Further Proof That Sequels Are Rarely As Good As The Original..."RED 2"

So close...

The Story:

Frank (Bruce Willis) is enjoying a quiet life with Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker) when Marvin (John Malkovich) comes calling.  He tries to warn them that danger is heading their way, but Frank wants to lay low and keep Sarah safe.  Oddly enough, Sarah is actually itching to see some action again, even though she is ill-prepared for it.  Then before you know it, trouble hits and the guys are on the run again, trying to figure out how to save the world and clear their names before they are killed.  This time however, it looks like Victoria (Helen Mirren) has been  hired by the British to make sure that Frank doesn't succeed.

Uh-oh!

I loved the first film.

One of my Best of the Year films, and one that I can watch at just about any time.

Was it the Morgan Freeman factor?  Hard to say.

They also had a much better 'bad guy' who was just doing his job, Karl Urban.

Here...

Not so much.

It's a muddled mess as they jaunt to Europe trying to evade nearly every government and assassin that is trying to take them down.

Including Frank's old flame, Katja (Catherine Zeta-Jones).

Here's a piece of advice for successful movies that want to franchise:

Don't hire Catherine Zeta-Jones for your sequel.

Ocean's Eleven rocked.
Ocean's Twelve...not so much.
Ocean's Thirteen thankfully regained much of the original swagger.

So I guess, that bodes well for Red 3!

:)

Instead, you've got Neal McDonough tracking the team, and he's great, but no Karl Urban.  Then you throw in an Asian assassin (Byung-hun Lee) plus everyone else after Frank...

And now you have to find time to squeeze in "The Package" (Anthony Hopkins).

They went with an "Everything But the Kitchen Sink" approach when they should have tried to dial it back a few notches.

Ah well, it wasn't a complete waste, but it was unable to capture the lightning in a  bottle of the first film.

Better luck next go round.

Final Grade: B- / C+ range.

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Like I said, it wasn't bad, it just wasn't as good as the first one.  I'm sure I'll get it though. : )