As the world is on the brink of economic collapse, a young Wall Street trader allies himself with Gorden Gekko--a Wall Street mogul recently released from prison after having been convicted of insider trading.
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps is an astonishingly good sequel to Wall Street (1987), also written and directed by Oliver Stone. In this installment for the new generation, our [somewhat] naive protagonist is played by Shia LeBeouf. Aside from that primary difference, the core story is much the same as the original: our hero is a Wall Street trader looking to make his way up in the business and finds his salvation (or damnation?) in Gordon Gekko (played once again by Michael Douglas).
The most notable difference in Money Never Sleeps is that it is written to be analogous to our actual economic collapse of 2008 on Wall Street. The whole shebang too--sub-prime mortgages, risky investments, "too big to fail" firms, and government bail-outs. Everything hits very close to home throughout the film, and is really only emphasized by the cast that is most certainly up to the task of making their characters as believeable as possible. There is even a long story arc within the film on Gordon Gekko's search for redemption that is certain to throw viewers for a loop (particularly if you saw Wall Street).
All-in-all there really isn't anything negative to say about the film other than the fact that the actual ending feels a bit... contrived. Particularly for an Oliver Stone film where his movies are typically less about traditional "happy" endings and more about realistic endings, what we end up with in Money Never Sleeps just seeems... off. However, considering how strong the analogy to our real-life economy is, I think that for 2010 a happy ending was just what this film needed.
Trailer