Review: "RED 2"

Staying retired and leaving his old life behind hasn't exactly been easy for ex-CIA operative Frank Moses (Bruce Willis). Of course, it doesn't help that the government keeps trying to kill him for things that he did -- in the service of his country -- decades ago. This time, it's a Cold War era mystery-project called "Nightshade" that has him marked for death once again.

Picking up a few months after the events of the first film, RED 2 reunites Frank and his girlfriend Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker) with their paranoid brother-in-arms Marvin (John Malkovich). The three of them are on the run from a trio of dangerous agents: Jack Horton (Neal McDonough), a government spook assigned to tie up loose ends from "Nightshade;" wetwork specialist Victoria (Helen Mirren), an ally from the first film, has been given a contract by MI-6 to eliminate them this time around; and Han Jo-Bae (Lee Byung-Hun), a world-class assassin who's also hot on Frank's trail for both personal and professional reasons. Along the way, the gang will need help from some over-the-top characters: an information-dealing Brit nicknamed The Frog (David Thewlis); Edward Baily (Anthony Hopkins), a formerly-brilliant scientist locked in a London nut house; and Katja (Catherine Zeta-Jones), a Russian ex-KGB agent who shares a past with Frank.

I enjoyed the first RED. It's a breezy action-comedy that had the benefit of a great cast. With the exception of Willis, who was there to anchor the film as a bankable action lead, these were serious thesps that weren't known for doing action movies, and that juxtaposition is what helped make RED such a crowd pleaser. (Seriously, if I had a nickel for every time I heard the word "awesome" paired with the phrase "Helen Mirren firing a machine gun," I'd be at least $20 richer today.) I always thought of it as a nice one-off that didn't really warrant a sequel. Even the source material, a limited comic book series from WildStorm (now part of DC Comics), was only three issues long -- barely providing enough material for one film, let alone two. But, RED exceeded box office expectations, and modern Hollywood is all about franchises.

And the idea of doing a sequel with these actors in this world is certainly not an unwelcome notion, but the question on my mind was this: what's left to explore with these characters? Not every movie has to be deep with character development, but getting the audience to care is critical to the success of a movie. With only a past behind him, the first film begins with Frank alone, adjusting to "normal life" or, at least, what we view as normal. The character of Sarah, a quirky midwest government pension rep, was outside of his former circle, giving him not only a chance at romance, but also representing a clean break from his former life, and for the first time, a real future ahead of him. Their budding relationship and what it represents to Frank is what drives the picture emotionally. Unfortunately, RED 2 fails to provide that type of a clear through-line.

Plot-wise, the whole thing's a bit convoluted and, somehow manages to also be predictable, which could be overcome by a solid and relatable story, but they never figure out what to do with the characters. There's no real interpersonal conflicts, just bang-bang-explosion-bang-bang with a dash of humor. The screenplay by Jon and Erich Hoeber uses the Katja character to make Sarah jealous, but it stops short of creating actual tension between Frank and Sarah. While it's fun watching Sarah dive headfirst into the action, as a way to compete for Frank's attention -- as only Mary-Louise Parker could do -- the filmmakers never really take it anywhere. Katja is nothing more than window dressing, and Sarah's insecurity is never explored or even validated by any interest that Frank shows towards Katja. It's an excuse for a few funny scenes, but dramatically it's a waste.

Ultimately though, this is still an entertaining movie. Director Dean Parisot (of Galaxy Quest fame) isn't trying to reinvent anything here, instead maintaining the style and tone of the first RED. Action-wise, there's nothing as good as the knock-down-drag-out fight between Bruce Willis and Karl Urban in the first film, but Parisot provides plenty of car chases and shootouts and one pretty great fight scene involving Lee Byung-Hun, a half-dozen cops, and a freezer door. Although, I was annoyed that Zeta-Jones isn't even trying to do a Russian accent (a la Kevin Costner in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves), the acting is generally good. Malkovich and Mirren play old pros the way only old pros can, and Parker is very funny playing the only non-spy in the crew. Parisot even gets a decent performance out of Willis, who I thought was stiff in the first film. I just wish these guys were given more to play than a predictable script with occasional cringe-inducing dialogue ("What happens in the Kremlin stays in the Kremlin.") and a story without any emotional weight.