'Red 2' review: Hopkins steals the show

Mary-Louise Parker, Bruce Willis (center) and John Malkovich play characters who find plenty of action in "Red 2," a likable action comedy. Photo: Summit Entertainment2013

Action. Starring Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren and Mary-Louise Parker. Directed by Dean Parisot. (PG-13. 116 minutes.)

About halfway through "Red 2," in the midst of all the laughs and action, suddenly Anthony Hopkins shows up, and he doesn't care one bit that nobody is going to notice his acting in a movie like this. He's going for the Oscar anyway.

As a scientist who has been locked up by an intelligence agency for 31 years - he was such a genius at creating bombs he was deemed too dangerous to be let loose - Hopkins plays several varieties of nut simultaneously. A jovial nut. A scary nut. A nut who thinks he's only pretending to be nuts, etc.

But here's the beautiful thing: Sometimes if you take a genuinely great actor and put him in an outlandish role, he'll make psychological sense of that role while in no way reining in the crazy. Give him something big, and he'll give you something great. This is what Hopkins does in "Red 2."

The movie is what you might expect. Like every other cinematic extravaganza these days, it's a light entertainment about the threat of annihilation - fine on its own terms, and Hopkins is just one actor in it. Yet what an unexpected find, a performance that shows the invention, playfulness and quickness of mind that we associate with this actor at his best.

As in 2010's "Red," the sequel is about old CIA agents who find that, every time they think they're out, something pulls them back in. In this case, it's a secret from the past: A top-secret operation that went disastrously wrong in 1979 looks as though it soon might be exposed.

Even worse, there are people so intent on keeping it secret that they're willing to kill everyone ever connected with the mission, and among these are - no surprise - Bruce Willis and John Malkovich as Frank and Marvin, respectively, best friends and CIA partners for decades.

As the movie starts, Frank is retired and settling into domesticity with his corn-fed Kansas girlfriend, Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker), and their screen relationship is a fun component of the movie: He wants to settle down, but she wants action.

Willis is the anchor of the film, the effortless leading man, the guy we're so willing to watch that we almost take him for granted, so easy is his command of the medium. And Parker is a big part of the movie's fun, playing Sarah as instinctive and clueless and yet always watching and thinking.

"Red 2" maintains a tone throughout that allows for the possibility of truly horrible things happening. There's violence and death at every turn, and the threat of something worse - something nuclear - gives the movie urgency. At the same time, there's a light quality about it, not cartoony, but of a comedy grounded in character, and the weird combination somehow works: This is a likable, almost gentle comedy and also a violent action film about the possibility of a nuclear bomb going off in a major city.

The movie has odd turns and surprises and always keeps moving, except at one point when the story hits a snag. It comes about an hour in, when the good guys and the despised bad guys both find themselves working on the same side, only they don't know it. This state of affairs goes on for only about 10 or 15 minutes (until a new villain emerges), but in that time the air goes out of the balloon. "Red 2" does regain its footing, but that's a major flaw in the design.

Malkovich is the comedian to Willis' straight man and has some of the best lines. Catherine Zeta-Jones shows up playing a Russian agent, looking even more stunning than she did at age 22, which, for the record, was 21 years ago. So between Hopkins and Zeta-Jones, "Red 2" is a very good movie for the Welsh.

How do you say ‘Wolverine’ in Japanese?

Hugh Jackman’s mutant hero Logan in “The Wolverine.”

What’s a roughneck, rage-prone Canadian superhero doing kicking around eminently cultured Japan? “The Wolverine” will offer some answers when it hits theaters on Friday, as Hugh Jackman returns yet again as the “X-Men” fan favorite, a.k.a. Logan. Incredibly, the Australian star is now a seven-time veteran of the role, if you include next year’s “X-Men: Days of Future Past” and his wry, three-word cameo in “X-Men: First Class.” There’s also the obvious reasoning that if the X-franchise is getting stale — some snarked that the disappointing “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” (2009) felt like “X-Men 4” — maybe dropping the lead into a fresh setting can help. The recent Blu-ray reissue of another franchise with an Aussie pedigree reminds us how spectacularly a bold scenery change can work: Mel Gibson’s “Mad Max” exploits got a wild, post-apocalyptic makeover for “The Road Warrior,” and a global sensation was born.

The principal explanation for the new movie’s Asian fusion, though, lies with a three-decade-old comics story line that’s required reading for Wolverine obsessives, even if the studio hype machine isn’t particularly pushing the connection.

Published in 1982, Marvel Comics’ four-issue miniseries “Wolverine” marked the character’s first solo outing — and detailed Logan’s surprising affinity for Japan, where he journeys to unravel a noirish mystery involving his comics soulmate, Mariko. The series was scripted by Chris Claremont, the writer arguably most responsible for setting the X-Men on the road to eventual marquee status. The artist was Frank Miller, who’d later achieve mainstream recognition as creator of “Batman: The Dark Knight Returns,” “Sin City,” and “300.”

In an essay for a “Wolverine” collected edition, Claremont recalled cooking up the story with Miller during a long drive back from appearing at Comic-Con, in San Diego — still a cult-level affair back in those days. (How times change — now they could probably just hitch a ride on some studio’s private jet, and reach their destination before you could say “brainstorm.”) First introduced in 1974, Wolverine had an unfamiliar berserker edginess that made him a breakout hit with “X-Men” readers. But Claremont itched to try something different with the mutant hero: casting him as a failed samurai. For samurai, Claremont wrote, “every facet, every moment of their lives, is absolutely under control. Wolverine, however, is almost a primal life force, totally beyond control, as graceless as can be.” He’d be a walking juxtaposition, struggling to keep those adamantium claws in check and conduct himself by an ancient code of honor.

