Sunday, July 21, 2013

Sunday, July 21, 2013 - ,,,,, 2 comments

RED 2

I've admitted it before, and I'll say it again. I've had a crush on Bruce Willis since I was at least 16 years old.  It was only a couple of weeks ago when I found out that he had a new film coming out RED 2.  I fell head over heels for the original RED, so despite lack of forewarning I cleared my schedule.


For anyone who hasn't seen it yet, I'll cut to the chase. 5 out of 5. I loved it. I may even like it better than the original. From here on out consider this your Spoiler Alert.


The opening minutes start a little slow, and that's exactly the point. Frank (Bruce Willis) & Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker) are still together, but life has gotten much too "domestic" for Sarah. All that Frank can think about is keeping her safe. Marvin (John Malkovich) shows up with a paranoid warning, and soon cars are exploding and government sent assassins are trying to kill them.

Naturally, Sarah is on cloud nine and Frank is about to have a stroke with worry. Marvin is offering relationship advice because he knows about one thing, women & covert ops. My favorite line of the film follows Frank's correction of what appears to be Marvin's grammatical error.

Why do I like these RED films so much? One has to be the witty and clever dialogue. It's a Bruce Willis trademark from his Moonlighting days that produced my crush so long ago. Another has to be the dichotomy of these characters of doing such incredible things while dealing with the problems of every day life. Of course, these incredible things are normal for them. I also love how the action scenes are "beautifully photographed." However, my favorite thing might be that Marvin gets to say whatever pops into his head because he's just a little bit crazy.  He really comes up with some good lines.

Having said all that I must admit that I was quite taken with one of the new members of the team who's more in my age bracket. I haven't see the other things that Byung-hun Lee's been in, but his moves in this film are beyond elegant, and he looks mighty fine in a suit!


And of course, the incredible Helen Mirren is in fine form. Once again, she was in one of my favorite shots in the film with Byung-hun Lee. If someone has to do that kind of thing, there's no one that could look cooler or sexier than she does. 


I almost forgot the magnificent Anthony Hopkins! How is that possible?  His character was unbelievable. Makes Marvin the picture of sanity. Really added to the roller coaster ride.

Sometimes, even often, when you have this many stars in a film, it falls flat on its face. It seems like they're more interested in having a good time on the set than producing an entertaining film. Do I think these people had a good time on set? Absolutely.  Do I think they produced an entertaining film? Absolutely!  Hope that you enjoy it as much as I did.

2 comments:

Is Dame Helen Mirren sexy or what? One of my and Pam's favorite scenes was between Dame Helen and Brian Cox...their little sniper picnic on the hill. What a riot.

I think the things that make both films work - the first one and the sequel - is the writing paired with the incredible timing of such an amazing set of actors. It's one thing to do action and another to do comedy. Mixing action and comedy? And mixing it so well? That's talent.

I agree with your assessment. It's 5 out of 5 for me too.

Travis: Oh, I love that "sniper picnic" too. The theater exploded in laughter and squeals of delight with that one. And yes, the magnificent timing of those actors is so vital to making it all work. Can't wait for it to come out on DVD!

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