Such a disappointment. I was really looking forward to see this movie, especially given that Wall Street (one) was such a defining film during the late 1980s. So much so, that many of the quotes "greed is good" and "lunch is for wimps", are still remembered to this day. Gordon Gekko spoke for the spirit of the times.
Wall Street Money never sleeps by contrast, was a film without much of a whimper. At times it attempted to intellectualise, at others humorise. Gordon Gekko out of prison lacked the panache and story-lines of his 1980s version.
This film could have been so much better: The banking crisis could have been that much more dramatised - the meetings of the bankers as markets crashed, were one of the few tense moments. What was particularly bizarre was the beginning of the film. There was a great moment when Gordon came out of prison. Then he vanished - until 40 minutes later as a business guru selling books.
The small parts I enjoyed were seeing Budd Fox (Charlie Sheen) meeting Gekko again for a fleeting moment and the lady estate agent (this time with grey hair), who sold Budd his posh flat in Wall Street (one).
Other than that Wall Street (two) was a real let down. There were no memorable lines, the actors were weak and the story-line predictable. It was a movie that could not work out what it wanted to be: anti-banker tirade, or soap-opera extraordinaire. It achieved neither. What a great shame.
You can read a review HERE.
by Robert Halfon - www.roberthalfon.blogspot.com
