One of the most interesting panels the hubs and I attended at San Diego Comic-Con in 2010 was the RED panel. Not the one with the actors and such, but with the writers. Needless to say, it was held in a much smaller room, but it was great because both the scriptwriters and one of the originators of the comic were there.

The hubs asked if adapting a graphic novel for the screen was easy, because it was essentially already storyboarded. I don’t remember which Hoeber brother, Jon or Erich, gave this answer, but basically they said that you couldn’t take a graphic novel panel for panel and transform it into a movie, because it wouldn’t work and would feel wrong onscreen. You had to find one thing — the core image — and build around that. The core image they had for RED? Helen Mirren with a sniper rifle.

I heard that and knew I had to see RED, and I wasn’t disappointed. It’s a favorite, and I just rewatched it in preparation for seeing RED 2. So, what’s the core image for me for RED 2?

Helen Mirren shooting out of both side windows of the Lotus Byung-hun Lee has in a high-speed spin. In other words, it’s RED, but taken up to 11. And I loved every minute of it.

As with the first RED, and Ocean’s 11, 12, and 13, this is a smart, funny, action-packed movie with a lot more twists and turns than you’re expecting. The cast is in top-notch form, and they continue to inhabit these characters as real people — there were no glitches in character between the first movie and this one.

A few months have passed since the events in RED and Frank (Bruce Willis) is trying to protect Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker). Marvin (John Malkovich) comes to warn them and even though Sarah’s gung-ho to get back into the action game, Frank’s desperate to keep her safe. Naturally events don’t allow that, which is good because I love Sarah — she’s spunky and fun and real. It’s clear that since she’s met Frank it’s been the best time of her life, in part because of the danger and excitement. She’s the “normal” person thrust into this world who adapts because she’s smart, adventurous, and brave.

Han (Byung-hun Lee), the best assassin for hire around, and Victoria (Helen Mirren) are hired and ordered, respectively, to kill Frank and anyone helping him. Katja (Catherine Zeta-Jones) — who is mentioned though never seen in RED, btw — is supposed to bring Frank over to Russia and get what he knows. Horton (Neal McDonough) is a brutal sadistic government agent who’s also trying to kill Frank and Marvin, and anyone in the way, for information they don’t think they have.

On top of this, they have to spring a long-term psychiatric patient, deal with information and arms dealers, fool an entire Iranian embassy, MI:6, and the C.I.A., and infiltrate the Kremlin. All while schooling all those people who insist on thinking older means dead, stupid, incompetent, or just has-been.

I loved this movie. There’s a totally gratuitous and completely appreciated nude scene with Byung-hun Lee that’s worth the price of admission alone (that is one FINE looking man). However, the rest of the movie is equally awesome. The same old gang (pun totally intended) is back, with some new additions. The jokes are funny, the action scenes are exciting, and the twists are both intelligent and surprising. I spotted no continuity issues either within this film or between it and RED — in fact, there are continuity links, so while you won’t need to watch RED before you see RED 2, you’ll “get” a few of those obscure continuity references if you do. And besides, it’s just more of Frank, Marvin, Sarah, Victoria and the rest. But the few first-timers in the audience had no issue following the plot and the characters, so if you just can’t wait, don’t — go see RED 2 right away.

Warning for parents of younger kids and those who are violence-averse: There is a LOT of violence, and you see people die, so heed the PG-13 rating.

Rating: A+