RED 2 (Retired, Extremely Dangerous) July 19, 2013

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July 24, 2013
Movie review: 'Red 2' cast perfectly blends comedy, action
By Jeremy Costello Daily News Transcript
 The cast of the original “Red” movie was dynamic and played off each other well. What makes “Red 2” special for a sequel is how well it was written to cater to its cast, which is definitely its biggest strength, without insisting on itself. Bruce Willis (who plays Frank), Mary-Louise Parker (who plays Sarah, Frank’s girlfriend), John Malkovich (who plays Marvin) and Helen Mirren (who plays Victoria) all reprise their roles with delightfulness and class, even in the midst of their shootouts and action scenes. “Red 2” gives the actors some room to breathe and has fluid scenes and dialogue that aren’t contrived or constructed to shove unnecessary comedy down the audience’s throat. The plot of “Red 2” is about typical spy business. The RED crew (an acronym for Retired and Extremely Dangerous) must try to track down a scientist who was helping build a deadly weapon years ago that would be dangerous in the wrong hands; it doesn’t get more textbook than that, but it was still interesting to some degree. Especially when, as per any spy movie, alliances change and backstabbing is always a threat. Along the way, several new characters come into play. There’s the crazy ex-spymate-who-also-had-a-thing-with-Frank girl (played by Catherine Zeta-Jones) who comes back into the picture. There’s the deadly spy-renown assassin (played by Byung-hun Lee, of “G.I. Joe” fame). There’s even the good-guy-who-could-be-a-bad-guy FBI agent (played by Neal McDonough, recently a role player in “Captain America”). This movie had all the cliché roles, mysterious twists that are both predictable and surprising, even the usual crazy stunts and shootouts through which it’s hard to believe the good guys could survive and ridiculous to think that a bad guy’s aim is that bad. All of that is just the backdrop for what “Red 2” is really all about. The overall creative story of “Red 2” involved Frank and his girlfriend. In the first one, she discovers he was a spy and gets kind of freaked out at first before coming around. This time around, though, Frank is burdened with the task of trying to protect Sarah while trying to do his super secret, highly dangerous (for Sarah only) spy stuff. Sarah wants none of that. In fact, Sarah insists on teaming with the crew and learning how to be a spy herself. This is where the true comedic gold of “Red 2” shines. The interactions between Willis, Malkovich and Parker are heartwarming and ironic, even a bit tongue-in-cheek a couple of times. Marvin is constantly trying to mediate between Frank and Sarah, who are acting like an old married couple as they work out the kinks of their unique relationship. On a side note, why isn’t Mary-Louise Parker more popular and in more movies? She is fantastic. She has a great timing and facial expressiveness to her humor and handles the few heavy dialogue scenes as well as all the over-the-top action scenes smoothly and naturally. She needs to be a more prominent actress. One of her best scenes was when she had to pretend to be standing guard to keep infiltrators out of an area while the rest of the crew searches for the weapon inside this bunker-like facility. While she’s standing guard, though, she gets bored and kind of loses her focus and lazily walks around until random bad guys walk by and she quickly has to shape up and stiffly guard the door again. It was kind of classic comedy, and really enjoyable. The final major new character is the scientist, played by Anthony Hopkins. This was one of Hopkins’ best performances in a long time. His character has been locked in prison for more than three decades because of his involvement with creating this doomsday weapon. Needless to say, he’s lost a little of his touch with reality, or at least how to behave normally. Hopkins gets frantic and skiddish, but comes back to his senses on a dime, leaving those around him a bit confused. Good stuff. The editing of the movie suffices, particularly through a big fight scene with Willis and Lee. There are a couple clever gadgets and tricks present, which are mandatory for good spy movies, though more would've added to the fun. But it's the entire cast that makes "Red 2" far more memorable than your average action flick. 

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Source: RED 2 Facebook
The big news in London? Victoria's back.

