MOVIE REVIEW: "THE KILLINGS DON'T STOP IN RED 2"

A couple of years ago when I watched Red, it was not because I was a fan to Bruce and his 'hipikaye' film career, it was out of curiosity.  At that time the movie was not given too much hype and I actually stumbled onto the movie online and found myself thinking, "Bruce Willis did a movie, and people are not talking about it...awkward?!" As at then, I had no idea that the movie Red was an adaptation of a DC comic with the same name. Well, to say the truth ...I thought comic books back then were all about superheroes wearing tight pants and doing stuff, you know...saving the world!

But while I started to watch the movie Red, I found myself intrigued most especially at the extraordinary character of Frank Moses played by Bruce Willis who possessed unusual killing skills because of his former status as a rogue American agent trying as much as possible to escape from his past and the clutches of death launched by the American government that has placed a price tag on his head. Bamboozled by the action scenes, I found myself just staring at my computer screen. And when the movie was over, I wasn't sure of how to describe the plot. It was all killing, killing, killing, and of course some stunts that drove one wild (remember the scene where Frank simply walks out of a spinning car with guns blazing...that was so cool).
It was however shocking to find out there was already a part 2 of the Red movie, and I started to question if I missed something that the rest of the audience loved which could warrant film makers to embark on a sequel, and so like the curiosity I had for the first one, I watched Red 2.

In Red 2 Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) is seen trying to lead a normal life with girlfriend Sarah Ross (Mary-Louise Parker), and is approached by long time friend and partner Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich), who is afraid that there are people still after them, but Frank shrugs him off. After appealing a second time, Marvin drives off but his car suddenly explodes. Although Frank does not believe Marvin is dead, Sarah convinces him to go to Marvin's funeral where he delivers a teary-eyed eulogy. After the funeral, Frank is approached by a group of government spooks and is taken to be interrogated at a Yankee White Facility. During the interrogation, Jack Horton (Neal McDonough) appears, killing most of the facility's personnel, and threatens to torture Sarah in order to get information out of Frank. Frank manages to escape with the help of Marvin, who turns out to be alive, and they go on the run with Sarah. Marvin explains that he and Frank were being hunted down because they were listed as participants in a secret operation code named Nightshade. The operation was conducted during the Cold War era in order to smuggle a nuclear weapon into Russia piece by piece. Meanwhile, Frank and his friends have been labelled terrorists, and Victoria Winslow (Helen Mirren) who was also in the first installment of the movie has been contracted by M16 to kill Frank. Top contract killer Han Cho-Bai (Lee Byung-hun) was also contracted to kill Frank by Horton himself.

The rest of the movie sees Frank, Marvin and Sarah travelling almost half across the world to unravel the conspiracy behind the Nightshade and save the world from any suspected nuclear attack, while also making sure they stay alive. During their adventure they meet with different characters that could be of assistance to their quest, like the Frog (David Thewlis), a strange guy known for his obsession for old wine, Katya (Catherine Zeta-Jones), a Russian secret agent who Frank had a relationship with earlier in his career, and Dr. Edward Bailey (Anthony Hopkins), a brilliant physicist, and the creator of the bomb involved with Operation Nightshade.

I am still not sure on my feelings towards the movie Red 2, but I can I say that it is an improvement from the first installment although there were still over exxagerated action scenes that kind of reminds one of some of the moves from part 1, but still fun to watch. The movie still has Frank Moses performing unrealistic but mind-blowing moves, like an instance where Catherine Zeta Jones picks up frank while making a 360 with a car during a car chase scene in the movie, a replica of what was done in part 1.

I think my only fault with the movie was how Frank Moses had to convince Han cho Bai, the assassin that was sent to kill him, to put differences aside so that they can avoid a nuclear catastrophe. But apart from some minor details, the movie is fun to watch, and I won't say for the whole family because of the unrelenting display of violence.

RED 2 is a 2013 American action-comedy film and sequel to the 2010 film RED. It was inspired by the limited comic book series of the same name published by the DC Comics imprint Homage. The film stars Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Parker, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Lee Byung-hun, Anthony Hopkins, and Helen Mirren. RED 2 was released on July 19, 2013. 

RED 2 received mixed reviews from film critics. The film holds a 42% approval rating at review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 5.4/10 based on 112 reviews. Metacritic, which uses a weighted mean, assigned a score of 48 out of 100, based on reviews from 36 critics. According to the above survey, the movie scored a bit below average.

As of August 13, 2013, RED 2 has grossed $51,039,854 in North America and $102,539,854 worldwide. Its however been disclosed that the movie Red is to have a third installment.