Bruce Willis, Brian Cox, Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman, Mary-Louise Parker and John Malkovich constitute a pretty impressive cast in anybody's book, so it's little wonder, really, that shoot-em-up comedy movie Red was a hit in 2010. The big-screen adaptation of Warren Ellis' graphic novel about a group of ex-CIA agents dragged out of retirement was played for laughs, the on-screen banter as enjoyable to watch as it must have been to deliver.
For the sequel, (HBO, Saturday, 10pm) - surely a fraction of the trillions of dollars floating around Hollywood could be used to pay someone to come up with more inventive titles! - Freeman is the only no-show, mainly because his character took one for the team in the original. But the void is amply filled by Anthony Hopkins, Lee Byung-hun and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
While having a second stab at domestic bliss, former spy Frank Moses (Willis) is pulled back into the fray when a crazy ex-colleague (Malkovich, on fine comedic form once again) is blown up in his car and Moses realises he and his partner (Parker) could be next.
Upon discovering that everyone is out to kill them, thanks to a polite, pre-assassination phone call from an old ally (Mirren), Moses' only hope is to clear his name by tracking down a document linking him to a cold war-era project called Nightshade. His search leads him to an insane scientist (Hopkins, delivering a mild-mannered Hannibal Lecter) through a hail of explosions and a swamp of deadpan humour.
Red 2 follows the same formula as its predecessor, the over-the-top comic book action blending well with the snappy dialogue, but with a lazy, jumbled storyline, it doesn't feel as fresh or as charming as the original.
Nevertheless, if it's simple, escapist fun you're after, then look no further.