Red 2
Screening Dates:
Sat 7 September 8:15pm
Thu 12 September 6:15pm
Mon 16 September 11:00am
The screening on Mon 16 September is Parent And Baby
Director: Dean Parisot
Starring: Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich, Anthony Hopkins
In this sequel to 2010’s comic-book inspired action comedy, ‘black ops’ agent Frank Moses (Willis) begrudgingly quits retirement after learning that Interpol wants his scalp, a nuclear device has gone missing, and that it might even be primed – events that are not entirely unrelated.
Reprimanded by his world-weary pensions caseworker Sarah Ross (Mary Louise-Parker, Howl), Frank is reunited with his motley team of ageing operatives, including the vicious Victoria (Mirren) and arch conspiracy theorist Marvin (Malkovich). He soon finds himself knee-deep in Cold War mayhem, much of it involving two decidedly volatile characters from his past, played with great relish by Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Parisot (Fun With Dick And Jane) takes on the directorial role for this thoroughly boisterous display of middle-aged oddballs behaving badly. Very badly.
Critic: Anna Smith
Date: 2013-07-30
Publication: Time Out
Quote: Ultimately, it's popcorn nihilism without the big laughs that helped distract from the casual approach to life and death in 'Red'.
Critic: Mick LaSalle
Date: 2013-07-22
Publication: San Francisco Chronicle
Quote: This is a likable, almost gentle comedy and also a violent action film about the possibility of a nuclear bomb going off in a major city.
Critic: Christopher Orr
Date: 2013-07-19
Publication: The Atlantic
Quote: Willis is self-evidently capable of kicking the asses of men considerably younger than himself. But at some point shouldn't he consider an alternative pastime?
Critic: Lisa Kennedy
Date: 2013-07-19
Publication: Denver Post
Quote: Ridiculously action-packed and just as endearing, Red 2 is why we go to sequels despite our well-earned cynicism about studios churning them out.
Critic: Peter Rainer
Date: 2013-07-19
Publication: Christian Science Monitor
Quote: It's nice to see oldsters cavorting in kaboom movies, but a little of this stuff goes a long way.
Critic: James Rocchi
Date: 2013-07-19
Publication: MSN Movies
Quote: What's interesting about 'RED 2' is that, not only is it better than its predecessor, it is miles better ...
Critic: William Goss
Date: 2013-07-19
Publication: Film.com
Quote: What was once engagingly silly is now much closer to insultingly dumb.
Critic: Owen Gleiberman
Date: 2013-07-19
Publication: Entertainment Weekly
Quote: The best thing about RED 2, like its predecessor, is its lightness of tone. Too many movies with comic-book roots come on too seriously, even when the comics themselves have a loose, fast, jocular wit about them.
Critic: Keith Uhlich
Date: 2013-07-19
Publication: Time Out New York
Quote: As in the first film, the seasoned-pro cast provides the few fleeting pleasures to be found.
Critic: Adam Nayman
Date: 2013-07-19
Publication: Globe and Mail
Quote: It's quite possible that Helen Mirren has never had to speak such terrible dialogue in her life.
Critic: Stephen Whitty
Date: 2013-07-19
Publication: Newark Star-Ledger
Quote: Recycled, Expensive, Dull.
Critic: Stephanie Merry
Date: 2013-07-18
Publication: Washington Post
Quote: Sequels are, for the most part, inherently stale, so it's no shock the luster has faded in "Red 2." The bigger surprise is just how clunky and unsatisfying this follow-up feels.
Critic: Nicolas Rapold
Date: 2013-07-18
Publication: New York Times
Quote: Cars careen, lazily written infiltration plans are executed, and the violence is plentiful and toothless.
Critic: Betsy Sharkey
Date: 2013-07-18
Publication: Los Angeles Times
Quote: If everyone delivered their lines with the rat-a-tat-tat precision of Malkovich, Mirren and Hopkins, the studio might have had a better movie on its hands.
Critic: Kyle Smith
Date: 2013-07-18
Publication: New York Post
Quote: How bad could the boneyard be compared to sitting through this execrable piece of non-entertainment? Better dead than "RED 2."
Critic: David Hiltbrand
Date: 2013-07-18
Publication: Philadelphia Inquirer
Quote: Enemies and allies have changed sides so many times so randomly, that you're not sure who's fighting whom or why. You just know they all look a little old to be engaged in this sort of reckless behavior.
Critic: Scott Bowles
Date: 2013-07-18
Publication: USA Today
Quote: Passable summer entertainment - an Expendables with people who can act.
Critic: Joe Morgenstern
Date: 2013-07-18
Publication: Wall Street Journal
Quote: Any movie that gives Helen Mirren a chance to shoot really big guns, wear an ermine astrakhan and channel Bette Davis as Queen Elizabeth can't be all bad, and "Red 2" isn't, though it comes close.
Critic: Rafer Guzman
Date: 2013-07-18
Publication: Newsday
Quote: "RED 2" stands quite sturdily on its own as a caper comedy whose stars just happen to be approaching 50, 60 and even 70 years old.
Critic: Colin Covert
Date: 2013-07-18
Publication: Minneapolis Star Tribune
Quote: It's utter drivel coasting by on slick proficiency (at 100 miles an hour).
