A better than average Action movie, with Helen Mirren and John Malkovich battling it out as scene stealers!

If you are Helen Mirren, John Malkovich, Anthony Hopkins or any other serious actor, what do you do to let off steam? To blow off the cob webs after playing role after role as some world leader or someone dying of an incurable disease. Red 2 is the obvious answer, the story of retired CIA and MI5 agents, and their nonsense capers of fighting various bad guys. I guess it’s obvious enough that all the actors involved in this one were having a ball, but does it tranlate itself to the experience of those watching? Not far off actually, I’m nowhere near the target market for this one and have to say I came out smiling.

Catherine Zeta Jones and Anthony Hopkins join the cast in this sequel to the secret agent movie, that took in $200 million in 2010. The story is based loosely around a search for a bomb that is located somewhere beneath Moscow and the fact that the only one that knows where it is, is a man who lost is marbles sometime back in the 70’s. In truth the story doesn’t concern itself greatly with the finer details, as it’s mostly an excuse to get the characters into glamorous locations and blow things up! There are scenes in a lot of the world capitals, including London, Paris, Moscow etc.

In the hands of average actors, this movie could have been awful, but the saving grace is the acting, and Helen Mirren in particular lights up the screen every time she is on it, stealing scene after scene from the other big names in her vicinity. Her character Victoria is an aging hit woman, but she plays it like a vixen in her 20’s, and ignores the obvious fact that she’s about 40 years too old to really pull it off. She is a delight to watch, and the periods where she is not on screen, you end up wondering when she’ll be back. Malkovich is also enjoyable as Marvin, the Eastern european spy who entices Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) out of retirement for one last hurrah (until the next sequel!)

This is a popcorn movie, one of those where you don’t worry too much about the subtle points and just get on with enjoying the madness they throw at you. If you think about it for too long, you’ll be dragging up lots of plot holes and clunky devices, so best not to think about it at all, just enjoy the ride!