"Red 2" - directed by Dean Parisot
The Red movies are strange beasts.
On the one hand they are based on that bastion of youtful fandom- the comic book and on the other they seem to appeal to an older audience every bit as much as the young.
If the audience at the advanced screening tonight are anything to go by the sequel is appealing far more to an older audience.
It would be easy to look at the cast that includes veterans from Willis, Malkovich, Mirren, Freeman, Drefuss, Borgnine, Cox, Berkhoff and Hopkins and deduce that is the older actors involved that provide the appeal to this demographic.
It's certainly part of the reason I suspect but far more compelling for an older viewer I think is the kind of humour and action that these films utilise.
They are violent with high body counts but never graphically so.
The humour is black but it knows not to push it too far.
These films are aimed fairly at a wide, mainstream audience.
"Red" (2010) cost a very modest $58,000,000 and earned $199,000,000 worldwide.
It also sold well on dvd and Blu-ray.
"Red 2" was made for $84,000,000 and to date has made $105,000,000 worldwide.
It's still a modest budget for the sequel but that box office total- even though incomplete- is still disappointing.
Maybe it will have a late charge in international markets and match its predecessor but I doubt it.
I say that as a realistic assessment given the performance so far rather than a judgment on quality because "Red 2" is in fact a massive amount of fun and a very worthy sequel.
"Red 2" opens with Frank (Willis) and Sarah (Parker) still together and living in peaceful suburban bliss.
They shop at CostCo for things that they don't need.
Frank loves the change of pace from his former life being shot at while Sarah longs for it after the brief taste that she had in the first film.
It isn't long before Marvin (Malkovich) arrives and announces that like it or not they are about to re-enter the world of international spies and assassins because they have been implicated in a plot involving a missing nuclear device.
It's a pretty cliched, thin plot but such things don't matter in the world of Retired Extremely Dangerous films.
The fun is in the characters and the actors playing them.
Considering the pedigree of the actors involved it is an impressive achievement to have gathered them for one film.
Oscar winners Mirren and Hopkins are one thing but quirky character actors like Thewlis, Malkovich, Cox, Piggott-Smith and Berkhoff quite another.
Throw in the A list punch of Willis and Zeta-Jones and the mix is pretty potent.
Watching Brian Cox flirting shamelessly with Mirren as she picks off a squad of baddies with a high powered rifle all the while with stocking clad feet in the air is all the funnier because it is Cox and Mirren- actors usually known for their terribly serious roles.
I was sorry to see Karl Urban missing from this one but to be fair- there is barely room for the number of characters that the film has let alone another one.
John Malkovich as the paranoid, LSD guinea pig Marvin was a highlight in the first film and he absolutely owns "Red 2".
He is easily the funniest part of the movie with too many funny lines to recall.
Not that there isn't enough to go around because Mary-Louise Parker also has an abundance of scenes and lines and makes the most of every opportunity.
I have been a fan since her turn in Lawrence Kasdan's brilliant "Grand Canyon" and it is so gratifying to see her get recognition for her role on the tv show "Weeds".
As Sarah she has really come into her own as a comedic actress.
Much humour is derived from her growing confidence as a spy and as a woman but the sweet, goofiness that she plays so well is still here.
Her contempt for Frank's ex-girlfriend Katja (Catherine Zeta-Jones) is played up nicely.
Jones normally annoys the crap out of me and there was a period of five or so years that she seemed to scoff every good role that the likes of Rachel Weisz, Monica Bellucci, Madeleine Stowe or Rene Russo would have eaten up.
To be fair she is pretty damned good as the Russian agent with a thing for Frank in "Red 2".
Also new to this episode is the great David Thewlis as 'The Frog' and a highly effective Byung-hun Lee as the world's finest hitman.
He looks the part of an ice cold killer but this being a Red film he is also comically demented.
In one scene he even gets what may be the funniest line of the movie.
The strength of this film is the fun that the cast seem to be having.
Not to down play the script which is not as tight or as strong plot wise as the first film but is easily funnier.
Zingers come at the rate of about one a minute and I have not sat in a cinema surrounded by so many people laughing so loudly and so easily in some time.
"Despicable Me 2" comes to mind but that was delighted giggling whereas "Red 2" is sustained belly laughing.
The tone is just right - not too violent, not too dark.
And that is the secret here....
Keep the laughs coming, lay the action on and never lose sight of the fun aspect.
The body count may be large and the action ridiculously over the top but it is never serious - not for a second.
Clearly most of the money was spent on the action scenes and on location with the film hopping merrily from America to London to Hong Kong to Paris to Moscow and back again.
Comedy this may be but it still delivers in the action stakes.
An early scene has Willis hilariously dealing with an entire squad of villain Neal McDonough's men and then there is the lethal Mirren dispatching a host of bad guys with fist, foot, rifle and acid.
The action is nicely constructed and although focused on delivering laughs still functions to thrill.
Director Parisot made the similarly pitch perfect "Galaxy Quest" and he shows with "Red 2" that he hasn't lost his touch.
On paper this isn't as 'good' a movie as its predecessor - it lacks tight structuring and pacing that builds to a conclusion.
The plot is thin as gas station toilet paper but you won't care.
But this is even more fun than "Red" and is a treat for all ages.
I genuinely hope that it makes enough money to warrant a third movie.
A blast.
See it.
On the one hand they are based on that bastion of youtful fandom- the comic book and on the other they seem to appeal to an older audience every bit as much as the young.
If the audience at the advanced screening tonight are anything to go by the sequel is appealing far more to an older audience.
