Film: Red 2
Cast: Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Anthony Hopkins, Morgan Freeman, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Mary Louise-Parker
Director: Dean Parisot
It appears poor Bruce Willis can never be allowed to retire in peace. His characters are routinely pulled out of their cosy lives to save the nation, and its inhabitants – or, compelled to do so in order to clear their names.
Red 2 has a very Expendables feel – a star-studded cast, stocked with the likes of Willis, Helen Mirren, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Morgan Freeman and John Malkovich will draw you to the cinemas. I don’t see this film shattering box-office records – like most sequels – but the cast does make the trip to the theatre worth one’s while.
Chances are that you will like this film only if you actually liked the first edition, Red. It’s a run-of-the-mill action-comedy, with some great action set-pieces and well-timed comic scenes. There’s the classic getting-into-the-car-when-it’s-still-running bit. There’s the beating-up-the-captors-when-one-is-shackled bit. There’s the shooting-from-both-windows-of-a-running-car bit.
The film starts off like any other in the genre (including its prequel) – ex-agent Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) doesn’t want to take up another job because he’s enjoying his retirement, but is forced to in the name of honour. From there on, we figure out that some sort of Weapon of Mass Destruction, created in the past is going to blow up soon. And so, agents from across the world must unite to ensure that it doesn’t blow up – it’s the Avengers all over again, only without superpowers.
And that brings me to the reason I love DC Comics, which brought out the original, limited-edition comic the Red films are based on – they support stories in which a normal person can go out and do extraordinary things. Apart from Superman and Wonder Woman, they bring us Batman (albeit a filthy rich normal person) and The Watchmen, as if to reaffirm one can be a superhero without magical powers.
If this movie was shot with a different cast I’m sure I would probably have hated it. The panache and regality they bring to the film with their mere presence is what lifts the story. Anthony Hopkins, one of the best actors of all time, plays an endearingly loony Edward Bailey. And then there’s Bruce Willis, who continues to act like the action-hero god he was 20 years ago. If the producers are going to empty out their pockets by casting the Seven Wonders, though, that tends to tell elsewhere in the film – sadly, in this case, the compromise has been made on the special effects. One takes it for granted that a Hollywood film with this sort of cast will not assault us with tacky graphics. In my opinion, it’s a poor decision to cut corners in this department for an action movie.