Red 2 (2013)

The first Red movie was the sort of thing people who use the word “cute” describe with it. It was a little PG-13 rated action comedy that starred the elderly. You see, Red stands for “retired, extremely dangerous,” and we could easily believe that Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren fit that definition. Even Ernest Borgnine made an appearance prior to his death last year. In this new sequel from new director Dean Parisot, everybody but Freeman returns for reasons you should know if you saw the original (and if you haven’t, you should definitely give it a go before this one) and are joined by Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta-Jones. I won’t bore you with details of plot, because it doesn’t matter in the slightest. These movies exist as more adrenaline-stirring fare for the young at heart than they might otherwise get. They’re also fun enough that the actually young can enjoy them too.

As I’ve already suggested, this is the sort of movie that is built around its stars more than anything. People will go for whoever is their favorite and they will not be disappointed. Well, the people who like Bruce Willis movies may be a little disappointed, but come on, loosen up! Not everything has to be a bloodbath. Malkovich’s character’s wackiness is stretched a little farther than maybe it should have been. It’s funny that he somehow produces a new (always bizarre) outfit for every new locale, but when he shows up in a dress at one point, that’s just a bit too ridiculous. In both films I especially enjoyed the performance by Helen Mirren, because she brings a high level of class to everything she does, even when it involves some of the silliest things in her career. I like to think that actresses like her get tired of playing the Queen of England every once in a while and just want to be an action star. Thankfully, she is also intelligent enough to choose an action movie that is relatively clever.

Hopkins is another one of those actors who just can’t do anything truly wrong, although he’s been in a few undeniably terrible movies, and made them somewhat watchable with his brilliance. Zeta-Jones also brings finesse to a character that seems older than she is, possibly because she’s surrounded by people so much older than herself. The actual surprise highlight of Red 2 is the performance by the other lady under sixty, Mary-Louise Parker. She was made for comedy like this. She has a wonderfully expressive face that brings hilarity to moments that have started teetering to the dull side. There’s a great scene where she, out of nowhere, commandeers a small vehicle to chase down a criminal, just because she wants to catch him before the Zeta-Jones character does. The car just happens to be too small and gets caught in between two close buildings. Her reaction of calm hatred is the perfect punch line.

Red 2 is not a great movie, or really even a very good one, but pictures like this must exist to provide the movies with a necessary balance. If every film released was deadly serious and artistic, nobody would go. I would rather have a genuinely fun movie like this thrown into the mix every so often than to be constantly bludgeoned with high drama or, even worse, that other kind of comedy (Grown Ups 2, I’m looking at you.). For what it’s worth, Red 2 is worth it.

7/10