The original Wall Street in 1987 was a good movie and the sequel 23 years later is as good or better.

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps really does continue the story. There’s even a cameo by Charlie Sheen as his character from the first film.

The big surprise of the original film was how Michael Douglas’s character Gordon “greed is good” Gekko became the hero, and not the villain; maybe because he won an Oscar for the role.

As he and other characters say often in the two films, “It’s not about the money.” Apparently it’s about the game, getting more, or greed.

The sequel starts with Douglas getting out of jail in 2001. Jump to 2008, just before the big financial meltdown, he’s back in the game as the author of a book about greed.

Shia LeBoeuf plays an up and coming dealer on Wall Street, who just happens to be living with Douglas’s daughter (a wonderful Carey Mulligan). She won’t have anything to do with her father, blaming him for her brother’s death, but LaBoeuf conspires with Douglas to get them together.

Meanwhile, another greedy financier (Josh Brolin) is ruining LaBoeuf’s company and he teams up with Douglas to get back at him.

The film also explains how the banks ripped off the U.S. government in the 2008 financial crisis, which they caused. That is nice to see. If you like the original, you should enjoy the sequel.

Rating: four deer of five

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Alf Cryderman is a Red Deer freelance writer and old movie buff.