RED 2 - Getting the Band Back Together

The first film of the new year is the sequel to the comedy\thriller adaption of local hero Warren Ellis' comic book. Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) is trying to settle down with his new girlfriend Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker), but his former life intrudes in the form of a mad scientist (Anthony Hopkins) and a foxy counter-intelligence agent (Catherine Zeta-Jones).

While not quite as good as the original film, this is an entertaining two hours with lots of bangs and crashes. Willis plays to his strengths; Parker is her usual sparky self, especially when confronted with Zeta-Jones as Frank's former flame; the supporting cast is good, with Mirren and Cox enjoying themselves again, John Malkovich typecasting and Hopkins trying not to be Hanibal Lecter. Byung-hun Lee is also good as Frank's supposed nemesis, and Neal McDonough takes a break from Mob City to be a ruthless government agent. The plot lacks a little substance and the dialog could have done with sharpening, but, as sequels go, it isn't nearly as bad as the Expandables 2.

McDonough is also in The Prototype, a thriller based on the notion of the singularity, a concept talked about by the London Futurists quite a bit.

Looks like fun!

Looper

Continuing the Summer of Cinema, I got this through my LoveFilm subscription. In a dystopian future, an assassin (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), or Looper of the title, finds himself in trouble with his employers when his future self (Bruce Willis) outwits him.

Not a bad movie, if a little over long for my taste. Gordon-Levitt spends most of the movie hanging around a farm looking at a loss for something to do, while Bruce Willis does his thing and shoots up the rest of the cast. One particular pleasure, though, is Gordon-Levitt's impression of Bruce Willis. Given Willis's limited range, I couldn't see them doing it the other way around.

The problem with the plot is that it exhibits a twist on the Grandfather paradox, which states that time travel does not work because if it does, you could go back in time and kill your own Grandfather before your father was born, thus preventing your birth and preventing you going back in time and killing your own Grandfather. In Looper, you can't forsee the future in such a way that you can change it and thus prevent yourself seeing the future.

Sorry. Just got a bit carried away there. You enjoy the movie and don't try to get your head around all the time-travel stuff. Otherwise, you'll end up trying to figure out Primer.

The Expendables 2

I'm afraid so. The Expandables are back. Think of it as me performing a public service: I watch it so you don't have to.

How bad is it? Chuck Norris tells jokes; Jeanclaudevandamme tries desperately to be really mean, and not to laugh at the same time; Bruce Willis and Arnold try to out-badly-act each other and get beaten by Sly; everyone looks either embarrassed or bored (Jet Li was so embarrassed, he left after ten minutes). Unlike the last movie, even being teeth-grindingly awful can't save it, and it didn't work then.

I'm not saying "Don't watch it", but if you do, I did warn you.