RED2 is a lot of fun

Having set the scene and established the main characters in RED in 2010, the sequel RED2 gets off to a quick start and never relents. It is very much more of the same and that's exactly what I expected and wanted.

The plot is much the same too with the authorities out to kill the Retired and Extremely Dangerous agents. This time this includes the authorities in Russia and England, and there's a detour to Paris too.

We lost one of the heroes in RED when the Morgan Freeman character was killed, but all the others are back and this time they have to content with Catherine Zeta-Jones as a Russia agent from Bruce Willis' past and Anthony Hopkins as a mad English inventor of WMDs.

Bruce Willis is calm and assured while John Malkovich is delightfully eccentric and this time he continually frustrates Willis by teaching his girlfriend some of the tricks of the agent's trade; she's keen to join the gang while he wants to keep her out of it and safe.

Helen Mirren threatens to steal the show at times and features in some of the film's nicest moments, including one that pays homage to her roles as the Queen. The shooting from within a speeding Lotus is cool but the bit that I liked the most was when she was on the phone and calmly disposing of some bodies at the same time.

The plot bounces along nicely and twists in several directions to maintain interest. But what really makes the film are all the little touches in the characters, the dialogue and the action. It is an absolute blast and I laughed with delight all the way through.

Now to pre-order the DVD.