The Playlist Review: ‘Red 2’

The Playlist;

“Red 2” begins with a cool comic book-style credits sequence, paying a short homage to its Warren Ellis-penned roots. Too short, in fact. Just as we’re starting to get into the warmly hued titles, we’re thrown headlong into the live-action, high-stakes world of retired government agents…shopping at Costco. The film has numerous issues, but the most distracting is the inconsistent bursts of stylized animations, buried between unimaginative shots and sequences. They serve as setting transitions, announcing our heroes’ arrival in Hong Kong and Paris, but they’re oddly skipped when the former spies land in London and Teterboro. Well, we understand the lack of fanfare for the New Jersey town, but London? “Red” helmer Robert Schwentke was apparently too busy directing “R.I.P.D.” to make the follow-up, so Dean Parisot makes an unremarkable return with his first feature since 2005’s “Fun with Dick and Jane.”