Those Retired and Extremely Dangerous secret agents are back for another mission in RED 2. Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) has gotten used to living a domestic life, though the same can't necessarily be said about his somewhat bored girlfriend Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker). Frank finds himself called back in action again when he and Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich) find themselves targeted for their apparent involvement in a Cold War operation named Nightshade. Frank, Marvin, and Sarah find themselves racing to uncover the truth about Nightshade, which somehow involves a scientist named Edward Bailey (Anthony Hopkins), who has been locked away in an asylum for over 30 years. Along the way, they are assisted by MI6 agent Victoria (Helen Mirren), come across Frank's old Russian secret agent girlfriend Katya (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and are pursued by Korean hitman Han Jo-bae (Lee Byung-hun). While there isn't all that much story-wise to RED 2, I did find it to be a fun film. I would say that if you enjoyed the original RED, you would probably end up enjoying this film too. While some of charm is missing, I still had quite a good time watching this film. Much of the film is based on the comedic banter between Willis and Malkovich's characters, who are both front and centre from the start. In addition, Mary-Louise Parker has a much more central role in this film, as she tries her hardest to insert herself as one of the team, while also being extremely jealous for Catherine Zeta-Jones' Katya. Speaking of which, Zeta-Jones doesn't even try to give her character a Russian accent, which probably is for the next (though I should also make note of Brian Cox returning as Russian agent Ivan). Neal McDonough also appears in the film in a somewhat antagonistic role that seems to be similar to role Karl Urban played in the original, however McDonough's character moves in and out of the plot and really sticks out as a character not really needed. There isn't really all that much more that I can say about RED 2. The film doesn't not have the most original story in the world and, at the end of the day, is probably not much more than a middle of the road action comedy. However, I still thought that the film was quite enjoyable and I felt that I got my money's worth. For this type of movie, that's all that really counts.8 | LIKED IT
