RED 2 (2013)

Good movie but grossly overrated

Good concept, poorly executed.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This sequel sees retired agents Frank Moses and Marvin Boggs in trouble again when an article on Wikileaks mentions them in connection to a Cold War mission known as 'Operation Nightshade'. Shortly after Marvin warns Frank he is apparently killed and Frank is captured and is threatened by Jack Horton who says he will torture his girlfriend, Sarah, if he doesn't say what he knows about Nightshade. Before long he is rescued by the not so dead Marvin and the two of them, along with Sarah, head off to find out the truth behind Nightshade. It won't be easy though; the CIA have hired contract killer Han Cho-Bai to hunt them down and MI6 has asked their old friend Victoria to hunt them down. The story will take them to Paris, London and Moscow and will involve finding a long hidden nuclear weapon. The protagonists will find themselves working with some unlikely allies and one of the people they trust prove to be the most dangerous.Anybody wanting a gritty action thriller will be disappointed; as with the first film there is lots of action and plenty of thrills but it was definitely a comedy… even the scene where somebody is dissolved in an acid bath is played for laughs. The action is delightfully over the top with lots of shooting, fighting, chases and an explosive finale. The cast does a fine job with Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich and Mary-Louise Parker make welcome returns and are joined by the likes of Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Byung Hun Lee all of whom bring something good to the proceedings. While the action is fairly bloodless there is a high body count which some viewers doesn't sit well with all the comedy and the child-friendly UK '12' certificate… personally I doubt it will offend many people as the action is of the 'James Bond' style. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to fans of action who don't want anything unpleasant in general and fans of the first film in particular… I certainly enjoyed it.

Even though Red was an interesting and innovating film, Red 2 fells sort, with chewed up plot and few twists. The main theme, apart from finding the bomb, is the romantic relationship between the main two characters and the emotional problems they are facing. However, I found it hard to believe that there was any chemistry at all between them. The constant changing of the costume grew to become tiring at some point and the show up \ show off of the characters, not to mention the comic book like sequences, were a minus for the film. Some sub plots were silly, like the one with the Korean assassin. I mean, he turned out to be a good guy, but if he was that lethal, then how on earth did Frank managed to fight him off by himself? So, 2 out of 10, because even the performances weren't convincing enough.

Both films take the bad-ass top secret hit-man genres off the grid, incorporating a feel for regular folks, in their regular lives, doing regular things, who happen to be top notch hit men, and adding a special flavor of comedy, to a new level. Plot twists galore. You expect one thing to happen in a scene and it doesn't. Adversaries become allies, good guys become bad guys, bad guys become good guys, the plot twists ya to death. Great writing here, and excellent acting, especially from Mary Louise Parker, unbelievably hot for a 51 year old woman lol. I will prolly watch this at least 10 times again. Ya gotta watch them in order from 1 to 2 to catch the humour bits.

I can't tell you how many times I said "damn!!" or that I laughed loud and clapped. This is one of the most entertaining, well acted, well directed films in the genre.It is must see stuff if you like action films. Action films with a comedy angle? This one is SOLID GOLD, baby.Bruce Willis turns in his usually exceptional performance as an action hero. John Malkin is just as kooky and entertaining as he was in Red 1. Mary-Louise is endearing, funny and adorable and Helen Mirren is always... well... Helen Mirren.This is a very fun movie, with a very fun plot and very gifted actors providing an evening (or afternoon) of extraordinary entertainment.If you like action films and you like to laugh, then this film is right up your alley.