My Review: RED 2 (5/10)

"If there's one thing I know, it's women and covert operations."

If there's one thing I know, it's that if the first film wasn't good, the sequel probably won't be either. That was the case with RED 2 which follows pretty much the same generic formula that it did in the first RED with the new additions of Catherine Zeta Jones, Anthony Hopkins, and Byung-hun Lee. The film has its funny moments, not thanks to screenwriters Jon and Erich Hoeber (responsible for the terrible screenplays of Whiteout and Battleship), but to its incredible and highly likable cast. Their presence alone and their interactions together elevate this otherwise ridiculous film. I guess that the producers decided to make a sequel considering the world wide success the first film had (despite not being a fan) and this time they brought Dean Parisot (Galaxy Quest and Fun with Dick and Jane) to take over the director's chair that Robert Schwentke (RIPD and Flightplan) had left unoccupied. This sequel takes the same formula and similar situations by mixing comedy with over the top action sequences. There is nothing sophisticated or fresh about this film, so don't go into this expecting an engaging and thoughtful trailer. 

The plot follows the events from the previous film as Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) is trying to enjoy his retired life now with the company of his girlfriend Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker), but the relationship is being affected by his overprotective behavior. She is yearning for some action in her life, so when Marvin (John Malkovich) shows up to warn Frank that there are people following them she doesn't hesitate in wanting to come along. But Frank dismisses Marvin and claims he is overreacting and that he and Sarah should continue to go on with their normal lives. It turns out that Marvin was right, as a Pentagon operative named Jack Horton (Neal McDonough) tries to capture Frank and threatens to torture Sarah unless he gives him some important information. Marvin comes to the rescue and explains that they are being hunted due to their previous involvement in a Cold War undercover operation known as Nightshade involving some sort of nuclear weapon. In order to find out more information and discover the reason as to why these men are hunting them down Frank, Sarah, and Marvin travel to Paris and meet up with Russian agent Katya (Catherine Zeta-Jones) who also happens to share a past relationship with Frank. Former MI6 agent, Victoria (Helen Mirren), is hired to kill Frank as well, but being a friend of theirs she gives them the heads up. It seems these former agents have been forced to come out of retirement once again to settle things once and for all.

If you thought the first film was silly, then you will think RED 2 is even more ridiculous considering the over the top action scenes involving car chases and gunshots. The plot is really dumb and light, and the only fun you might get out of this film comes from the cast. I actually liked Anthony Hopkins and Byung-hun Lee in their particular roles here, but they just couldn't do much with the material. Hellen Mirren is such a talented actress that at moments it felt embarrassing to hear her speak out her recycled lines. The cast did seem to have a lot of fun with the lightness of it all and John Malkovich delivers several funny lines, but I just felt this film was dull, stale, and unsatisfying. To be honest I came into this film remembering very little about the first film, and I can imagine I will completely forget about this sequel as well in a few more weeks because it is beyond silly. Silly can be good at times, but here I think they went a little too far with it. I will give this two and a half stars for the cast involved because they are just fun to watch at times. 

My Review: R.I.P.D. (3/10)

"Until they pop, they look like regular people, so no one except us knows they're monsters inside."

The trailers made me think RIPD could be the MIB of this generation, but this film is nowhere near it. The comedy never delivers much laughs and the action scenes were mind numbing. RIPD is almost so bad that it is good, but it doesn't quite reach that level either. Director, Robert Schwentke (Flightplan, The Time Traveler's Wife, and RED), failed to bring Peter M Lenkov's Dark Horse comic to the big screen despite having Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds in the lead roles. These are two actors I really enjoy watching on screen, but they have made some terrible movies in the past as well. I haven't seen Reynolds in The Green Lantern, but this is probably on that same level. For Bridges this is probably by far his worst film although some people enjoyed his performance. He seemed to be making fun of his own performance in True Grit. The story was a little too wacky for my taste and the characters were all formulaic. We've seen these partners in hundreds of other films who are forced to work together but eventually grow on each other despite their differences. There are few surprises in this buddy comedy, which easily makes it one of the worst Summer movies of 2013. 

I will try my best to explain this whacky plot. Nick (Ryan Reynolds) is a Boston cop who is murdered by his partner, Hayes (Kevin Bacon). Upon his death he is recruited by the Rest in Peace Department. Proctor (Mary Louise Parker) explains to Nick what his new role is and introduces him to his partner, Roy (Jeff Bridges) a veteran in the force who has been dead since the 1800's, which explains his Wild West cowboy looks. The RIPD is responsible for hunting down dead souls who have escaped judgement and refused to leave the living world. Their job is to hunt them down and bring them back for judgement. These souls are disguised as regular people, but Roy teaches Nick how to discover and reveal their monstrous side with some Indian food. Nick and Roy aren't seen in the living world as their normal selves, they have avatars so no one they knew in their past lives can recognize them. Roy is a beautiful blonde (Marisa Miller), while Nick is given the body of a middle aged Chinese man (James Hong). This prevents Nick from making any contact with his widowed wife, Julia (Stephanie Szostak), whom he desperately wants to reach. Nick and Roy uncover an apocalyptic plot and will be forced to stop the monsters responsible before they achieve their goal. They will have to leave their differences behind and work as a team.

