jersey. (What?
New Jersey's beautiful in a look-that-kid-has-a-third-eye
kind of way.) Each different set is then
filled with explosions and larger-than-life bad guys for Frank and his
unbalanced partner Marvin to dispatch.
But it's not all action. Even
though Sarah wants more fun in her life, jealously takes hold when one of
Frank's ex-girlfriends shows up, played by Catherine Zeta-Jones. So not only is Frank trying to save the world
from a nuclear catastrophe, he's also dealing with relationship struggles
throughout.
Malkovich
gets the easiest role as the nutty partner.
Using body language, great facial expressions, and sometimes well
written one-liners, he becomes the most likable out of the cast. If you enjoy dialogue like, "Why don't they dip our balls in honey, and
stake us to an ant farm," or him slapping a foreign bad guy and
telling him to, "Leave Mickey
[Mouse] out of it," then this
will be your type of movie. If none of
that makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside, then stay as far away from Red 2 as
possible.
There
is one person in spite of all the outrageous antics being had on set, who
brings fierceness and excellent martial art skill to the film: Byung-hun
Lee. You've seen him as Storm Shadow in
the G. I. Joe franchise. If you thought
he was extremely bad-ass in those films, he is absolutely amazing on screen in
Red 2. Not only does he radiate
ferociousness with a side of calm in every scene, but he steals the show
whenever on camera. And what he can do
with a refrigerator door is nothing less than Jackie Chan-esque.
"Listen, I don't care what you can do with refrigerator doors, or how high you can
lift your leg, I'm John McClane."
PRODUCT
PLACEMENT:
It
seems Red 2 needed more sponsors to pay for the extremely large cast. And what better way to do that, than have
Bruce Willis take out bad guys using Pringles.
Hey, did you know the easiest way to sneak into the Kremlin is through
the bathroom of a Papa Johns? You
didn't? Well, you will after you see
this movie. If product placement annoys
you somewhat, you might have a little trouble stomaching the ads in the
film. But the good thing is the film has
already gone so far off the humor-cliff, nothing seems out of place anymore.
"No, no, I got it. Yeah, I'll tell her. Well, you were right. They gave me the increase I asked for...they'll just
be reducing your check to compensate."
CONCLUSION:
Red
2, when all said and done, has some sneaky twists you may not see coming. Some of the driving sequences and fights
scenes seem over-done, but there's only so many ways you can kill bad guys,
before repeating a few things. If you're
in for just some laughs and enjoyed the first film, then this movie will feel
like a homecoming. Now, if the action
antics of Bruce Willis have become old and stale in your book, then it's better
you sit this one out, because there's no way this film's going to make you a
believer. In the end, Red 2 did exactly
what it set out to do: become a top-rate asinine action movie.
3
out of 5 stars (minus two stars for some cliché
action and a plot that no one cares about)
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