“SKumm’s Thoughts” DEADPOOL 2

“SKumm’s Thoughts”

DEADPOOL 2 82016, R, 119 minutes, MARVEL STUDIOS/20^th CENTURY FOX)

 

There came a moment during DEADPOOL 2 when I longed for a “pause” button.  The reason for this was because I needed to stop laughing, and needed to wipe my eyes.

It is one of those times when you know you are missing half of the jokes onscreen, when your own reaction is so overwhelming that you experience Laughter Overload.  You miss dialogue because your own laughter is too loud, your vision blurred by the tears which seem mystically connected to that part of your brain that produces the endorphins necessary to push you into hysterics.

That isn’t to say that the sequel to the highest-grossing R-rated super hero movie of all time is without its flaws.  It isn’t nearly as funny as the first, some jokes get overused so much that the punchlines become predictably droll, and the serious take on the character seems out of place and stereotypical of the genre which the film skewers.  But I’ll be a unicorn’s blowhole if I don’t admit the genuine hilarity of that couch scene…

The story this time around involves “Cable”, played with scenery chewing panache by the stoic Josh Brolin (Thanos from AVENGERS, for those uninitiated).  Cable has traveled back in time to kill a mutant kid that destroys his family in the future, and Deadpool (Reynolds) decides that the kid should be given a chance to NOT turn into a family slaying criminal.  This pits the two super powers against each other, and also gives our intrepid hero the opportunity to form his own mutant group, “X-Force”, to help battle the futuristic man on a mission.

It is moments like The Couch Scene (no spoilers here) when Ryan Reynolds and fellow writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (who both worked on the first installment) capture the character and storyline in such a way that you leave all criticism behind and just enjoy the dang movie.  Until someone cracks yet another joke (okay, I can’t help it: SPOILER ALERT!!) about pedophiles.  The first few times it’s funny, but after a while, you start to wonder if it isn’t a wee bit much.  While I appreciate the unabashed and severely politically incorrect humor the series and comic are known for, repeatedly cracking wise on a subject which affects so many seems so un-empathetic as to be borderline insulting.

There is still the trademark violence, the fifth wall breaks, the deadpan humor, and the industry in-jokes, all of which work to the betterment of the film—and characters.  If anything, Reynolds & Company up the ante this time around.  Seriously—when is the last time you heard a joke about YENTL, for crying out loud?!?  Some sequences are masterfully paced by ATOMIC BLONDE director David Leitch, and showcase the bloody violence that was part of the first film’s success.  And then there are other moments (one in particular, but, hey, no freaking spoilers) that drag on a bit too long.  Five minutes worth of fat could have been trimmed from the film, and the end result would have been better for it.

Despite my negativity towards some aspects of the film, it is still a worthy successor.  Every character is perfectly cast (okay, screw it, SPOILER ALERT!: look for Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, and “Firefly” alum Alan Tudyk cameos), every fight scene has just enough action to it, and 85% of the jokes land well enough to at least elicit a smile.  Next up will be an X-Force movie, and possibly a third Deadpool film.  For now, DEADPOOL 2 should be enough to get you through the day.  I’m just waiting for it to come out on Blu-ray so I can re-watch the dang Couch Scene however many times it takes me to catch all the dang jokes.

Film Grade: B+

T.S. Kummelman

The 'Not-So-Critical' Critic: AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR

The 'Not-So-Critical' Critic: 

on AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (2018, 149 minutes, PG-13)

 

The Quick of It -

So, if you haven’t heard… there is this film.  It’s breaking records.  There are reasons.

Why?  Because they finally have a worthy adversary.  Because there has been a storm brewing for years and the moment is here.  Because the screen is only sharing the most interesting moments with the cleverest dialogue available.  Oh, I should mention again, there is finally a bad ass villain.

The culmination for all these Marvel movies after the past decade has come… and went (wink, wink).  The long list of notable heroes now face the mastermind that has plagued them since long before they, and we, realized he was pulling the strings.  Known as the Mad Titan, Thanos finally has his eyes set on retrieving the Infinity Stones.  These immensely powerful stones are the answer to his desire to cleanse the universe of ‘overpopulation’.  You must understand, this is the core tenant that grounds his murderous design, not just blaming it on ‘evil’.  You can relate for the briefest moment.

Iron Man was released in 2008, which was followed by the introductions of the core crew – Thor, Captain America, Hulk, and the other peripheral heroes.  As I have always proclaimed, villains in the Marvel universe have been soft.  For some reason, Marvel feels the need to make the bad guy seem evil, without any human connection remaining.  The truth is, they should reside in the gray area.  That is why DC villains reign supreme.  Trust me, this is not coming from any Marvel-hate agenda.  It is just when you compare them across the universes, Marvel’s model of storytelling heightens the sense of good vs. evil, which will often miss the mark by playing it safe.