You’d imagine that Miller was doing more than just listening to this, nodding, and taking notes. The rising artist had already displayed something of a fixation on ninja mystique in his breakout work on Marvel’s “Daredevil,” establishing that the hero had been trained by a sensei, and giving him a torturous love interest in ninja-schooled Elektra. (Recall Jennifer Garner’s 2005 “Elektra” flick — or not.) Post-“Wolverine,” Miller would ramp up for “The Dark Knight Returns” with his cyberpunk series “Ronin,” about the trippy psychic link between a feudal Japanese warrior and a limbless boy in dystopian New York. And naturally, some ninja fetishizing finds its way into the freewheeling depravity of “Sin City,” including the 2005 screen adaptation and a sequel due next year, both co-directed by Miller.

Rila Fukushima (left) plays a bodyguard for Logan when he goes to Japan.

This certainly isn’t the only time comic creators have forcefully molded a superhero to accommodate personal predilections. One of the top-selling Spider-Man comics in history was the 1990 debut of a series launched as a showcase for star artist Todd McFarlane — whose horror sensibility felt clumsily grafted onto the web-slinger, never mind those 2.35 million copies sold. (McFarlane would find a better fit in “Spawn,” and as a manufacturer of tie-in toys for “The Walking Dead,” among others.) In the late ’70s, Claremont and celebrated, Alberta-raised “X-Men” artist John Byrne created an entire troop of Canadian heroes as another part of Wolverine’s back story. Truth, justice, and, um, the Canadian way? But “Wolverine” is unique in how thoroughly its characterization curveball has been embraced. However unexpectedly, it’s a chapter as essential to the hero’s story as the sinister genetic experiments moviegoers saw him endure in “X2” and “Origins” (scenes adapted from another print story line, “Weapon X”).

There’s a sense that Jackman realized quite some time ago that Japan was territory he was destined to cover. In an interview for the trilogy-capping “X-Men: The Last Stand,” he recalled a conversation with a crew member eager for him to tweak the street-fighting moves he’d already spent two movies perfecting. “I looked at him like, ‘Huh? I’ve sort of worked out a style,’” Jackman said. “And [then] he showed me images from the comic of Wolverine doing all this samurai stuff.” Welcome to Nippon, Logan-san.

Kate Middleton and Prince William Look-Alikes Prank Royal Baby Fans Outside London Hospital

Kate Middleton may have left Bucklebury, but that wasn't her at St. Mary's Hospital this morning!

Earlier today, two pranksters apparently sent from Britain's The Sun newspaper pulled a royal trick on fans and journalists by showing up outside Kate's hospital as look-alikes of her and Prince William

According to NBC News, the Kate and William look-alikes arrived at the Lindo Wing (where the Duchess of Cambridge is scheduled to give birth) earlier today, got out of a car and stood around for a bit as people took pictures of them. The pair, who briefly fooled some onlookers, were dressed in T-shirts with the words "The Sun No. 1 for royal baby news" on them. The female was even sporting a giant fake baby bump under her clothes.

PICS: Will & Kate's adorable baby pictures

"For anyone who missed it, here is a link to the full low-down on our #royalbabyprank that fooled the world's media," the Sun tweetedearlier today, along with a link to their story about the big baby joke. The prank comes as royal baby fervor hits an all-time high in anticipation of Kate finally giving birth.

Earlier today, royal protection officers left the Middleton family's home in Bucklebury earlier today, which means it's believed that both Will and Kate are headed to London ahead of the birth of their baby. E! News also confirmed this morning that the Duchess left the home by car and that no helicopters were involved.

Meanwhile, Americans and Brits alike are impatiently waiting for Will and Kate to welcome their first child together. But which country is more excited for the royal baby? "Americans are obsessed with the birth of the royal baby," pop culture expert Katrina Szish tells NBC News. "Not only is it just a phenomenon we don't even have in the United States, but it really is just like a fairy tale come true."

PICS: Crazy royal baby memorabilia

Tim Ewart, ITV's royal correspondent said in a clip from this morning's episode of the Todayshow, "We do need to remember in all this hysteria that not everybody in this country is enthusiastic about the monarchy. The figures show the majority don't feel that way. The majority of people still like the royal family."

Additionally, in just the last week alone, 1.3 million tweets about royal baby have been sent out by fans. And a new poll shows that 77 percent of Brits still support the monarchy and British royal family.

One British woman told NBC News, "I think everyone's thrilled." "It's good to be in Britain at the moment," said another man.

It's epic! Superman to fight Batman in 'Man Of Steel' sequel

London: Warner Bros studio has revealed plans for a Superman and Batman face-off in the upcoming 'Man of Steel' sequel which will hit the theatres in 2015.
The follow up to 'Man of Steel' starring Henry Cavill is being written by director Zack Snyder and will feature Batman, reported Contactmusic.
"I'm so excited to begin working again with Henry Cavill in the world we created, and I can't wait to expand the DC Universe in this next chapter. Let's face it, it's beyond mythological to have Superman and our new Batman facing off, since they are the greatest Super Heroes in the world," he said.

Greg Silverman, President, Creative Development and Worldwide Production said, "Zack Snyder is an incredibly talented filmmaker, but beyond that, he's a fan first and he utterly gets this genre. We could not think of anyone better suited to the task of bringing these iconic Super Heroes to the screen in his own way."
The movie is set to begin production in 2014 with a 2015 release date.
Charles Roven and Deborah Snyder will serve as producers while Christopher Nolan, who directed the most recent Batman trilogy, and Emma Thomas are set to executive produce, along with Benjamin Mel-ker and Michael E Uslan.