Film: Deadpool & Wolverine

 

GENRE: Action Adventure Comedy
RATING: R for lots of bloody violence, language and sexual references
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 7 minutes
PLATFORM: Movie Theatres
STARRING: Ryan Reynolds (Free Guy, IF, The Adam Project, Red Notice)
Hugh Jackman (Greatest Showman, X-Men); Emma Corrin (The Crown)
DIRECTOR: Shawn Levy (Free Guy, Night at the Museum, Stranger Things)
WRITERS: Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool 2); Rhett Reese (Deadpool);  
Paul Wernick (Deadpool); Zeb Wells (Robot Chicken); Shawn Levy (newcomer)
PLOT: Deadpool needs Wolverine to come out of retirement to help save the world again.  

FULL DISCLOSURE: Been looking forward to this one.

STORY STUFF: With five writers attached to the film, I was hoping for a stronger story. They probably spent the majority of the time pitching one-liners and action pieces. The lines are hilarious and many are not for the faint of heart. The fight scenes are well thought out and also funny in their own disturbing way. These were the strong points of the first two Deadpools as well. Even after doing my homework and watching both seasons of Loki, I still found the Time Variance Authority stuff a little mind numbing. Also, the sad Wolverine scenes got a little long. If you are going for laughs and action you won’t be disappointed. Keep your expectations low when it comes to story though. It seems typical of this film season’s offerings unfortunately.

ACTING STUFF: Reynolds is a Marvel Messiah. He nails the character, of course. His meta references and talks to camera are always a welcome symphony of humour. Jackman has a lot of fun getting angry at Reynolds and is also a treat. Corrin’s villain is just okay. Matthew Macfayden’s (Succession) TVA guy also didn’t grab me like I hoped. There are a many cameos and fun reveals so I won’t spoil them for you (Avoid reading the cast list on IMDB if you can). It’s fun to see so many people having fun making a movie.        

ARTISTIC STUFF: The fights are incredibly well choreographed and gruesome. What boosts them several notches higher are the music choices that accompany them. I love all the sound and music in this film. There are also a bunch of Easter Eggs you can see in the background of Void terrain.

VERDICT: Four stars out of five
SEE IT IF: You’ve seen the first two Deadpools and want to laugh more.
UPCOMING REVIEW:  Trap; The Instigators

Film: Twisters

GENRE: Action Adventure
RATING: PG-13 for action and some language
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 2 minutes
PLATFORM: Movie Theatre
STARRING: Daisy Edgar Jones (Where the Crawdads Sing)
Glen Powell (Top Gun: Maverick); Anthony Ramos (In the Heights)
DIRECTOR: Lee Isaac Chung (Minari)
WRITER: Mark L. Smith (The Revenant, The Boys in the Boat)
PLOT: A tornado chaser returns to Oklahoma to work with a new team  

FULL DISCLOSURE: Liked the original, was skeptical about this one.

STORY STUFF: Not sure you could call this a sequel. The only real references to the original is the use of Dorothy for a couple minutes, the location and the title font. I guess the plot is similar with different people chasing tornadoes, a traumatic experience, movie theatres and Ram trucks. While some poor choices are made along with lame mansplaining, the plot is decent and the tornadoes are well done and there is a sense of will people die with each twister. I still don’t know why people would live in an area called Tornado Alley or why they would hold evening events when a tornado hit a town nearby, same thing happened in the original with the drive-in film. Maybe cancel these events. Also, I’m thinking if I lived in Tornado Alley, I have probably been taught what to do if a twister hits the town. I also rolled my eyes when tornado chasers would explain the effects of tornados to fellow experts; I know the audience needs the exposition but find a different way. Also, the supporting characters in the original were far more dynamic than the tag-alongs in this one, which meant I cared more about what happened to them. Those nitpicks aside, I actually found this to be a pretty decent summer blockbuster popcorn flick.

ACTING STUFF: Glen Powell uses his charm well and commands the screen. You can’t help but root for him. Edgar-Jones also gives a great performance as the tornado whisperer. She does a decent southern accent (which is why it’s odd that Powell’s character keeps calling her city girl). Ramos is too whiny and doesn’t grab me. Interesting to see David Corenswet as a jerk in this film before he dons the Superman cape in the DC reboot. I like the actress who played the mother. I didn’t know she was in this film so I won’t spoil it if you don’t know.        

ARTISTIC STUFF: The twisters are well done which is good for a film called Twisters. I like that fire was added to some of them. Not a fan of the country music. The original had Van Halen.