Now we have Thanos, and he commanded the screen.  Even his generals stood out.  They were simple caricatures of highly-skilled villains, but they handled things within their brief appearances to make it exciting.  The end result, a decent story with pure action and drama.  To prove they had the right formula, this is a movie well over two hours and you don’t even notice.  Not at all.   The pacing was phenomenal, even for this large of a cast.  In fact, I wanted to slap the lady next to me for bringing in her own food and making a ton of crinkly noise.  If I only had the gauntlet...

As you have seen everyone demanding on social media, lips are sealed.  No spoilers.  Just take a night and see this on the big screen.  You won’t be sorry… maybe sad, but not sorry.

Grade: A

‘Blu-ray or Bust’ DEN OF THIEVES

‘Blu-ray or Bust’

DEN OF THIEVES (2018, R, 140 minutes, ATMOSPHERE/STX ENTERTAINMENT)

There comes a certain point in DEN OF THIEVES when you realize that, despite writer/director Christian Gudegast’s efforts to keep the film grounded in reality, you should probably just go with it.  Forget your preconceived notions of how outrageous the action onscreen is, eat your freakin’ popcorn, and just forget about reality for a while.

After all, that is what the movies are all about.  Right?  Getting away for a few hours?  Leaving behind your responsibilities, your bills, your job, rational thought—you get the picture.  Having previously worked with Gudegast on 2016’s LONDON HAS FALLEN (and oh, Lordy, do I wish I could forget that infected monkey’s mucus membrane of a film…), Gerard Butler stars as bad cop “Big Nick”.  Nick is a bully, a narcissistic masochist with a badge, in charge of solving big crimes for the LAPD.  On the other side of the law (which is a rather fuzzy membrane in and of itself as it is portrayed here) is Pablo Schreiber (he plays the awesome Mad Sweeney in “American Gods”) as retired Marine Ray Merriman.  If anyone in the film could be set up as the typical sympathetic character, the one you should probably root for, it would have been him.

For about three minutes.

The “fun” thing about THIEVES is that the film is filled with people you probably shouldn’t like, unless your criteria for liking someone involves who is the shadiest.  At its core, the tale revolves around two gangs going to war: Big Nick’s policing unit, dubbed “Regulators”, and Merriman’s bank robbing crew, dubbed…okay, let’s just call them the “Other Bad Guys”.  So it is really Bad Guys Vs. Other Bad Guys, or maybe Bad Guys Ending Badly.  Anyway, Merriman wants to pull off a big heist at the Federal Reserve in LA, and Big Nick wants to stop him (because even though he is a bad guy, he still has to earn a paycheck, and he does that by fuzzying up the law).  Of course there will be surprises along the way, mixed in amongst certain predictable moments, but one thing that works excellently for the film is the tone.  Again, no one here is “good”; but is anyone ever really all good?  Or, for that matter, all bad?  By not giving the viewer any obvious means of differentiating whom is more righteous in their actions, Gudegast sets you up emotionally—which is surprising for an action/thriller.

Along for the ride is Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson as Merriman’s right-hand man, and O’Shea Jackson Jr. as their driver (even if he only drives once in the entire film, but, hey, IT’S ENTERTAINMENT).  These are the performances to watch; while there is surprisingly no bad acting in the film, our main characters actually get more to do than strike poses and shoot machine guns sideways.  Particularly surprising is Jackson, whose range here as both crook and family man is refreshing.  No one turns in a wooden performance, although Butler looks to be enjoying himself a tad too much as he chews the scenery.

The Blu-ray release has only three documentaries included, all under four minutes, and only one that really gives you anything behind the scenes.  The other two play like long previews, which is a shame, as the information included on the doc concerning the traffic jam shootout at the end of the film is great—even if it is run past you like it was being shot by that fast-talking dude from the Micro Machines commercials.

In case anyone was wondering, Yes!, Gudegast is hard at work writing the sequel.  Is a sequel necessary?  Nope.  Will I watch it anyways?  Yep.  ‘Cause every now and again, it’s good to forget about all those pressing matters in your life—like spouses, kids, physics, Los Angeles noise pollution—and just enjoy watching bad people shooting three hundred thousand bullets at each other.

                                                 

Film Grade: B

Special Features: D+

Blu-ray Necessary: Abso-freakin’-lutely

-- T.S. Kummelman