This is a sequel that, going into the summer, I was very excited about. The first Red was smart, funny, action packed fun that had enough plot to keep me interested. The sequel however, left a lot to be desired.
In the first film, we have a group of ex-CIA agents, along with one old MI6 agent teamed up to figure out who has put a hit out on them. They find and break up a conspiracy that goes as high as the Vice President and save the world. In the second film, the US Government again wants to kill these people because of a past mission that they may or may not have been a part of and they have to save the world.
Bruce Willis does a good job here again as Frank Moses. He is actually believable as an ex-CIA agent that has been labelled Retired: Extremely Dangerous (RED - hence the name). It helps that Bruce Willis is John McClane and has saved the world on probably 50 different occasions in films past. He can still do it as an action star. Mary-Louise Parker comes back as Sarah, Frank's love interest. I will be honest. For the most part I hated her in the first movie, and in this movie I really hate her character. She is whiny, stupid, poorly written, and acted even worse. It is sad to see a supremely talented actress like Parker, who gave us one of the three or four best female television characters of all time in Nancy Botwin from Showtime's Weeds, get ruined by such a dopey roll.
The supporting work for the most part isn't great. The bright spot is John Malkovich who is supremely funny in his returning role of Marvin, another CIA agent who works with Willis' Moses. Byung-hun Lee is an assassin sent to kill all three of our heroes, and he is bland and flat through this entire film. Then again Lee isn't much of an actor as much as he is a stunt man they give lines to. If you don't believe me, watch either of the G.I. Joe films. I much preferred the role Karl Urban played in the first Red movie, which Lee's role is essentially replacing. At least that character had some depth and had a good actor behind it as well. Catherine Zeta-Jones gives a Razzie worthy performance as a Russian spy. Her character isn't great to start with and Zeta-Jones just ruins it with a lifeless, flat, and altogether terrible performance.
The plot in this film is flat. There isn't much suspense or intrigue in it as there was in the first movie. The only real plot twist is one that was basically given away in the preview so the entire movie I was waiting for it to come to fruition. There are some good action sequences, many of which are over the top, but that is not unlike the first movie. The entire feel of this movie was just a bit off for me. There were some great laughs and some fun action sequences, but there were long droughts where I felt like this movie dragged and I kept checking my watch wondering when it was going to be over. If you didn't see the first Red movie, you might enjoy this, but if you, like me, are a fan of the first, you will more than likely be royally disappointed. I give this movie a D+.
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