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July 25, 2013
Kicking butt and laughing all the while - key components for RED 2
By Mark Haskins EMC St. Lawrence
I've been told the key to enjoying retirement is staying active. Some people take up golf, others turn to gardening while people like Frank (Bruce Willis), Marvin (John Malkovich) and Victoria (Helen Mirren) save the world. Red 2 brings them all back together to kick butt, and make us laugh while they do it.
I suppose there's no real retirement for an exsuperspy. Especially when a top secret document is leaked to the web implicating you in a massive conspiracy. Now every spy agency in the world wants Frank, Marvin, and by association Sarah (Mary Louis Parker), dead. It all comes back to a job Frank and Marvin did a long time ago dubbed Nightshade. The problem is Frank and Marvin have no idea what Nightshade is. What's worse, Sarah has been just itching to mix things up again, and Marvin has been encouraging her.
As Frank, Marvin and Sarah try to dodge the CIA, MI6, the Russians and one very angry assassin called Han (Lee Byung-hun ) they have to figure out what Nightshade is. Fortunately they have Victoria on their side, and one of Frank's old flames, Katja (Catherine Zeta-Jones), lends a hand. It's just another game of spy versus spy where no can be trusted, and the fate of the world is at stake.
Red 2 has some very slick car chases, fight scenes and gun play. There's also some very funny one-liners, dialogue, and gags. It's the perfect blend of action and comedy, but what really makes it worth seeing is the cast.
Willis, Malkovich, Mirren, and Parker have tremendous chemistry together. They play off each other brilliantly never missing a beat. These characters are dangerous, nasty individuals, but it's Willis, Malkovich, Mirren and Parker who make them so unbelievably cool and hilariously funny. I don't think anyone else could pull it off the way they do.
Of course they do manage to add a few members to the cast who fit right in. Catherine Zeta-Jones stepped into the role of the femme fatal perfectly, and Lee Byung-hun is the ideal candidate to play a lethal and overly aggressive assassin. They easily pulled off the whole super spy thing, but more importantly they could deliver the one-liners along with everyone else.
Anthony Hopkins also joins in the fun as Dr. Bailey a mad scientist whose specialty is mass destruction. Without giving too much away Hopkins steals the show with a performance that is absolute genius.
It isn't often that a sequel is able to capture the magic that made the first film so much fun, but in this case there's no question they've done it again. Red 2 is all kinds of fun and a great summer film.
Mark Haskins' column is a regular feature of the EMC.

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Source: Nate





ⓒ 2013 Summit Entertainment, LLC. All rights reserved.

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ⓒ 2013 Summit Entertainment, LLC. All rights reserved.

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July 26, 2013
Source: NESCAFÉ Korea Facebook
Thanks to mistymorning for the translation <3
Recommending Red the Legend for the movie of the weekend. It has Nescafe's own model, Lee Byung-Hun. It's cool summer action block buster with Bruce Willis, Catherine Zeta-Jones and other legendary actors/actresses.
Please enjoy your weekend with the our choice of the movie, Red the Legend

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Source: RED 2 Facebook
Never leave home without the RPG.

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Source: RED 2 Facebook
He’ll travel the world and back to take them down.

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Source: RED 2 Facebook
There’s a world to save. LIKE if you’re seeing RED this weekend!

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Source: RED 2 Facebook
What happens in the Kremlin stays in the Kremlin.

[Ernie]

I seen RED before and I found it interesting. I hope RED 2 is interesting too.

[Guest jollibee]

epic...red is extremely epic!!!

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Source: RED 2 Facebook
You’ll never see her coming.

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Source: RED 2 Facebook
Frank isn't your average tourist.

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Source: RED 2 Facebook
A killer shopping trip.

[Guest soleil4177]

I was supposed to watch this over the weekend. BUt the lines were too long! I gave up.Anyway, I'll try tomorrow. 

[Guest Courtknee]

I saw an early screening and it was VERY funny. I liked it a lot more than the first one. 

