Wednesday, August 07, 2013

RED 2



I loved the first RED  movie, Willis, Parker, Malkovich, Mirren, Freeman, Dreyfus. It was a hoot, the old ops in the field, so I expected I would like the sequel, cleverly entitled RED 2. 

I loved the second one, too.

It is even sillier, less realistic, and everything a summer movie for grown ups should be. Old pro actors having fun, clever dialog, cartoon violence, and the last drop on a long and tall roller coaster. Bang! Boom! Whack! Screech!

Some nice touches the youngsters will miss: At a funeral early on, the organist plays "You Can't Always Get What You Want," an obvious homage to the funeral scene in "The Big Chill."   

Mirren pretends to be the Queen of England in an asylum scene. How many time has she played the role? And Anthony Hopkins ...

Most of the first cast is back, with some new/old faces, and as an old guy, I hooted and hollered. Silly? Absolutely. Fun? You betcha.

I found that reviewers who didn't like it tend to be young, no surprise. The younger they are, the less they approved of it. Rotten Tomatoes critics give it 41%, but the audiences are at 70%.

As is often the case, the critics are ... well, let's just say ... uninspiring. A few words for them:

There will come a time, I am here to tell you, that you will start to root for the old guys (and gals). You won't remember I told you so, and by then probably I will be gone, but gray and wrinkles are out there, kids, and if you make it past your extended adolescence, they will be waiting for you ...

4 comments:

Ed said...

Hear Willis is out on next Expendables movie and Harrison Ford is in....do you have an in with Indy since the Amry of Darkness book....I would pay to see you guys in that - at least you probably shoot better than Ford.

Steve Perry said...

The second Expendables was, in spots, kinda fun. I was disappointed in the first one. I don't have a lot of hope for the third, even though Ford is supposed to be in it.

Ed said...

I liked the Plane against dock part in the first, Stalone's sixgun work and Statham is always good - oh the truck too. The scenes under the presidential house were ok as I remember and where Stalone really breaks his back - ouch. The second one was just too over the top 80's for me.

http://tomdup.wordpress.com said...

You are so right about the first RED, and I can't wait to see the second. [I will wait, however, for DVD.] These people are making fun of the genre while exploiting it, just like RAIDERS did. SO MUCH FUN!