Red 2

"You gave her a gun?"

"It is America, Frank."

"Everyone else has a gun."

Frank Moses (Willis) is enjoying the normal life with his girlfriend Sarah (Parker), but both long for a little excitement.  Their peace is interrupted by Frank's friend Marvin (Malkovich), who claims they are being hunted by government agents.  The government agents, led by Jack Horton (McDonough), believe Frank has information about a secret government operation called Nightshade.  They manage to escape and travel to Paris to hunt down information dealer The Frog (David Thewlis) for information about Nightshade.

Meanwhile, top assassin Han Cho Bai (Lee) is recruited to kill them.  Han has a history with Frank and holds a long standing grudge against him.  MI6 hires their friend Victoria (Mirren) for the same job.  While in Paris, they discover that Nightshade can be traced back to physicist Dr. Edward Bailey (Hopkins), who has been locked up for decades and is now insane.  The information about Nightshade is also sought by Frank's ex, Russian secret agent Katja (Zeta-Jones).  Can they save the day or will they fall to their younger foes?


After the success of 2010's Red, it was inevitable that they would make a sequel.  Both films are based on the DC Comic "Red" from 2003-2004, created by Warren Ellis and Cully Hammer.  The film had the same writers as the original, Jon & Erich Hoeber and feels like a companion to it's predecessor.  The main cast returned for the sequel, with some shiny new additions and a new director.

Once again, the action sequences are intense (and implausible, but that's part of the fun) but the language is minimal.  Once again, the cast is great.  Helen Mirren steals the show and you look forward to seeing her on the screen.  John Malkovich is also entertaining.  Byung-hun Lee is a welcome addition to the cast and is a well-known Korean action star (I have had The Good, The Bad, and The Weird in my Netflix queue for a few months and look forward to watching it sometime soon).  Anthony Hopkins is fine.  Catherine Zeta-Jones is eh.

Overall, the film is an enjoyable action flick with a great cast.

Red 2 (2013) 116 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for pervasive action and violence including frenetic gunplay, and for some language and drug material
Director: Dean Parisot
Starring: Bruce Willis as Frank
John Malkovich as Marvin
Mary-Louise Parker as Sarah
Helen Mirren as Victoria
Anthony Hopkins as Bailey
Byung-hun Lee as Han Cho Bai
Catherine Zeta-Jones as Katja
Neal McDonough as Jack Horton