It would be easy to look at the cast that includes veterans from Willis, Malkovich, Mirren, Freeman, Drefuss, Borgnine, Cox, Berkhoff and Hopkins and deduce that is the older actors involved that provide the appeal to this demographic.
It's certainly part of the reason I suspect but far more compelling for an older viewer I think is the kind of humour and action that these films utilise.
They are violent with high body counts but never graphically so.
The humour is black but it knows not to push it too far.
These films are aimed fairly at a wide, mainstream audience.
"Red" (2010) cost a very modest $58,000,000 and earned $199,000,000 worldwide.
It also sold well on dvd and Blu-ray.
"Red 2" was made for $84,000,000 and to date has made $105,000,000 worldwide.
It's still a modest budget for the sequel but that box office total- even though incomplete- is still disappointing.
Maybe it will have a late charge in international markets and match its predecessor but I doubt it.
I say that as a realistic assessment given the performance so far rather than a judgment on quality because "Red 2" is in fact a massive amount of fun and a very worthy sequel.
"Red 2" opens with Frank (Willis) and Sarah (Parker) still together and living in peaceful suburban bliss.They shop at CostCo for things that they don't need.
Frank loves the change of pace from his former life being shot at while Sarah longs for it after the brief taste that she had in the first film.
It isn't long before Marvin (Malkovich) arrives and announces that like it or not they are about to re-enter the world of international spies and assassins because they have been implicated in a plot involving a missing nuclear device.
It's a pretty cliched, thin plot but such things don't matter in the world of Retired Extremely Dangerous films.
The fun is in the characters and the actors playing them.
Considering the pedigree of the actors involved it is an impressive achievement to have gathered them for one film.
Oscar winners Mirren and Hopkins are one thing but quirky character actors like Thewlis, Malkovich, Cox, Piggott-Smith and Berkhoff quite another.
Throw in the A list punch of Willis and Zeta-Jones and the mix is pretty potent.
Watching Brian Cox flirting shamelessly with Mirren as she picks off a squad of baddies with a high powered rifle all the while with stocking clad feet in the air is all the funnier because it is Cox and Mirren- actors usually known for their terribly serious roles.
I was sorry to see Karl Urban missing from this one but to be fair- there is barely room for the number of characters that the film has let alone another one.
John Malkovich as the paranoid, LSD guinea pig Marvin was a highlight in the first film and he absolutely owns "Red 2".
He is easily the funniest part of the movie with too many funny lines to recall.
 |
| John Malkovich - easily the highlight |
I have been a fan since her turn in Lawrence Kasdan's brilliant "Grand Canyon" and it is so gratifying to see her get recognition for her role on the tv show "Weeds".
As Sarah she has really come into her own as a comedic actress.
Much humour is derived from her growing confidence as a spy and as a woman but the sweet, goofiness that she plays so well is still here.
Her contempt for Frank's ex-girlfriend Katja (Catherine Zeta-Jones) is played up nicely.
Jones normally annoys the crap out of me and there was a period of five or so years that she seemed to scoff every good role that the likes of Rachel Weisz, Monica Bellucci, Madeleine Stowe or Rene Russo would have eaten up.
To be fair she is pretty damned good as the Russian agent with a thing for Frank in "Red 2".
Also new to this episode is the great David Thewlis as 'The Frog' and a highly effective Byung-hun Lee as the world's finest hitman.
He looks the part of an ice cold killer but this being a Red film he is also comically demented.
In one scene he even gets what may be the funniest line of the movie.
The strength of this film is the fun that the cast seem to be having.
Not to down play the script which is not as tight or as strong plot wise as the first film but is easily funnier.
Zingers come at the rate of about one a minute and I have not sat in a cinema surrounded by so many people laughing so loudly and so easily in some time.
"Despicable Me 2" comes to mind but that was delighted giggling whereas "Red 2" is sustained belly laughing.
The tone is just right - not too violent, not too dark.
And that is the secret here....
Keep the laughs coming, lay the action on and never lose sight of the fun aspect.
The body count may be large and the action ridiculously over the top but it is never serious - not for a second.
 |
| Mary-Louise Parker, Helen Mirren and Catherine Zeta-Jones |
Comedy this may be but it still delivers in the action stakes.
An early scene has Willis hilariously dealing with an entire squad of villain Neal McDonough's men and then there is the lethal Mirren dispatching a host of bad guys with fist, foot, rifle and acid.
The action is nicely constructed and although focused on delivering laughs still functions to thrill.
Director Parisot made the similarly pitch perfect "Galaxy Quest" and he shows with "Red 2" that he hasn't lost his touch.
On paper this isn't as 'good' a movie as its predecessor - it lacks tight structuring and pacing that builds to a conclusion.
The plot is thin as gas station toilet paper but you won't care.
But this is even more fun than "Red" and is a treat for all ages.
I genuinely hope that it makes enough money to warrant a third movie.
A blast.
See it.
| Rated | M for violence and language |
| Running Time: | 116 minutes (1hr, 47mins without end credits) |
| Starring: |
| Bruce Willis | --- Frank |
| Mary-Louise Parker | --- Sarah |
| John Malkovich | --- Marvin |
| Helen Mirren | --- Victoria |
| Anthony Hopkins | --- Bailey |
| David Thewlis | --- The Frog |
| Catherine Zeta-Jones | --- Katja |
| Brian Cox | --- Ivan |
| Byung-hun Lee | --- Han Cho Boi |
| Neal McDonough | --- Jack Horton |
| Tim Piggott-Smith | --- Director Philips |
| Steven Berkhoff | --- Cobb |
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