Red 2
Starring: Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Mary-Louise Parker, Byung-hun Lee
Director: Dean Parisot
Rating: 2/5
It was back in 2010 when we were introduced to Frank Moses and co for the very first time… now they are back and are in more trouble than ever.
Frank Moses reunites his unlikely team of elite operatives for a global quest to track down a missing portable nuclear device. To succeed, they'll need to survive an army of relentless assassins, ruthless terrorists and power-crazed government officials, all eager to get their hands on the next-generation weapon.
The mission takes Frank and his motley crew to Paris, London and Moscow. Outgunned and outmanned, they have only their cunning wits, their old-school skills, and each other to rely on as they try to save the world-and stay alive in the process.
The main problem with this movie is that it jumps from country to country and character to character without any real purpose or direction.
I like the fact that Dean Parisot and the writers tried to make it a very global story, but it just doesn’t move around in a coherent manner.
And because of this the movie suffers from some major pacing issues; one minute we are watching an exciting shoot up and the next Frank is talking about his feelings.
The whole thing feels disjoined and, at times, seems like it has just been lobbed together without too much thought or consideration.
All of this jumping around only slightly detracts you from the fact that there isn’t really too much of a plot to this film and that the characters don’t develop any further than when we met them first time around.
However, there are still enough elements to enjoy and stop this from being a movie that is as dull as dishwater; and you mainly have John Malkovich to thank for that.
Malkovich is back as the paranoid Marvin Boggs and he really does provide the vast majority of the laughs in the film.
Frank Moses, played by Willis, has turned into a bit of a wet blanket in this film as he is far too concerned with wrapping girlfriend Sarah up in cotton wool than kick some ass.
Byung-hun Lee is a good addition to the cast list as his martial arts fight scenes really are a highlight of the movie.
There are some strong action moments and laughs in Red 2 but it is a movie that put all of its best bits in the trailer. It is by no means the worst film that I have seen this year but it is not a patch on the first movie.
Red 2 is out now.