I feel like this is just way too much writing for such a dumb and mind numbing movie, but I can't quite figure out how the producers were willing to spend over 130 million dollars in this film without trying to come up with a better script. The villains in RIPD look way too cartoonish and the action scenes are extremely over the top. The funniest moments in RIPD have to do with the revelation of Nick and Roy's avatar bodies. The only problem is that you can simply watch it in the trailers and avoid seeing this movie. RIPD could've been executed better by a more talented director. I could forgive the stupid plot if the characters were better developed, but not even the talented actors could engage the audience with the material they were given. RIPD is one of those movies that you don't even worry about trying to get your time and money back; you simply hope that you can forget all about it and erase those cheesy images and dialogues from your head.

My Review: RED (5/10)

¨He got old. Then some thumb-sucker came along and tagged him RED: Retired, Extremely Dangerous.¨

Robert Schwentke (The Time Traveler`s Wife, and Flightplan) had the privilege of directing a talented cast including Bruce Willis, Mary-Louise Parker, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich, Morgan Freeman, Brian Cox, Karl Urban, and Richard Dreyfuss. A lot of big names for the latest adaptation of the DC Comic graphic novel written by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner. One would expect nothing could go wrong with a movie with such great star power, but I was disappointed with this lightly entertaining comedy slash action flick. Red suffers from a poorly adapted screenplay written by Jon and Erich Hoeber (the guys who brought us one of the worst films of 2009: Whiteout). The plot is really bad, and the actors do the best they can in order to save the film. There are some funny moments (but far too few) thanks to the talent from the entire cast that save the movie from falling into horrible territory. John Malkovich gives a very comedic and surprising performance, but unfortunately he doesn`t get enough screen time to save the movie. The rest of the cast give good performances, but they are far from memorable. The chemistry between Bruce Willis and Mary-Louise Parker (Weeds) is pretty decent, although nothing we haven’t seen before. I really expected this movie would have a lot more funnier moments, but the screenplay failed to help out the great cast. Red could have been much better if the producers would have taken more time in finding better screenwriters. I just felt this movie was like an All-Star team without a good coach to help them win the championship. With a better plot, Red would have been a great and memorable movie.

Bruce Willis is Frank Moses, a former CIA agent who is now retired and having a difficult time making the transition. The only thing that seems to keep him going is when he gets to speak over the phone with his government pension representative, Sarah Ross (Mary-Louise Parker). Her life doesn`t seem all that exciting either, and she spends her days working and reading sexy spy novels. Sarah and Frank spend a lot of time on the phone discussing their boring and lonely lives without having ever met, but they seem to enjoy each other. Their daily routines will change all of a sudden when someone puts a hit on Frank and tries killing him. Frank might be old, but he`s still got game. He manages to elude the dozen of assassins that are sent to his home and decides to give Sarah a visit in Kansas City guessing she might be in danger as well. Frank will need some help in order to discover who is after him so he decides to get his old CIA team back together: Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich), Victoria (Helen Mirren), and Joe Matheson (Morgan Freeman). They are all more than happy to get back in action since they all seem to have difficulties adapting to their retiree lives. Together they begin delving into the past in search for clues, while at the same time they have to face the young CIA agent who is after them: William Cooper (Karl Urban). Richard Dreyfuss, Brian Cox, and Julian McMahon also have smaller roles in the film.

I really wished this movie would have been funnier considering the talented cast. Malkovich is by far the funniest one in the film; I`ve seen Willis in better roles; Freeman doesn’t add anything to the story; Urban being one of the younger actors proved he has what it takes to stand next to these A-list actors; Louise-Parker was pretty funny in this movie, but she is way better in Weeds; and Helen Mirren always brings her A game to the table. I didn`t have a problem with the performances, but I just wished they would have done a better job with the plot and the screenplay. This is one of those movies that looks hilarious in the trailers, but then you discover it isn`t actually that funny when sitting through the 100 minute film. Red is not terrible. I actually had a decent time watching it, but it is just light entertainment I wouldn`t consider recommending it or watching it over again. The movie did give me a nostalgic feeling seeing how so many of these actors are actually close to their retirement, but they still have the talent if given the right script to work with. I am a huge Bruce Willis fan, but I have to admit John Malkovich stole each scene he was in. Richard Dreyfuss and Brian Cox both have small parts in this movie, but they are really funny in it as well. Seeing these brilliant actors working together is the highlight of the film, but they should have brought in some talented screenwriters as well.

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