Title: Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Year Of Release: 2010
Review Date: December 31, 2010
Rating: PG-13
Running time: 133 minutes
Box Office Gross: $129,771,896
Site Rating: 2 out of 10 stars
"Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" is the sequel to the 1988 film "Wall Street." The derivative follow up stars Michael Douglas and Shia LaBeouf. I state derivative, because this movie is largely comprised of unsourced, verbatim quotes from published, preexisting copyrighted articles on the 2008 Economic Depression that began on Wall Street and swept the world.
The second installment picks up where the first film left off. It opens with the release of incarcerated inside trader and overall felon, Gordon Gekko (not Geico). He is deposited back into the population with $1,800 to his name. However, Gekko, immediately begins scheming, seeking ways to become rich again, after 8-years in the pokey (prison).
Gekko's embittered daughter, Winnie (Carey Mulligan), is engaged to marry, Jacob (Shia LaBeouf), who is a stock broker bent on revenge, after the death of his mentor and boss, Lou Zabel, who killed himself when facing financial ruination, willfully orchestrated by a greedy financier, Bretton James (Josh Brolin). Many have lost their money in the crisis, but suicide is not the way out. Getting back on your feet and rebuilding is.
"Wall Street 2" was well filmed, but lacked the potency and authenticity of the original, but thankfully, a lot of the filth is missing this time around. It is anti-climactic.