RED 2

RED is an acronym for “Retired, Extremely Dangerous,” a designation that aptly suits the former secret agents/trained assassins who are reunited here after their surprisingly successful 2010 caper. Bruce Willis returns as ex-CIA black ops expert Frank Moses, who's trying to live a quiet life with his excitement-craving younger girlfriend, Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker). While shopping at Costco, Frank is alerted by his wacky former cohort Marvin (John Malkovich) that the pair have been falsely linked to a plot concerning a long lost Cold War-era nuclear device, called Nightshade, which is hidden somewhere in the world. That bit of info is confirmed by sharpshooting MI6's Victoria (Helen Mirren)—who has been assigned to kill them—and reinforced by a dangerous Korean hit man named Han (Byung-hun Lee). So our heroes are off to find Edward Bailey (Anthony Hopkins), the deviously deranged scientist who designed the deadly weapon of mass destruction and has been incarcerated by the Brits for the past 32 years. Joining them is Catherine Zeta-Jones as Katja, a seductive Russian spy, along with Brian Cox as Victoria's Kremlin suitor. Based on a series of DC Comics graphic novels, director Dean Parisot's RED 2 is a thinly-plotted thriller in which humor takes precedence over logic, as the intrepid seniors dash from one escapade to another. But the amusingly droll relationship banter between protective Willis, paranoid Malkovich, and adventurous Parker makes this globetrotting action comedy an entertaining watch for baby boomers. Recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include deleted scenes (5 min.), a gag reel (5 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is “The RED 2 Experience” multi-part behind-the-scenes featurette (35 min.), as well as bonus DVD, digital, and UltraViolet copies of the film. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a fun sequel.] (S. Granger)