RED:
Frank Moses is a lonely retired CIA agent. He lives out his life peacefully in the suburbs of Cleveland. But when the CIA outs a hit on his head for unknown reasons, Moses must spring back into action and get his friends back together: Joe, a retired operative in a nursing home; Marvin, a paranoid conspiracy theorist gun nut living in the backwoods in a secret hideaway; and Victoria, a sweet old woman who misses her life as a wetwork agent. The four, joined by Moses' girlfriend, attempt to find out why the CIA wants them dead. Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, and Morgan Freeman do a fantastic job in this movie. They're funny, have good chemistry, and prove they are still bad-ass. Malkovich is probably the best character. He's so crazy and sometimes a bit awkward, but he's kind of likeable in a way, and he's an excellent marksman. Freeman actually isn't in the film as much, but when he is, he's great. Mirren is fantastic as always, and Willis shows that even in old age, he can still kick the shit out of anyone. The rest of the cast includes Mary Louise-Parker (Weeds), Brian Cox, Richard Dreyfuss, Karl Urban (Dredd, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, The Bourne Supremacy, The Chronicles of Riddick, Xena), Julian McMahon (Nip/Tuck, Fantastic Four, Paranoia), Rebecca Pidgeon, Ernest Borgnine, and James Remar. The cast do a good job, especially Urban, who at first appears to nothing but a cold-hearted CIA operative/assassin, but slowly peels back the layers to show the loving family man underneath. Dreyfuss does a good job for the small role he's given, and Cox is pretty funny as Mirren's ex-lover and ex-secret agent from Russia. The film actually has some really cool action sequences in between the laughs. The stand-out is a gunfight in an airport. Sure, the sequences aren't the most believable things, and they require some suspension of disbelief, but they are entertaining as hell. The film is directed by Robert Schwentke, who is best known for directing The Time Traveler's Wife and Flightplan, as well as the recent bomb R.I.P.D. He does a good job directing the film, and the writing by Erich and Jon Hoeber is witty and clever. The plot is actually pretty original and interesting, and they are a few good twists. It's a pretty faithful adaptation of the comic book, and it's a fun movie in it's own right. The music by Christophe Beck is pretty good, especially the cool guitar theme that plays over a few scenes and over the Blu-Ray menu. RED shows us that old stars can still kick ass like they did 20 or 30 years ago. The cast are fantastic and have good chemistry, the action is exhilarating and cool, and it's pretty damn funny. 3.5/5 stars.
RED 2:
Frank Moses and his girlfriend Sarah are forced to get back into the spy business when they are attacked by the government, who wants to kill them because of their supposed involvement in "Nightshade", a secret operation from years before. Frank once again teams with Marvin and Victoria, as well as bringing along Sarah for a second time, to uncover what Nightshade is and why they were tied to it. Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Mary Louise-Parker, Dame Helen Mirren, and Brian Cox reprise their roles from the previous film. Louise-Parker is pretty good, although she worked better as the outsider in the last film, than as a spy in this film. Malkovich, again, is the show-stealer and the best character. Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta-Jones join the cast as a brilliant but crazy British physicist and Frank Moses' Russian ex-girlfriend, respectively. Zeta-Jones is pretty good here, and Hopkins is just great, as always, and is pretty funny, too. Byung-hun Lee from G.I. Joe appears as the world's best contract killer, named Han, who has a hatred of Moses. He's pretty awesome, as he's a physical match for Moses, and he's skilled at every type of combat. David Thewlis (an actor who is best known as Remus Lupin from Harry Potter, despite many other notable works) has a small role as "The Frog". Neal McDonough (Band of Brothers, Boomtown, Desperate Housewives) is pretty threatening in this movie, playing a ruthless and calculating government agent and killer. The action scenes aren't as frequent as before, but they are still pretty entertaining. The end sequence in the airport and the gunfight/chase in Paris are pretty cool, and again, it's pretty consistently funny. The music by Alan Silvestri is good, but it's not as cool as the last film's musical score. This film is directed by Dean Parisot (known for directing episodes of Monk, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Northern Exposure, as well as the films Home Fries, Galaxy Quest, and Fun with Dick and Jane), he does a good job directing this film, but I'm pretty sure most of the credit goes to the writers, Jon and Erich Hoeber, returning from the first film, who can write quite the entertaining screenplay. RED 2 isn't quite as fresh or fun as it's predecessor, but it delivers a fun and enjoyable action-comedy that's worth the price of admission. 3/5 stars.
(Images: Wikipedia)
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