Set 23 years after the original Wallstreet, Oliver Stone delivers his first ever sequel and brings film villain icon Gordon Gekko back with him. From the trailers I was worried that it would be a rehash of the original storyline but Stone updates the concept for modern times and the world of finance is a very different place than it was in 1985.

This new Wallstreet is an interesting thing. It has a lot of balls in the air and where most movies deal in one or two themes this one crams as many in as possible. The film explores loyalty, betrayal, revenge, love, heartbreak, estrangement and dealing with the loss of relevance. It also deals with money and the sorts of people who move it and pocket it for both a living and as an obsession. When set against the backdrop of our own faltering economy it packs in an extra punch but in trying to serve so many different masters, the film finds itself a bit muddled and loses its way a bit.

Shia LeBeouf stars as Jake Moore, a hotshot Wallstreet trader who specializes in alternative energy for a firm run by his mentor and father figure Louis Zabel (Frank Langella) and is dating Winnie Gekko (Carey Mulligan) estranged daughter of infamous Gordon (Michael Douglas). When the bottom starts to drop out on the stock market and Zabel finds himself losing his company to a rival firm run by Bretton James (Josh Brolin), Zabel kills himself and leaves Jake in shambles. Heartsick with grief and overcome by anger, Jake is looking for revenge. He reaches out to Gordon Gekko for help behind his girlfriend’s back and the two set out to take down James when they learn he was responsible not only for the drop in stock for Zabel’s firm but was also instrumental in putting Gekko in prison for 8 years. Gekko seems to be reformed but can he be trusted? Jake puts it all on the line in the hopes that he can.

The plot is fairly complex but clips along at a fair pace despite the copious amounts of exposition about financial matters and covering the back story from the first movie. In general, though, what happened in the first film is really not all that important. Budd Fox (Charlie Sheen) makes a cameo appearance and the events are discussed but for the most part everything you need to know is contained in this film. The retconning of James as the man most responsible for Gekko’s downfall helps this but the scene between Gekko and Fox is still absolutely delicious as Douglas delivers one of the best evil looks I have ever seen. If you’ve never seen the first one, you get enough set up to enjoy this scene on its own but if you have seen the first film it is an extra treat.

The best moments of Wallstreet: Money Never Sleeps are the ones that deal with the relationships. The complexity of them is impressive and feel very real. The movement in Jake and Winnie’s relationship from dating to engagement are touching and moving and eventually heartbreaking. It might be because I have recently gone through a break up but the strains and nuance here hit the mark and pack a strong emotional punch. Likewise the beats between Winnie and Gordon are tremendous and feel very authentic. Subsequent relationships like the mentor/protege development between Gordon and Jake and the adversarial one between Jake and Bretton really help sell the film and provide the real flavor here.

It isn’t that the financial espionage is not compelling or that the stock market collapse isn’t interesting, but those moments can get a bit heavy and bogged down with technical exposition. Some of the imagery employed gets a little heavy handed and masturbatory such as lingering shots of bubbles bursting to signify the bursting of the stock market and the dialogue moves so quickly that if you aren’t paying close enough attention you could be lost in a see of data.

These moments do delivery as far as a wake up to audiences unaware of exactly what is going on with the economy and how the world has gotten itself into such a massive financial jam. The film seems to have a second purpose of educating and training viewers on how to proceed in matters of money, at least in terms of how Stone sees it. I think the highlighting of the level of corporate greed and how deep that particular rabbit hole goes is a good thing as often these issues are simply laid at the government’s feet in the service of this idea of capitalism that gives corporations free reign too loosen or drop regulations in order to funnel more money into their own accounts. As Gekko says early on in the film ‘I was recently reminded I once said ‘Greed is good.’ And now it seems it’s legal.’

The performances in the film are uniformly strong. The weakest link might be Mulligan but when she is called upon to deliver on heavy emotions she does so with believability and without dipping into melodrama. Shi LeBeouf really shines in what is effectively his first real grown up role (I am not counting Eagle Eye because I have seen it) and he avoids the cliches he is known for while turning in an intense and well crafted performance. When he takes a huge bath on an investment there is no ‘no,no,no,no’ or any fidgeting awkwardness. You believe he is a character who has brains, balls and skill but who is human enough to make human mistakes. Hopefully this movie will be the first of many great performances from him. Micheal Douglas is phenomenal as Gordon Gekko a role for which he won a Best Actor in a Leading Role Oscar for the first Wallstreet. After prison and years of living off book royalties (ouch!) this is a different Gekko and Douglas is masterful with the nuance and subtlety of the character’s changes. With Douglas suffering from Stage 4 throat cancer, this may be one of the last roles we see him in. That is a tragedy but at least he will be going out on the highest of possible notes. Josh Brolin is absolutely perfect as Bretton James and delivers us a self assured asshole who is smart and vicious. Ever scene in which he appears is a delight to watch.

All that being said, it isn’t all puppy dogs and ice cream for Wallstreet: Money Never Sleeps. With everything that goes on in the story, the resolution is a bit too tidy and undersold. Further, it is hard to see exactly what Stone was getting at here and the way things are left don’t really offer up a lot of accountability. It is a difficult topic to discuss without spoilers but we aren’t really left with a point in terms of why the story was told. I am glad it was and it was entertaining but with all of the themes and serious issues explored here there didn’t seem to be much of an overall message aside from ‘economics are fucked up because of corporate greed.’ That is fine and dandy but there is no suggestion of how things could be done differently or what should happen moving forward. This might not have been part of the scope of the film but that is what it felt like it was building to and the lack of that closure was a let down.

Conclusion [8.0 out of 10]

There is a lot going on in Wallstreet: Money Never Sleeps and it is a long film but I was engaged the whole way and it never felt overly long to me. If you have no interest in finance and politics then there is still something here for you by way of satisfying relationship material and intriguing revenge but you are probably not going to enjoy it as much as someone who does. Still, even without an interest in the backdrop, the performances are incredible and are worth seeing in and of themselves. Oliver Stone has been known to go off the rails a bit lately but he is in fine form here and turns in a pretty damn good effort for his first sequel.