I rarely like sequels better than their originals, but Red 2 is one of the few! I was on the fence about even seeing 2, based on the first.
What's better than that? You don't even need to watch the first Red to follow this cool little espionage romp.
It's about an ex-CIA agent (Bruce Willis) - having marital issues with his civilian wife (Mary-Louise Parker) - who's forced out of retirement to retrieve a missing nuclear device.
Red 2 is funny. The cast is amazing: Willis, Parker, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones, & more. And the action is good.
My biggest problem with the 1st Red was it's action. It's one thing to make a funny espionage and/or action flick. Just don't make light of the action scenes, in my opinion. (Not even the "best shot in the world" can shoot out an incoming RPG with a handgun, Red! I get it, it's supposed to be funny, but come on.)
Red 2 takes it's action a lot more seriously. There's some good martial arts in this one. And there's only one instance that I said, "Eh, that's NOT gonna happen." But it was kinda a fun stunt anyway, and I overlooked the impossibility rather easily.
Rent Red 2 for some fun!
In a radical departure from this blog's mission statement I'm recommending a movie that's in theaters right now. And you need to see it NOW. You'll read why...
It's called Gravity (2013). And it makes the most out of a minimalist plot: survival in outer space for astronauts after a catastrophic accident. For those of you who can't watch sci-fi without a big-named franchise attached (Bug, Sezduck), replace "catastrophic accident" with "nefarious Klingon attack" in your mind.
The cast is even more minimalist, but excellent. Sandra Bullock is very good as the Mission Specialist (there for her technical expertise; not a "real" astronaut). But George Clooney nails it! He plays the veteran astronaut perfectly! Ed Harris lends his voice to Houston's Mission Control (kinda sorta reprising his role from Apollo 13).
Gravity's soundtrack is good (not perfect) - wonderfully non-existent in large chunks. And rightfully so.
It's not the best movie ever. And it won't ever be mistaken for a documentary. But...
See this now! Before it leaves the theater! And splurge for the 3-D!! I won't say it's the best visual effects ever (honestly, I was expecting a little more early in the film), but really good. And, probably the best 3-D movie I've seen. The reason why: they use it to tell a story - not to be just something kinda cool to look at.
