RED 2 (2013)

Synopsis

Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) and girlfriend Sarah Ross (Mary-Louise Parker) are shopping at Costco. Frank wants an air blower. Sarah, not so much. They are the very epitome of the suburban couple.

Well, that is, until Frank’s old pal Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich) emerges from around the shelves. Three years ago, Marvin and Frank and their old Black Ops colleagues outsmarted an army of bad guys in the nifty actioner RED (which stands for “Retired, Extremely Dangerous”). Marvin has a warning: more bad guys are on the way. Frank isn’t buying it, even when Marvin’s car explodes in the parking lot. It isn’t until Frank sees Marvin in his casket at the funeral that doubt begins to creep in. And bad guys do show up.

And so it’s off on another adventure. It will take Frank and Sarah and the miraculously surviving Marvin first to Paris to find and interrogate a source known only as The Frog (David Thewlis). That then leads them to a secretive London insane asylum, from which they must rescue mad scientist Dr. Edward Bailey (Anthony Hopkins). If, after 32 years in solitary, Bailey’s memory returns, he can tell them where a nuclear bomb is inconveniently hidden in Moscow.

Joining the action along the way is Russian agent Katja Petrokovich (Catherine Zeta-Jones), who has some past history with Frank that may or may not put her on his side. Definitely on Frank’s side is another former RED team member, crack assassin Victoria Winslow (Helen Mirren).

Standing in their way: contract killer Han Cho Bai (Lee Byung-hun), who also has past history with Frank that makes the idea of offing him all the more appealing.

See It

Might as well. But if you haven’t already, see RED first. You may enjoy RED 2 if you didn’t see the original, but since RED is far more fun, you’re more likely to forgive RED 2’s weaknesses just to see the old gang back in play, especially Parker, Malkovich, and Mirren.

But the dialog isn’t as clever, the actors don’t seem to be having as much fun (especially Bruce Willis), the action pieces aren’t as cleverly choreographed, and it’s just never quite logical why the bad guys think the RED crew has that much to do with the fate of the world. Still, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren are again great together. And it’s nice to how quickly Anthony Hopkins transforms from doddering old guy to … well, just give it a look.

What to make of the role of assassin Han? Though he gets to play a part at the end, throughout the bulk of the movie his function reminds me, somewhat sadly, of Cato in the Pink Panther series, the Asian martial artist who appears occasionally out of nowhere to be humiliated for a few chuckles.

Just as in RED, Mary-Louise Parker is by far the most watchable character, stealing scene after scene with her chuckle-inducing eye rolls and snarky asides. I’d give it a spin just for her.