Red 2 Review
RYAN: This is the sequel to Red and the whole cast is back – Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich, Mary Louise Parker and then some new faces. I thought the first one was fun, a lil cheesy, and this one is certainly the same but I’m not feeling it as much this time.
BRAD: Well I’m not gonna lie to you, I didn’t see the first one. I own it on Blu-Ray but have yet to watch it. As for this one, cheesy, yes. It’s not Shakespeare, or Gone with the Wind. Sometimes you go to a movie to laugh, sometimes to think and be thrilled or scared. And sometimes you just go to watch A-list actors enjoy themselves and that’s all this was.
RYAN: True. There are moments in this movie that are fun and each actor has a shining moment, specifically Helen Mirren. She has some real bad-ass moments.
BRAD: She is just fantastic.
RYAN: Part of what’s cool is seeing her do it because she’s so not the type to be that hardcore. She is radiant.
BRAD: She and Anthony Hopkins lend that English gravitas to the film.
RYAN: Anthony was brilliant in this though he reminded me a bit of his portrayal of Hannibal Lecter.
BRAD: Correct. He knows how to play the heavy quite well. He’s not as Hannibal-esque as in The Silence of the Lambs, but he still conveys that classy menacing so well.
RYAN: The one weak link in the film was Catherine Zeta Jones. She plays the femme fatale but wasn’t believable for a second. The quivering lip – I didn’t buy her act for a second.
BRAD: She could have at least attempted an accent as a Russian double agent, but I agree she’s the weak one in the cast.
RYAN: Mary Louise looks great and I like her. She plays silly well and it’s just more of the same as the first movie. She seems approachable.
BRAD: She seemed to be having the most fun in the cast. Personally, I was smiling at whatever she was doing.
RYAN: There’s nothing really hip, cool or especially inventive about it. It’s action but not very original.
BRAD: A lot of the action and beats are formulaic but it’s a good formula.
RYAN: I liked how it moves to many different countries, which I liked, but it annoyed me than in each different location, someone would be wearing a graphic T-shirt or hat of where they were. And the product placement was beyond irritating. Papa Johns and Pringles were literally worked into the script.
BRAD: That’s the way things seem to be going now.It would warrant a big screen viewing years ago before people had big screen TVs at home.
RYAN: At least Bruce and John have a good buddy thing going on. They have great chemistry. It’s just that overall, especially compared to other big movies this summer that are very effective, this is not as worth the money in the theater in comparison. It’s a strong rental though.
