So it's Saturday and I turn to watch some impeachment news on MSNBC and what do I get? The Royal Wedding. Okay, the choice is watch a real life fairy tale romance about a prince and the beautiful bride or go see a comedy that makes jokes about mutilation. I chose to see cinematic body parts thrown at me. I went to see Deadpool 2.
Deadpool 2 begins with a series of mercenary assassinations by Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) and his failure to complete one job leads to tragic consequences. A depressed Deadpool kills himself by bombing himself. Probably the funniest scene of a guy having his head and hand blown up from his body in cinematic history. You did know that Deadpool can heal himself? Well, if you didn't this movie would be over in the first ten minutes. And no, I'm not going to explain Marvel's X-Men and their mutant powers. Go download the first movie. Legally, of course.
Anyway, Colossus (Stefan Kopicic) picks up the pieces, i.e. Deadpool's body parts and takes him back to the X-Men academy. Yeah, this time Fox gave enough money to build the set for the school. Hey, as the joke goes, the first R rated Deadpool made more money than Jesus, the R rated The Passion of Christ. So, Fox better shell out the dough. After putting him back together, Colossus convinces Deadpool to become an X-Man.
Of course, you can see, making Deadpool an X-Man, is going to be a disaster. Deadpool is anything but a traditional superhero. Think the reverse of Captain America. This idea is like having a reality show, con-man, narcissist, and serial liar become President. How's that working, America? His first mission is to subdue a young mutant Firefist (Julian Dennison) Deadpool ends up killing an innocent man while convinced that Firefist has been abused. Both are sent to a mutant jail. Meanwhile, Cable (Josh Brolin) from the future has come back in time to kill Firefist. Deadpool forms a superhero team to protect Firefist.
The cast is excellent. The main characters are given their time in the spotlight. They have funny things to say and engage in some cool action scenes. Female characters are underused but this is a movie about Deadpool and the introduction of Cable. Get over it pc police. Ryan Reynolds who helped write the script is the perfect Deadpool with the ability to deftly deliver jokes as the loopy main character. Josh Brolin's Cable also turns in a fine performance. as the terminator from the future with plenty of motivation to fulfill his mission.
I do have one problem with the casting that goes all out political correct. I'm talking about having Afircan American actress Zazie Beetz as Domino. Let's be clear. In the comics she is white. And I mean really white. I'm saying chalk white with a black patch of skin over her eye. (WatchMojo.com video on the history of Domino below.)
And it's not that Beetz had the greatest audition in the history of acting. The producers of Deadpool 2 were looking for a black or latin women to play Domino who is white. Hollywood Reporter. Now, think about the outrage if a fictional black character where cast with a white person. Say cast Star Wars' Lando Calrissian with a white man. People would be screaming. And it's not like Domino comes from an era where racism was the norm. She made her debut in 1992 not in the fifties. The hypocrisy is so thick you can cut it with a knife.
And you conservative trolls don't say I'm coming to your position on race. I'm still a politically incorrect liberal. Diversity in cinema should be handled this way. If the part does not call for a white actor, then consider casting someone of color. Regardless, how is Beetz as Domino? Let's check her out in this trailer with colorful language that Trump uses.
She's sleek, sexy and I can't take my eyes off of her. Never mind about the casting of Zazie Beetz. Must see what movies Elizabeth Debicki is doing. (Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2)
Back to the review. Writers Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick and star Ryan Reynolds do something really interesting with this film There's a point where Deadpool says to the audience that the movie is a family flick. And he's right. Amazingly, Deadpool 2 is a family movie and a romance. The difference is that it's a family movie with chopped off limbs and R rated jokes. Some of those jokes are the usual Deadpool way of breaking the fourth wall. And there are references to cinema from Yentl to Robocop. Most of the time the jokes are hits. Having Reynolds work on the script worried me though after seeing him in R.I.P.D. (2013) Thankfully, the writers stick to the movie being a comedy.
I like Director David Leitch's (Atomic Blond) work. He has a refreshing take on action scenes by showing full bodies in motion rather than let the editor chop up the film with fast cutting. That being said, there's a little too much fast cutting here. I'm guessing that it would be too sickening to focus on limbs flying off and people getting their bones broke in compound fractures. Still Letich stages the jokes as well as he does an action scene. They work.
A quick thing about the songs in the movie. They also are eclectic. They run the gamut from Dolly Parton's 9 to 5 to Yentl's Papa Can You Hear Me? ! And the use of a-ha's ballad version of their Take on Me had me crying. It was so romantic. I'm serious. So Deadpool 2 is a chick flick? Nah, action junkies. This is a movie with cyborgs, explosions and big guns. One more thing about Take on Me. The up temp eighties technopop version is the definitive one. (Classic music video below.) And you drunk white guys in the bar. Quit trying to sing the high notes.
Deadpool 2 is one funny superhero movie. I want to see it again to catch all the jokes. Of course, stay for the credits. I laughed the hardest during the mid-credits scene. And Ryan Reynolds. I really want to see Green Lantern rebooted. The grade is A.
Wednesday, May 23, 2018
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