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August 5, 2013
China's Bona Film Slate Includes 'Red 2,' 'Mortal Instruments'
by Clifford Coonan THR
CEO Yu Dong predicts "2013 will become Bona's best-ever year at the box office."
Yu Dong, founder and CEO of Bona Film Group, has unveiled an updated slate for the remainder of this year and for the first half of next year and said he expects 2013 to be a record year for the company at the box office.
"Given the diversity of our releases for the second half of the year and our strong distribution capability, we believe 2013 will become Bona's best-ever year at the box office," said Yu.
Bona is the only Chinese studio on the Nasdaq Stock Market, and Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox owns a 19.9 percent stake in the company.
Yu also has a bullish outlook for the rest of the year at the Chinese box office."Box office records were broken as Chinese moviegoers drove industry revenue to nearly $1.8 billion in the first half of 2013, and this momentum is expected to accelerate further through the end of the year," he said.
Yu described industry dynamics in investment, production, distribution and exhibition as "favorable" and said the group is expanding its film pipeline, entry into television, expansion of its film financing capabilities and diversification of its business through growth in the theater segment.
"We believe that we can leverage these positive industry trends to support our success both now and in the future by continuing to deliver high-quality films that appeal to wide audiences in a range of genres," Yu said in a statement, which cited a speech he gave at the 2013 Movie Conference last month.
The upgraded slate includes two imports. Red 2, which opened in the United States in mid-July and features Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich and Anthony Hopkins, is scheduled for release in China in September.
Constantin's supernatural fantasy The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones is expected to open in China in the fourth quarter of 2013, once the movie passes censorship.
Aug. 16 sees the release of Unbeatable, directed by Dante Lam and starring Nick Cheung and Eddie Peng. The action film tells the story of two men who find redemption through mixed martial arts.My Lucky Star, a sequel to the hit 2009 film Sophie's Revenge, features Zhang Ziyi and is directed by Dennie Gordon. It is tentatively planned for release in September, around the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival.
The slate will also include Inferno 3D, a Guangzhou-set disaster movie directed by Oxide & Danny Pang and starring Hong Kong actors Sean Lau, Louis Koo and Angelica Lee.
The White Storm (formerly The Cartel War), directed by Benny Chan and again starring Louis Koo and Sean Lau and also featuring Nick Cheung, is expected to open in the fourth quarter.
Coming up in early 2014 is Jacob Cheung's 3D martial arts epic The White-Haired Witch, featuring Fan Bingbing and Huang Xiaoming.
Action drama From Vegas to Macau, directed by Wong Jing and produced by Andrew Lau, focuses on gambling, a topic long taboo in Chinese cinema. It features Hong Kong actors Chow Yun-Fat and Nicholas Tse and mainland actress Jing Tiang. The movie started shooting on Jul. 28.
A timely choice of subject given the current boom in the real estate market is the latest instalment in the Overheard franchise, the corporate action film Overheard 3, produced by Derek Yee, co-directed by Alan Mak and Felix Chong and starring Sean Lau, Louis Koo and Daniel Wu. The film is currently in postproduction.
Also in postproduction is crime drama Sunspot, which is directed by Chinese director Cao Baoping and stars popular mainland Chinese actors Deng Chao, Duan Yihong, Guo Tao and Wang Luodan.

