Review of Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010) by Emily A — 29 Jun 2011

I quite like this movie. The story is completely new, and I kind of wish they had stuck with the initial idea of simply calling this movie Money Never Sleeps. It tells its own completely free-standing story, with a whole bunch of new characters and a story that's similar in tone but totally fresh, and as firmly rooted in 2008 as the original was in 1987.

Even Gordon Gecko is almost a new character: while he still has the keen eye, cynical core and callously shrewd nature, he is stripped of all the cash and clout that would have made him the magnate he was in the first movie.

In that role is Josh Brolin as Bretton James, who is a parallel and equally formidable villain. I love how he and Gecko kind of orbit each other (like Pluto and Cairon) looking for ways to destroy each other.

The financial meltdown, ripped from the headlines, serves as both the backdrop for the story, but also serves as external organic pressure that shows what these characters are really made of. It's fascinating to me to see which ones shatter and which ones turn into diamonds.

And which ones simply remove themselves from the vice. Gecko is again a captivating person: dogs are much more vicious when they're desperate, and he seems to have an inflatable heart that he can grow on command as the situation dictates.

Shia LaBoeuf does an admirable job here as well, but this really isn't his movie.