REVIEW: RED 2

A star-studded cast of who's who of Hollywood is assembled for RED 2, a sequel to the 2010 film RED. The word RED stands for Retired and Extremely Dangerous. It consists of a group of veteran convert operatives in the world of American espionage. Based on comic books published by DC Comics, this little known material was a surprise hit in 2010.

Produced by Lorenzo diBonaventura (Transformers films, G.I.Joe films), RED 2 is now helmed by Dean Parisot in the director's seat. The film reunites the core casts from the prequel; Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Parker, and Helen Mirren. This time around, they are joined by the lovely Catherine Zeta-Jones, Byung-hun Lee (Korean actor who played Storm Shadow in the G.I.Joe films), David Thewlis, and Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins. Jon Hoeber and Erich Hoeber returns as writers.

(L-R): John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Parker, and Bruce Willis.

SYNOPSIS:

Veteran covert operative for the CIA Frank Moses (Willis) is called out of retirement after his reputation was tarnished due a secret mission decades ago. Reluctant to return because of his desire to spend more time with his girlfriend, he is forced into action together with his team after being hunted down by government agencies. As he and his team gather, they soon find out a plot that requires them to save the world.

Catherine Zeta-Jones in a scene from the film.

SCRIPT:

In the prequel RED, the film had a straight-forward plot. RED 2 had multiple plots which made the film messy and unorganized. Despite the cheesy lines, which is a trademark and was in the prequel, it couldn't save the film from its plot-holes. However, it does retain the comedy level (also a film trademark) from the first film, in fact, it was slightly better.

Byung Hun-Lee is ready to aim.

ACTING:

An ensemble cast in a film so mouth-watering which only dreams are made of. All performed well but from a mediocre script, an actor can only do so much. The comic chemistry among the actors were pretty good and did garnered some laughs from the audience. In my opinion, John Malkovich performed better in this film than the previous.

British actress Helen Mirren in action.

FILMING:

Not as grand as I hope it would be. Action was just okay. Despite the film being filmed at locations such as Russia, France, and London, the cities were not majestically photographed.

Bruce Willis and Anthony Hopkins sharing a scene

PACING:

Slightly draggy because it wants to explain a lot. Overall, the up and down mood of action and comedy was a little too much. It didn't feel boring in length.

TONE (MOOD):

Espionage action thriller with some infusion of comedy. Reminiscence of historical issues such as The Cold War between U.S.A. and Russia.

(L-R): Hopkins, Zeta-Jones, Parker, Willis, Malkovich, Mirren, and Lee.

OVERALL:

Just an average action comedy film. I felt it could be better if more action is put in the film. It had some great comedic moments. Best for adults.

RATING:

5.5 out of 10