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August 9, 2013
RED 2
by MIKEANDLOR Is This Movie Suitable
While trying to enjoy a nice, quiet life with girlfriend, Sarah, Frank Moses gets drawn into a plot to make him and his friend, Marvin, look like terrorists for trying to smuggle a nuclear weapon into Russia during the Cold War. Meanwhile, Frank’s friend, retired MI6 agent Victoria and his former foe, Han, both accept contracts to kill him; one begrudgingly, the other, not so. With so many people trying to capture or kill them, Frank, Sarah and Marvin must go on the run and find the truth of what is happening before they run out of time.
Is RED 2 appropriate for kids
REVIEW
‘RED 2’, is the sequel to 2010’s ‘RED’, an action comedy movie based on the idea of government agents who are ‘Retired, Extremely Dangerous’. The first movie had a great balance between genuinely funny comedy and exciting action and ‘RED 2’ maintains this balance well. While there are quite a few plot holes and moments which don’t make a great deal of sense, the quality of this movie makes these moments perfectly forgivable. John Malkovich’s performance as Marvin steals the show but each cast member plays their part well, giving a real feeling of friendship and camaraderie which makes the film flow along nicely.
‘RED 2’ is a sequel, however anyone who hasn’t seen the first movie doesn’t need to worry about being left out of the jokes. It may take a little time to get used to the relationships between some of the characters but the characters never become too complicated and once they are established, anyone new to the proceedings will feel just as comfortable with what is happening as those who have followed the exploits of Frank and co before. It is nice to see newcomer to the series, Korean actor Byung-Hun Lee (previously seen in ‘G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra’ and ‘G.I. Joe: Retaliation’), take on a role which calls for both serious acting and comic timing. As Frank and Marvin are both afraid of Han, it stands to reason that he is a very dangerous character and, despite having a few comedy moments, Lee plays it straight, maintaining the danger level that is set during the introduction of his character. There are hallmarks of the old ‘buddy cop’ movies here, in that the action is balanced nicely with characters grating against each other’s nerves, and yet bouncing off one enough with a zest that adds an extra layer of appeal. The action doesn’t get too action-y and the comedy doesn’t get too farcical. Everyone is a winner! Just don’t think too hard about the quickly buzzed over reasons for going to the various locales and enjoy the scenery.
‘RED 2’ isn’t a perfect film but it is great fun with self-effacing comedy performances from actors whose carefully sculpted Hollywood personas rarely allow fans to see other, more entertaining, sides to their personalities. Being involved in the ‘RED’ movies shows that they can laugh at themselves without showboating and this can only be a good thing.
IS ‘RED 2’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?
The character of Jack Horton (played by Neal McDonough) is very violent. He murders people in cold blood by shooting and strangling them. When he first meets Frank, he threatens Sarah by saying that when he watches Sarah shaving her legs in the bathtub, he is reminded of when he saw people being skinned alive, starting at the ankles, just like Sarah. He then threatens to ‘flay (her) alive’.
The character of Han, who is a contract killer, has a violent introduction when he goes to his current target. When he is alone in a room with his target, he makes an origami crane out of paper, ensuring that one of the wings is very sharp and slashes the man’s neck. There is no blood or gore but this moment is quite unexpected and could be a little distressing for younger children. The rest of Han’s scenes fall in line with the rest of the action so he should not be too frightening after his first scene.
When Victoria (played by Helen Mirren) is introduced, there are bodies on the floor of her hotel room.  One man is still alive and gags for breath but Victoria puts her foot on his throat. The camera moves away from the man and he does not make any more noise so, presumably, he is dead. Later, Victoria is sitting by the side of a bathtub while on the phone to Frank. There are legs sticking out of it and she casually pours chemicals into the tub; steam rises from the bodies and although nothing is mentioned in the dialogue, it is clear that she is destroying the bodies.
The rest of the action in this movie is relatively family friendly. There are a few mild mentions in the dialogue to torture although there is one stronger moment where a knife is held near a man’s face and another character says that they will give him a ‘Chechen facelift’ but they are stopped before anything happens. There is also a brief but graphic shot of two men being stabbed in the chest and one of charred bodies sitting in a burning vehicle, however it is made clear that the people in the vehicle were already dead before being burned.
VERDICT
‘RED 2’ is a fantastically directed comedy movie which, other than a few moderate moments of violence, should be suitable for most members of the family. The majority of the violence is dealt with by quick camera cuts and very little blood or gore is seen. There is infrequent, moderate cursing throughout and so, depending on your attitude to bad language, we feel that this movie should be appropriate for kids aged 8 and over, although children who are sensitive to violence may find some of the scenes a little distressing.
Violence: 3/5
Emotional Distress: 2/5 (an established character is seemingly killed towards the beginning of the movie; his friends attend his funeral and become a little emotional)
Fear Factor: 3/5 (the ‘bad’ characters are quite violent and are seen to kill anyone who stands in their way)
Sexual Content: 1/5 (Han is stripped naked and while nothing explicit is seen, not a lot is left to the imagination!)
Bad Language: 3/5 (infrequent but mostly moderate cursing and blasphemy throughout. The term ‘sexting’ is used once, one character says ‘eff off’ and another holds two fingers up to curse at someone else)
Dialogue: 3/5 (mentions of torture, killing, death and suicide pills)
Other notes: Deals with themes of friendship, protecting the people you care about, not underestimating people based on age, the importance in keeping a relationship exciting, doing what is morally right, and judging who to trust.
Words by Laura Record

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September 2, 2013
Red 2 tops Aussie box office
Source: mUmBRELLA

Action comedy sequel Red 2 starring Bruce Willis has taken top honours at the Australian box office over the weekend, its first weekend in the local market.
The Hopscotch/eOne distributed film premiered on 246 screens and took $1,450,315. The distributor also took out second place with Now You See Me making $1,366,459 across 244 screens in its fourth weekend. Elysium, last weekend’s box office topper, slipped back to third place taking $1,324,258 across 280 screens.
Several other films premiered over the weekend including the Steve Jobs biopic Jobs which made just $571,837 on 179 screens and the Morgan Spurlock directed documentary about boy band One Direction, One Direction: This is us, which made $135,418 across 67 screens.