film criticism by maryann johanson | celebrating 25 years: 1997–2022
A “family” comedy about nuclear terrorism, the incompetent CIA agent on the case, and his 9-year-old sidekick. Desperately unfunny, thoroughly misjudged. We are in the worst and the dumbest timeline.
Have you been paying attention to what the movies have been saying — what the movies have really been saying — all summer? Here’s a refresher.
I sat right up when he showed up in Red 2. Because, damn, he’s pretty.
Smart, breezy spy action, with an of-the-moment vibe that takes it post-post-9/11 and into the Wikileaks era of global politics.
Or The Heat. Or White House Down. Or Grown Ups 2. This is because these films don’t open in the U.K. for weeks and weeks still.
This is the minimum we are owed. If Hollywood would rather make sequels than tell new stories, those sequels had sure as hell better be damn good.
