Director McG handily outdoes the original in this sexy, action packed, adults only sequel to the dreary downer “Still Alice”.
We all remember “Still Alice”, the depressing, Oscar nominated slog about a woman losing her memory. But “Sill Alice 2” reveals the fun part of Alzheimer’s: as Alice has no memory, she has no regrets – thus, she can be the perfect weapon – especially to, say, a rogue offshoot of Homeland Security . Programmed to commit countless atrocities in the name of security, Alice can kill at noon and refocus on her knitting by 2:00 pm.
The story begins with a daring kidnapping of Alice from the memory care facility where she resides. Without going into detail, let’s just say that a few snapped necks and slit throats will hardly get in the way of security agency “The Memory’s” getting their gal.
Alice’s transformation from helpless, vacant invalid to helpless, vacant assassin is then detailed in a rousing montage sequence framed by an empowering, thumping ballad by Pink (featuring Iggy Azalea). By the time “The Memory” is through with her, she is a world class expert on sawed off shotguns, poison darts, throwing stars, battery acid, silencers, and all manner of weaponry.
The tension then builds as the dementia stricken Alice has her skills put to the test. Her first assignment is to extract a nuclear scientist kidnapped by ISIS, and it ain’t easy. Fortunately, even after disemboweling and cannibalizing a half dozen child soldiers, then enduring an extended anal gang rape, Alice emerges from the assignment psychologically unscathed. Her handlers convince her that her injuries are from slipping in the shower, and even the damage to her more intimate areas is written off to a lack of fiber. Calmly and happily, she digs into a bowl of strained carrots for lunch, blissfully ignorant of the savagery committed upon and by her just hours prior.
But before long, the ISIS extraction begins to look like a walk in the park. It’s soon discovered that several people close to Alice are involved in a terrorist sleeper cell, and she is assigned to dispatch them. It soon becomes obvious that caregivers, even family members and cherished pets are all fair game.
A particularly poignant scene occurs when Alice’s primary physician must be destroyed, with the dirty deed occurring during a routine memory test. In it, Alice whips out a pair of razor edged numchucks, capitalizing brilliantly on the element of surprise – and proceeds to decapitate the seemingly kindly doctor. The police show up but, even after seeing Alice clutching the bloody weapon, glowering over the body and squealing in victory, completely dismiss her as a possible suspect. This was clearly the work of an impossibly sophisticated ninja, not some senile old bag.
The film probably excels as Alice’s secret becomes more and more threatened – largely due to the suspicions of police chief Channing Tatum, who both suspects and begins to experience stronger feelings for Alice. His own conflicts are the most poignant – is he falling for a sexy, accomplished, amoral death machine, or a pathetic, useless husk of a being – a pile of failing flesh and brain cells that should be put out of its misery?
Still Alice 2 at its best serves as a meditation on important issues facing our treatment of victims of dementia. Should they be shuttered away in homes, and made as comfortable as possible in their declining faculties – or can they be put to a more creative, productive use in our society?
Rated NC-17 for medically specific violence, close ups of sexual penetration, and a scene of pot smoking
