Red 2 (2013)
DIRECTOR: Dean Parisot
CAST: Bruce Willis, Mary-Louise Parker, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Byung-hun Lee, Neal McDonough, David Thewlis, Brian Cox
REVIEW:
While 2010’s Red was an enjoyable enough, if ultimately forgettable diversion, that had more to do with the B-level material inexplicably attracting a high-powered ensemble of respectable elder thespians that kicked it up a notch. Neither its small charms nor its modest box office success particularly cried out for a sequel, but here we are. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Red 2 lacks what little freshness the first film possessed, and while the sight of Helen Mirren handling heavy weaponry still has some amusement, it’s not as novel as it was in 2010. Red 2 is a moderately enjoyable diversion, but the relative freshness has evaporated, and like many an unneeded and uninspired sequel, this has the feel of warmed-over leftovers. Continue reading
R.I.P.D. (2013)
DIRECTOR: Robert Schwentke
CAST: Ryan Reynolds, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Bacon, Mary-Louise Parker, Stephanie Szostak
REVIEW:
R.I.P.D. is one of the most depressing kinds of movies to sit through; a completely uninspired, by-the-numbers, unengaging, lazy film that literally offers nothing memorable. Playing out something like a cross between Men in Black and Ghostbusters with a dash of Ghost tossed in for good measure, it’s billed as a supernatural action-comedy/buddy movie, but it doesn’t succeed in any direction. It’s not funny (or at least not often enough to justify its existence) and it’s never exciting, no matter how much money it blows on splashy special effects. Continue reading