Red 2 (2013)

Year: 2013

Running Time: 116 minutes

Director: Dean Parisot

Writers: Jon and Erich Hoeber

Cast: Bruce Willis, Mary-Louise Parker, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Anthony Hopkins, Byung-hun Lee

Red 2 opens in Australian cinemas on August 29 and is distributed by Hopscotch Films. Now showing in the USA and UK.

While Red 2 tries to promise a great film experience by tempting you with an amazingly ensembled cast, the film is rarely better than plain bland.

The last 25 minutes of the film are perhaps the best, but it takes a lot of patience to get to this point and not have given up on the film. However, the sequel to 2010's Red is saved by thoroughly entertaining performances by Helen Mirren, John Malkovich and Anthony Hopkins and some pretty exciting action sequences....no matter how unlikely and unrealistic those sequences may be.

Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) is back with his girlfriend, Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker) and once partner in crime and best friend, Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich). Frank and Marvin have been linked incorrectly to a secret operation called Nightshade and are on the run from the authorities as a result. As well as having the authorities on their tails, Victoria (Helen Mirren) has been hired to kill Frank, as has Han (Byung-hun Lee). Together they try to find out exactly what is this top secret operation is that they have been linked to and when they finally find Nightshade creator, Dr Edward Bailey (Anthony Hopkins), everyone realises that there is more than meets the eye to Nightshade.

Although it has it's entertaining moments thanks largely to it's wonderful cast, Red 2 is quite lack lustre and borders on the ridiculous on more than one occasion. It is in the first 20 minutes when watching Bruce Willis' Frank take on 15 armed men and come out victorious that you can't help but scoff at how unlikely this seems. Of course in the majority of action films there is usually the presence of less than realistic action sequences, but here in Red 2 we just have no belief that Frank Moses is all he claims to be even though he has so many near death moments throughout the film that he lives through.

Although the script can be just as ridiculous at times. Some of the dialogue (especially that said by Mary-Louise Parker) can be particularly silly and annoying. The story itself has some good moments, such as the uncovering of the Nightshade mystery. Yet it also has it's bad and unnecessary moments, such as the inclusion of the side story of Frank and Katya (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and inclusion of the character of Katya at all. The ending of the film doesn't gather any suspense at all with a conclusion as predictable as the end of day.

On the positive side of things, there are some very entertaining moments in Red 2. Perhaps the best scene in the film is when Victoria and Han are in the car together and the shoot out that takes place. Visually, it was an interesting decision Dean Parisot made to link scenes together by having an outline of the last character seen on screen, and then a red screen leading to a shot of the location for the next scene with the name of the city included. It doesn't really add anything to the film, but there is no real reason to dislike it. It is just an interesting inclusion which makes it a bit more like the traditional comic book to film adaptation.

While there are some ordinary performances by some actors in Red 2, there are some other very entertaining performances. Bruce Willis. who is the main character of the film, seems to be playing the same role he has played in countless films before. His performance doesn't contain any points for discussion, other than it was just mediocre and flat. Mary-Louise Parker plays a character who is just plain irritating, far more irritating than in the first film. Her naivety for the situations she finds herself in is more stupid than endearing. She is not a particularly strong nor inspiring female figure.

Helen Mirren is the best part of the film with her brilliant delivery of her colourful dialogue. She is an amazing female action star and is cooler than many in the younger generation of butt-kicking females in action at the moment. Those who are followers of Mirren's career will have a good giggle at her scene in the asylum where she mimics a character she has played in the past.

Catherine Zeta-Jones' character is not overly useful in the grand scheme of things and her inclusion really isn't necessary. It isn't a particularly interesting performance by her, but it would be hard to give a great performance of a character who really isn't that great. Anthony Hopkins gives a very good performance as Dr Edward Bailey and shows that he can just as likable as he can subtly terrifying. John Malkovich provides great comic relief to the film with some cracking lines and very funny antics.

Red 2 is just a little too mediocre to make it a successful sequel. As a stand alone film, it not a success by any means. However, the presence of Helen Mirren, Anthony Hopkins and John Malkovich make the film bearable enough.

