Red 2

Back in 2010, RED turned out to be a surprise sleeper hit, making $200 million on a $58 million budget. A funny, quirky action comedy about retired government agents, it didn't overtly lend itself to a sequel, but it's got one anyway. Original director Robert Schwentke went off to make R.I.P.D., so in steps Dean Parisot (of the overlooked gem Galaxy Quest), along with most of the cast returning and even some new A-list faces like Catherine Zeta-Jones and Anthony Hopkins. So far, so good. However, once the movie is over, you'll probably end up wishing they'd just left well enough alone.

Frank (Bruce Willis) is now back in retirement mode and his girlfriend Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker) is beginning to get bored of their hum-drum lifestyle. Luckily, just then Frank's old partner Marvin (John Malkovich) shows up to tell them that they're on every government's hit-list for being a part of something called Project Nightshade, which they've never heard of. Before long they're jetting off around Europe and Russia, trying to piece together why they're being framed, and picking up extra cast members (Helen Mirren, Zeta-Jones and Hopkins) along the way.

While not a million miles away from the plot of the original, somehow the story this time around is incredibly difficult to follow. There's something to do with a key, a mental asylum, a man called The Frog, and The Kremlin, but it's all explained very poorly, with the revolving door of new characters not helping much. Even when the plot is placed aside and the action and the comedy do kick in, there's still something sloppy about it; the action is edited too quickly, the comedy too slowly, and the entire movie seems to move without any sense of rhythm.

There are some good points - Malkovich and Mirren are still hilarious and clearly having a blast, and there's a nice vicious streak from the movie's lead villain played by Neal McDonough - but the movie this is most reminiscent of is Ocean's Twelve, not only because of the presence of Zeta Jones and the international locales, but because it's a bloated, confusing, and entirely unnecessary sequel.

It's Bruce Willis' best movie of the year so far, but considering the competition (G.I. Joe 2, Die Hard 5, Fire With Fire), that's really not saying much.