Review of 'Red 2'

red2.jpg After the events of the first film the retired agent Frank (Bruce Willis) is determined to have a normal life despite the obvious yearnings of his wife, Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker). When his friend Marvin (John Malkovich) stages his own death after being followed by government agents Frank is drawn into the search for a cold world war bomb created by the mad Bailey (Anthony Hopkins). With the help of his British assassin friend Victoria (Helen Mirren) then the dubious help of both Sarah and his former Russian heartthrob Katja (Catherine Zeta-Jones) Frank is determined, once again, to save the day.

Once again the winning team of Willis, Malkovich and Mirren bring these unlikely characters to wonderful life with the dark humour of the first film, for example the sight of Mirren dissolving bodies in her bathtub with acid as she discusses matters of the heart with Willis on the phone. The action never stops and the twists and turns in the stories keeps you guessing from beginning to the shock ending. The writing is wonderful here and the acting perfectly tuned to the characters. If anything I could say that often the violence is brutal, perhaps more than is “necessary” and the humour often terribly dark. If you can put this aside, generally this is a good, fun action flick.

Rating: “Nearly perfect, but not quite”

Review Date: 2015-12-12


Directed by: Dean Parisot

Studio: Summit Entertainment

Year: 2013

Length: 116 minutes

Genre: Action/Adventure

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1821694