4.5/10


You may have also seen Bruce Willis in....
Looper as Joe

You may have also seen Helen Mirren in....
The Last Station as Countess Sofya
Hitchcock as Alma Reville

You may have also seen Anthony Hopkins in....
Hitchcock as Alfred Hitchcock

Looper (2012)

Looper

Year: 2012

Director: Rian Johnson

Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt, Paul Dano, Jeff Daniels, Piper Perabo

Before I begin my review….

                For those of you who don’t know me personally, I recently became a mum for the first time.

My baby boy was born nearly five months ago and just as everyone warned me, many things have changed. I have completely changed in the way which I see a lot of things in life and I actually believe for the better. One thing I was not prepared for was that the way I watch certain films has also changed.

                Not all films, but those films that have anything to do with children strike a chord with me now. I guess that is to be expected when you are a mother, but it wasn’t one of the things I contemplated in the nine months leading up to my little man’s birth when I was more concerned with picking out nursery furniture and trying to store sleep (as so many people love to tell you how little sleep you will receive when the baby comes….true fact, but you don’t need complete strangers telling you that all the time).

                In particular, Looper is one movie that probably wouldn’t have affected me on an emotional level as much if I wasn’t a mother. I found the relationship between mother, Sara and son, Cid completely heartbreaking at times. Looper can be categorized as an action/ thriller, and I never thought a film in one of these genres would make me feel when leaving as though I had just watched a drama. I am pretty sure that director, Rian Johnson was trying to evoke an emotional response from his audience, but I think as a perhaps it would make the parents more emotional. If I am anything to go by anyway.

                I think I should be getting ready for a lot more of these unprecedented responses in the future from the films I will be watching and reviewing.

Review

                Looper is one of the most original films you will see this year. Not a perfect film, but very clever, entertaining and original nevertheless.

                Rian Johnson has tackled a completely new genre in Looper and has approached this action/thriller film with the same originality he approached his earlier films such as Brick and The Brothers Bloom with. This combination has created something we haven’t seen before and is a well-made and entertaining original.

                The year is 2044 and time travel is made possible in 30 years time. Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) works as a looper, which are hit-men who are hired to take care of those sent back to the current year. The worst part about being a looper is when your future self is sent back for you to kill which is known as closing the loop. When Joe’s future self (Bruce Willis) is sent back, he is sent on a chase to save his life, but meet the death of his self in 30 years time.

                   The story and screenplay of Looper is extremely interesting. The script is effective as although the concept may seem like a complex one, it makes it easy for the audience to grasp early on in the film what everything and everyone is so no one is left confused. It is an entrancing concept which draws everyone in and the visuals on the screen compliment the screenplay to make the film very slick and presentable.

          Johnson’s direction is very good in the way in which the film is shown visually. The editing provides a clever way of linking both Joe’s present and future self, which can come across as confusing at first, but all lose ends are sewn up by the end of the film.

           There is no doubt that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a very good actor, he does a very good Bruce Willis. He has obviously studied the way that Willis holds himself and his facial expressions. However, although he sat in the make-up chair for at least two and a half hours each day before filming began, it can be a little distracting. It can sometimes look as though Gordon-Levitt is struggling to move his face under the make-up. The make-up artists did give it a good go considering Gordon-Levitt and Willis don’t really look a thing alike.

             Bruce Willis is just Bruce Willis. There is nothing in this film that he does that hasn’t been done before. It is just another action role with some anger moments.  Unlike Gordon-Levitt, he doesn’t meet in the middle to compliment Gordon-Levitt.

            Emily Blunt is splendid. She is completely believable as Sara, the doting mother of Cid (Pierce Gagnon). Gagnon is also wonderful. You immediately feel sorry for the little boy and the chemistry between him and Blunt is perfect.  For the brief moment there is supposed to be chemistry between Gordon-Levitt and Blunt, it falls flat.

             Pure originality is not something that is popular in film today so Looper is completely refreshing. Rian Johnson must be congratulated and doing such a good job with a brand new and entertaining concept.

8/10

 

References
 The Internet Movie Database
MTV
BC Blog Critics