Review of RED 2 (2013) by Todd S — 12 May 2014

In 2010, DC Comics introduced the world to one of it's lesser known series, R.E.D. (Retired Extremely Dangerous). What I loved about that film was that it took old school action stars and put them into a modern action movie.

The expectations for action movies are much higher today, no longer are they just chases, explosions, and gun fights. Today, people expect action films to have some kind of story, characters with personality, and even some humor.

RED delivered all that and more and so does it sequel. Even though there are some bigger names in RED's second installment, the humor didn't play as big a role as it did previously and the story moved a lot faster.

To some, this may have been a good thing, but for me, too much happened too quickly. I liked it better when we didn't know the characters or what to expect from them, when things were explained, and not just delved into.

The first film made RED seem very original, but it's sequel really does play like a story that was adapted from a comic. Don't get me wrong though, while the second film doesn't compare to the first, it is still far better than some of the other action films released lately.

You really can't go wrong in having an action film that stars Bruce Willis and John Malkovich, they seem to just be oblivious to the signs of aging and are as believable today as they were in their prime.

Alone, this pair would have been terrific, but you add true legends of the screen like Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirran to the cast, and honestly, I don't see how any movie fan would want to miss that! The acting is terrific and the story, while proceeding much too quickly, was still a pretty interesting one.

I did really enjoy RED 2, my only wish is that they had slowed things down a little and let us catch our breathe.