This happens with sequels.  A studio catches lightning in a bottle, makes money, tries to duplicate formula and gets mixed but disappointing results. That seems to be the biggest problem with “RED 2”, starring Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, and Helen Mirren.

Everyone is back, which is good I guess. But they don’t seem to be having as much fun. Maybe it’s the plot, which involves Marvin (Malkovich) trying to convince Frank (Willis) their lives are in danger when they are framed for something to do with an old weapon program during the cold war.

So once they are on the run, they have to drag Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker) along, because all she is doing is complaining she wants a gun and wants something to do. This is precisely what kills this movie. Too many characters and not enough for them to do.

This is the problem with sequels. The studio — or filmmakers, whomever you want to blame — tend to not get what worked so well in the original. “RED” was a surprise hit in 2010 because it had a fresh dose of originality injected with some over the top action. The same writers from the original return but that originality is gone and because of that, the actors look…bored.

Except Helen Mirren. She is a bad ass.

Dean Parisot takes over the director’s chair but whatever energy he manages to infuse, is bogged down by a script that feels like forced redundancy. For every original moment during an action sequence, there at least two winks or nods to the last movie, a constant “hey, remember when we did that and it was cool?”.

Ready my full movie review for RED 2 at Examiner.com

Release date: July 19, 2013

Directed by: Dean Parisot

Written by: Jon Hoeber and Erich Hoeber

Starring: Bruce Willis, John Malkovich,Helen Mirren, Byung-hun Lee, Mary Louis-Parker, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Anthony Hopkins

Theatrical trailer for RED 2:

Photo and trailer property of Summit Entertainment