Red 2 parents guide

Red 2 Parent Guide

While these actors do their best to convince us that aging CIA agents can hold their own, most older audience members would do better to sit back and accept this film as geriatric fantasy.

Overall C

Former CIA Agent Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) is trying to retire -- again. But his hopes of a quieter life are scuttled once more when his past colleagues (Helen Mirren, John Malkovich) draw him back into the action of the assassination business.

Release date July 19, 2013

Violence D
Sexual Content B-
Profanity C-
Substance Use C

Why is Red 2 rated PG-13? The MPAA rated Red 2 PG-13 for pervasive action and violence including frenetic gunplay, and for some language and drug material.

Run Time: 116 minutes

Official Movie Site

Parent Movie Review

Despite their graying heads and advancing years, the retired CIA agents in Red 2 can still outshoot, outsmart and outlast legions of much younger, armed and highly trained attackers. Based on comic book characters, the movie reunites Frank Moses (Bruce Willis), Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich) and Victoria Winters (Helen Mirren) after a WikiLeaks report links them to a nuclear bomb hidden somewhere in Russia.

The weapon’s creator, Dr. Edward Bailey (Anthony Hopkins) is locked up deep inside a heavily guarded CIA prison. But that doesn’t stop the three spies and Frank’s much younger girlfriend (Mary-Louise Parker) from waltzing into the facility as easily as they would a Costco. (Wait! At Costco you at least have to show picture ID.)

Victoria and Frank finally make it to Bailey’s inner cell wearing white coats and stethoscopes, but not before they’ve mowed down a dozen or so innocent office staff members and security guards. Supposedly a lifetime of rampant killing has hardened these agents who now prefer a take-no-prisoners approach to obstacles. With Bailey’s help, the foursome manages to steal the concealed bomb right out from under the noses of Frank’s former Russian girlfriend Katja (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and the Kremlin military. Still, they aren’t the only ones interested in retrieving the deadly device.

Guns blaze constantly in this action film with countless bodies piling up by the time the credits roll. However death by shooting isn’t the only method employed by these characters. Strangulation, stabbing, suffocation, grenades and origami (yes, origami) are also used to cut lives short. And punching, kicking, spiders and large wrenches are used to rough up people. Of course all of this mayhem occurs with tongue-in-cheek humor. On one hand this comedic atmosphere lessens the severity of the endless stream of killings. Yet there is something disturbing about laughing at these senseless murders—particularly when Dr. Bailey nonchalantly picks off incapacitated U.S. soldiers who have done nothing wrong other than to fulfill their duty.

Although the characters in this story are apparently too old for on-screen sexual activity, Frank and his girlfriend Sarah canoodle between shootings. And a few couples, including old flames and complete strangers, exchange some pretty passionate kisses.

Aimed at a demographic that will find Willis’ bald head beautiful and Mirren’s gray hair charming, Red 2 may be hard-pressed to lure teens into the theater. And that’s okay. While these actors (and their stunt people) do their best to convince viewers that aging CIA agents can hold their own on the frontlines of crime, most older audience members would do better to sit back and accept this film for what it is—geriatric fantasy.

Directed by Dean Parisot. Starring Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich, Anthony Hopkins. Running time: 116 minutes. Theatrical release July 19, 2013. Updated

Red 2
Rating & Content Info

Why is Red 2 rated PG-13? Red 2 is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for pervasive action and violence including frenetic gunplay, and for some language and drug material.

Violence: A car explodes in a store parking lot. A man pokes a corpse with a corsage pin. Office workers are shot and killed at close range. Characters are repeatedly fired upon. Other characters are killed with bullets, explosives, heavy objects, a grenade and strangulation. Characters are slashed with a paper sword, punched, beaten, kicked, slapped, and choked. Some bloody injuries are seen. One man is kidnapped and tortured with poisonous spiders. Dead bodies are seen lying around in numerous scenes. A woman pours caustic acid on a man in a tub and also talks about having dead bodies in her freezer. Terrorists attempt to buy weapons. A man attacks a rider and steals his motorcycle. A man is hit in the chest with an electroshock weapon. A man attempts to choke a woman with a wire weapon. A man shoots characters incapacitated by nerve gas. Characters use knives, explosives, a wrench, chairs and other heavy objects as weapons.

Sexual Content: A couple kisses and embraces. Other couples exchange passionate kisses. Some brief buttock nudity is seen when a man is forced to undress at a security scanner. Mild sexual references and crude sexual innuendo are included in the script, along with depictions of fecal matter and other crude bodily functions.

Language: The script contains a partial strong sexual expletive along with infrequent profanities, scatological slang, vulgar expressions and terms of Deity. Some crude name-calling and anatomical terms are used as well as a rude, foreign hand gesture.

Alcohol / Drug Use: Characters drink wine frequently. A reference is made to illegal drug use. A character is drugged with something in his drink.

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Red 2 Parents' Guide

Does an aging population of Yuppies make a film about older characters more likely to find an audience? What opportunities do these scripts give to aging actors? What talents and experience do these performers bring to the big screen?

Sarah proves to be the weakest link in this foursome. How does she grow in her capacity to contribute to the team? How does her innocence about the danger they are facing make her more eager to be involved?

How does this film’s comedic attitude make the storyline feel less serious? Is there danger in showing these kinds of violent depictions in a humorous way? Would this storyline have played as well if it took itself very seriously?

Home Video

The most recent home video release of Red 2 movie is November 26, 2013. Here are some details…

Home Video Notes: Red 2

Release Date: 26 November 2013

Red 2  is releasing to home video (Blu-ray/DVD/Ultraviolet Digital Copy) with the following extras:

-The Red 2 Experience” behind-the-scenes featurette

-Deleted Scenes

-Gag Reel

Related home video titles:

This movie is the sequel to the 2010 movie Red. Bruce Willis plays another aging lawman in A Good Day to Die Hard. Other characters that refuse to settle down despite their age are depicted in the films The World’s Fastest Indian, Rocky Balboa and Secondhand Lions.

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