After having recently watched "Expendables 3", which resembles RED 2 in that it features quite a few older, very well known actors and a lot of action, I was worried that this sequel would fall short of the original, too. However, my worries were unfounded because where Expendables does most things wrong, RED 2 was, while a little predictable, very fun to watch and I can recommend it wholeheartedly!

As expected, there is a lot of action from start to finish: Moses (Willis) and Boggs (Malkovich) are hunted because of their involvement in a top-secret mission in Russia during the cold war. Every major secret service (MI6, the Russians, CIA) is after them and a deadly device codenamed Nightshade, which the US scientist Bailey (Hopkins) developed and planted somewhere in Russia. However, only Bailey knows where exactly Nightshade is, but he is imprisoned in a high-security facility in London. After freeing him with the help of Victoria (Mirrer), who double-crossed the MI6 by doing so, the three set out for Moscow to retrieve Nightshade. There, only with the help of Katja (Zeta-Jones), a former lover of Moses and now high-ranking Russian military, they can evade capture by the Russian forces inside the Kremlin. When trying to leave the country with Nightshade, it turns out that Bailey made a deal with the CIA and thereby betrays Moses and Boggs and kills Katja. In another double-crossing, Bailey also kills the men from the CIA and plans to detonate Nightshade, an undetectable nuclear bomb, in London. Only the last-minute intervention by Boggs, Moses and his girlfriend Sarah (Parker) stops the catastrophe and they can detonate Nightshade in a plane with only Bailey on board. Throughout all this, a Korean professional killer tries to eliminate Moses, which adds additional entertainment.

Because of the interesting plot, which never gets boring thanks to the various plot twists and double-crossings, the good acting by all the lead actors (especially compared to the performance of the actors of Expendables 3, see above) and funny details, anecdotes as well as punchlines (Boggs stages his own funeral, Sarah is furiously jealous of Katja, Baileys has drug-induced senility and so much more) this sequel makes as want to watch more from the "retired but extremely dangerous" crew of ex-secrete agents!

This movie was a clear example of when studios can't get enough of a good thing. Red didn't need a sequel at all. This cheap attempt at recreating the comedic magic that the the first movie had reminded me plenty of the overkill series of the Hangover. Some things should just be left alone in singular existence. 2/5 Stars is all this got from me.

Way better then the first. Way more action too and explosions. This one is hilarious too. It needs a part 3 now.