Red 2. Directed by Dean Parisot. Starring Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Parker, Byung Hun Lee, Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren.
Rating: 6 (out of 10)
"OLD age should burn and rage at close of day," according to Dylan Thomas, and the "Retired and Extremely Dangerous" crew take heed.
It's every baby boomer's dream, isn't it? Who wants to hang out in a caftan and slippers all day when you can hunt down international killers in Jimmy Choos? That's certainly Sarah's (Mary-Louise Parker) point of view. Frank's (Bruce Willis) retirement from the CIA, then from escaping the CIA, isn't a turn-on. She eyes the other sad, thoroughly domesticated couples at Costco and you can almost see her brain composing that Dear John letter.
Not to worry: director Dean Parisot wastes no time in dipping into the film's pyrotechnics budget, in a scene where Frank's paranoid buddy Marvin (John Malkovich) meets his maker. .. maybe.
Frank reluctantly trails Sarah with him as he susses out a safe place to lay low. Frank and Co. have moved to the top of Interpol's hit list for their supposed part in leaking sensitive MI6 documents, ones that point to an A-bomb somewhere in Moscow. They spring the bomb's creator (Anthony Hopkins, fabulously addled and evil in turns) from a high-security prison in London to help them find it, but not before Frank has a run-in with an old flame, "Frank's kryptonite" (Catherine Zeta-Jones, clearly having a ball). The race to catch a terrorist momentarily gives way to a rivalry for Frank's affections, a storyline that is abandoned too soon.
Old pal Victoria (Helen Mirren) calls from the U.K. and gives them a head start: she's been hired to take them out. Mirren gets the opportunity to spoof her Oscar-winning role as the queen in one amusing bit.
In another, Victoria lazily swings a seamedstockinged leg in the air while prone and shooting an assault rifle, much to the delight of Russian lothario Ivan (Brian Cox, briefly reprising his role from the first Red).
Also on the hunt is Han (Byung Hun Lee) "the world's greatest killer." Han is a rockstar assassin and comes complete with his own jet. Lee is clearly here to satisfy the under-30 demographic and to liven up the fight scenes with his impressive martial arts skills: one highlight involves a nifty sequence where Han takes on an entire police squad while shackled to a fast-food fridge door.
The whole operation ultimately depends on the somewhat ditzy, frequently petulant Sarah. "If she lives, it'll be good for your relationship," observes Han.
The villains are reliably nasty (David Thewlis, Neal McDonough) and the body count is high, but filmmakers are careful to keep things light with graphic novel-style scene transitions and the likes of Helen Mirren chatting away on the phone whilst she dissolves one of her kills in acid, "You Can't Always Get What You Want" playing at Marvin's funeral, and even the old is-that-astick-of-dynamite-in-your-pocket? gag.
Elsewhere AC/DC's "Shoot to Thrill" serves as the backdrop for chase scenes, fight scenes and guns, guns and more guns. Filmmakers aim to add interest with frequent jumps to exotic locales, which only prevent any real interaction between the characters from taking place. The laughs are there, but only just; the story is nothing new. Mirren does her best but everyone except Lee seems tired, which may dampen audience enthusiasm and the chance of a third Red instalment.
