RED 2 (2013)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Let me start by saying that I love this film so much.I was lucky enough to catch this one in theaters with a buddy, unlike the first, which I only got to see on DVD, which I now own both.Frank and his team must stop a shadowy conspiracy from finding and using Night-Shade,with the help of a wacky ex agent,who is the inventor of the mysterious weapon.Overall, a great action-comedy with a good cast and a well written story, and I think a Superior follow up to the original. I give it a 7.4/10. More action, more laughs, more thrills. It's a real good time, I highly recommend it.

Red 2 is a good movie with a reasonably well developed storyline and a terrific cast. It's a lot of fun, simple as that, the whole cast seem to be enjoying themselves and because of that I had a fun time watching it, it's a lot funnier than the original, does not take itself as seriously, much lighter on character development. The story is very simple and straight forward, but a star studded cast that includes Bruce Willis, John Malcovich, Helen Mirren and Anthony Hopkins make this a very enjoyable two hours. I did feel the story was really lacking in depth, it just seems to move along piece by piece, no moment is really significant or gratifying for the audience, it never tried to make this sequel stand out on its own. I did not enjoy the love issues which erupt between Frank and Sarah as a result of Catherine Zeta-Jones' character, it all felt very forced and created an annoying persona for Mary Louise Parker, making her nowhere near as cool as or likable as she was in the original, she was a strong character then, here she is simply a love interest. It certainly has its flaws but Red 2 mostly makes up for it with its pure fun and optimistic cast, I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good action or comedy. A retired secret agent and his girlfriend get dragged in to a race to find a nuclear bomb. Best Performance: Anthony Hopkins

Any movie that has to deal with super-spies will show them as being fearless, cracking jokes in the face of danger, unbeatable in hand to hand combat, expert marksmen with weapons of all kinds and brilliant when deducing or cutting apart a plan by the bad guys. When you add a wrinkle to this unrealistic scenario, that is where you can sell movie tickets. Whether it's gender ("Salt," "Tomb Raider," etc.) or race, people will pay attention(as long as they are surrounded by enough white men and a white man is their boss. "Red 2" is about the people who have quit the spy business but who are being hunted because they represent a threat because of their skill set. This bit of realism is then qualified by the fact that they are all elderly – but, as the myth of white supremacy would have it, appear to not have lost a step in their physicality, their virility when it comes to interest in sex, or their mentality when it comes to snappy one-liners and figuring out the method of operation of the bad guys. At the end of the movie, as a sign of a divine example of disrespect, the $4 jet that belonged to the Asian member of the contingent is blown up when Bruce Willis switches a case that had a bomb in it. All the Asian can say is, "You blew up my plane." Willis sarcastically says something like, "I'll pay you back," and just like that, the issue is over and resolved. Such arrogance!

The first thing I was looking for here was to see if they found a way to bring Morgan Freeman back to life from the first film. Instead, John Malkovich is killed off and resurrected, then teamed up with Bruce Willis, Mary-Louise Parker, Helen Mirren and a new cast of characters to bring adventure, romance and danger to this unpredictable assassins flick. I have to admit, I get a kick out of this kind of mindless fun when the writing is creative and the dialog complements the action with wit, sarcasm and self deprecating humor. The set up is perfect with Marvin Boggs (Malkovich) enticing Frank Moses (Willis) back into the espionage game by reminding him that he hasn't killed anybody in months. From there, it's pretty much non-stop nonsense in the way of chases, explosions and martial mayhem until the hero team saves the world from Red Mercury and restores the world's balance of power back to normal. I wouldn't normally rate an action flick this high, but RED 2 distinguishes itself for it's sheer audacity in attempting to make the unbelievably absurd look like just another day.