VERDICT: Four stars out of five
SEE IT IF: You enjoy your action with a little destruction.  
UPCOMING REVIEW:  Deadpool & Wolverine

Film: Despicable Me 4

 

GENRE: Animated
RATING: PG for action and rude humour
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 34 minutes
PLATFORM: Movie Theatres
STARRING: Steve Carell (The Office, 40-Year-Old Virgin; IF)
Kristen Wiig (SNL, Bridesmaids); Will Ferrell (SNL, Anchorman)
DIRECTORS: Chris Renaud (Despicable Me 1 & 2)
Patrick Delage (newcomer)
WRITERS: Mike White (White Lotus, School of Rock, Nacho Libre);
Ken Daurio (Secret Lives of Pets, Despicable Me 1-3, Migration)
PLOT: Gru’s family is in danger from an old school rival so they enter the witness relocation program.  

FULL DISCLOSURE: Loved the first two films but not the third.

STORY STUFF: There is a bunch of very fun stuff in this film but there are also some flaws. I do think it is an improvement over the third film. The storyline is okay but veers off into weirdness when Gru is blackmailed to break into his former school. The main three minions are great with lots of vending machine fun. The minion bus and training are also hilarious. The ‘super’ minions do not work for me at all. Hardly a laugh; what a shame. The villain is not that great but then I have found all the franchise baddies are too over-the-top and one-note. One of my highlights of the film would have to be the cat doing Dance-Dance-Revolution – very funny.  

ACTING STUFF: All the voice acting is well done. Ferrell goes big with his accent for Maxime – which can be both fun and annoying. I enjoyed the stunt casting of Stephen Colbert as an aloof neighbor just so he could work with his Daily Show buddy. Pierre Coffin always does well rocking the minion voices. And Madison Skyy Polan as Agnes is always super adorable. Love that character.         

ARTISTIC STUFF: The animation is well done like their previous films, although Baby Gru is tempting copyright as an Incredibles Jack-Jack wannabe. Pharrell does his song stylings like usual. Nothing really new to talk about though.

VERDICT: Four stars out of five
SEE IT IF: You’ve seen the other ones.  
UPCOMING REVIEW:  Twisters

Film: Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F

 

GENRE: Action Comedy
RATING: R for language, violence and brief drug use
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 58 minutes
PLATFORM: Netflix
STARRING: Eddie Murphy (48 Hours, Shrek, Coming to America, SNL)
Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Brick, Snowden); Taylour Paige (Hit the Floor)
DIRECTOR: Mark Molloy (newcomer)
WRITERS: Will Beall (Aquaman, Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Justice League);
Tom Gormican & Kevin Etten (Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent)
PLOT: Axel returns to Beverly Hills when his daughter’s life is threatened  

FULL DISCLOSURE: Loved the first two films but not the third.

STORY STUFF: All aboard the nostalgia train. Straight up pandering to those who loved the first two Beverly Hills Cop films. Being the intended audience, I’m fine with it. I recognize the cheapness but embrace it anyway as I get older. While I didn’t mind the family reason for Axel to return to Beverly Hills, they spent way too long on that part of the story. We get it, your daughter is mad at you. The case is okay but the imprisoned victim gets barely any screen time so I didn’t find myself caring about him all that much. It’s all about Axel reconnecting with people from his past. And again, I’m okay with that.  

ACTING STUFF: Murphy gets lots of opportunities to shine: he has some great one-liners and fast talking shenanigans. You can tell that he’s not a big runner or action star anymore. He gets to drive weird vehicles now and wreck stuff while wincing at the destruction. Judge Reinhold and John Ashton return as Rosewood and Taggart and boy, do they look old. They each get some fun stuff with Murphy. The film also brings back Paul Reiser in the thankless role of Jeffrey and Bronson Pinchot is back to ham it up like the old days. You can tell that Kevin Bacon is having fun playing the bad guy. Joseph Gordon-Levitt holds his own as the straight-laced cop forced to work with Axel. I really enjoyed Nasim Pedrad as a ditzy real estate agent. I was not a fan of Paige as Axel’s daughter – she is quite the pill. I wish they could have given her a different attitude to play.        

ARTISTIC STUFF: Talk about nostalgic – there are a number of songs from the first couple films sprinkled throughout the film like “The Heat is On”, “Shakedown” and “Neutron Dance”. A bunch of the driving scenes are reminiscent of the first action set piece. There is nothing spectacular about the action but it was still fun to watch. A funny nitpick is when Axel is shown his file and it contains production stills from the earlier films. Who took these photos? Was there a cop taking photos of Axel and Rosewood pointing their guns at bad guys at Maitland’s house? Strange.  

VERDICT: Four stars out of five
SEE IT IF: You grew up with Beverly Hills Cop.
UPCOMING REVIEW:  Twisters