BETTER RED THAN A LOT OF OTHER MOVIES
Over the hill but back in the game for another spy-filled romp
They refuse to retire. And thank the ageless Almighty they don’t, because quite frankly, the world would end without them.
Those boomer warhorses not only pull the cart of commerce up and down the hill daily, they’re often responsible for keeping world peace, as Red 2 proves a couple of times over.
That’s because our heroes are all “over the hill” as far as standard Hollywood rules go, and therefore perfectly suited to embody the modern outlaw, and what remains the Woodstock-forged representation of a generation.
Take Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) as a case in point. Frank used to be a loyal soldier to the American cause in the days of the Cold War, but he’s felt a little lost ever since the threat of nuclear Armageddon was neatly replaced by terrorist threats from the Middle East.
His belief in the institutions around him is starting to crumble, but when he gets a request from an old colleague (John Malkovich) to get back in the game to save the world one more time, Frank agrees — but only because he still believes in doing what’s “right.”
This largely unspoken moral line is what separates the good from the bad in this movie from director Dean Parisot (Galaxy Quest). Interestingly, it’s also what tends to separate the older generation from the younger.
At least, that’s the way Parisot sets the point on his compass as he pits a cast of middle-aged marquee stars against a group of new school profiteers and a youthful martial arts assassin.
The yarn kicks off when news of an active Cold War weapon of mass destruction surfaces on WikiLeaks. The U.S. doesn’t want to take responsibility for the weapon, but it does want to get it back — which involves getting information from its old spies.
By the time they get around to Frank, it’s clear the G in G-men doesn’t stand for “good.”
If Frank is going to stop the baddies from getting their hands on the goods, he’s going to need help from his old enemies — including his old dance partner, Katja (Catherine Zeta-Jones), his Russian counterpart.
The older covert operatives still work according to a code. They kill lots of people. But they draw the line at vaporizing a city and because of that, they have to work together to save the day.
We know they are old spies. We know they are cranky, but we also know they can get the job done, which means we can like them without hesitation because when that car door opens going 100 km/h, we know they’re going to jump in and spray bullets in all the right directions.
It’s the highest of fantasy, but it’s been a boomer staple ever since the Lone Ranger’s silhouette landed on a lunch box, and it will continue to define a particular era and genre of entertainment because it’s so digestible.
Parisot could have gone to town on some of the darker elements and done something truly inspired with the material. Given he made Galaxy Quest, perhaps the funniest satire ever made, there’s no doubt he had the depth of wit to pull off a dissection of innate narcissism.
Yet, Red 2 never gets too angry. In fact, the movie has that slightly syncopated, and roundly blunted, feel of being on mood-altering medication. The jokes feel offbeat and a little transparent. The performances are fine for the most part, but frequently veer into pastiche. And the general pacing and plot feel mechanical as we trudge from place to place for some staged action sequence.
It’s like watching two hours of Charlie’s Angels — as played by the Golden Girls. Now, some viewers may find that entire notion entirely unappealing, but if you even get the references, chances are you’ll be curious — if not downright turned on by the idea of seeing Helen Mirren unload both barrels through the open doors of a drifting Lotus, silver hair sailing around her head in slow-mo. Truth be told: Nobody does it better, and it makes me feel sad for the rest. But in the movies, boomers save the world best.