Deadpool 2 (2018)
DIRECTOR: David Leitch
CAST: Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Zazie Beetz, Morena Baccarin, Brianna Hildebrand, T.J. Miller, Stefan Kapicic, Julian Dennison, Terry Crews, Bill Skarsgard, Karan Soni, Shiori Kutsuna, Leslie Uggams, Rob Delaney, Eddie Marsan
REVIEW:
2016’s Deadpool was such a blast of kinetic, wildly irreverent R-rated fun that it was both inevitable that a sequel would be made, and that the same freshness level was unlikely to be recaptured. True to expectations, Deadpool 2 serves up more of the same serviceably enough to be a fun, if overlong, time, but without quite the same pizzazz. Even so, fans of The Merc With the Mouth are likely to enjoy his second big screen romp, if perhaps not quite as much as they did in 2016. Continue reading
Life (2017)
DIRECTOR: Daniel Espinosa
CAST: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson, Ryan Reynolds, Hiroyuki Sanda, Ariyon Bakare, Olga Dihovichnaya
REVIEW:
WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS “SPOILERS”
Among the various sci-fi thrillers over the decades that owe greater or lesser degrees of inspiration to Ridley Scott’s 1979 Alien, Life is one of the worthier indirect descendants/homages. Daniel Espinosa is not terribly subtle about borrowing a page (or several pages) from Alien, but screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (the same men behind 2016’s very different Deadpool) also come up with enough twists and turns on their own for it not to be unforgivably derivative. But while fans of Alien may find Life worth a look, be warned: this is a dark, gruesome ride that is not for the faint of heart or for those who demand happy endings. Continue reading
Deadpool (2016)
DIRECTOR: Tim Miller
CAST: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, Ed Skrein, T.J. Miller, Gina Carano, Brianna Hildebrand, Stefan Kapicic
REVIEW:
In a movie landscape oversaturated with ever more superhero movies, it’s hard to make them all stand out, and the fact that 99% of them all inevitably follow the same basic formula makes them start to seem generic and interchangeable after a while. For those suffering from conventional superhero movie fatigue, Deadpool blows through the sameness like a wrecking ball. While itself an adaptation of a popular Marvel Comics character, Deadpool, like the comic series, pokes merciless fun at the superhero genre, leaving no trope unskewered, while not completely abandoning what fans love about the genre in the first place. A rare comic book movie to earn a well-deserved R rating, Deadpool will come as a shock to the system of those expecting something along the lines of Captain America (one suspects strait-laced do-gooder Steve Rogers would not approve of Mr. Wade W. Wilson), and it is decidedly a comic book movie parents considering attending with their children should avoid like the plague. But for those not easily offended, Deadpool‘s raunchy comedy and high-octane graphic violence may come like a breath of fresh air. Continue reading
Woman In Gold (2015)
DIRECTOR: Simon Curtis
CAST: Helen Mirren, Ryan Reynolds, Daniel Brühl, Tatiana Maslany, Katie Holmes, Max Irons
REVIEW:
Hollywood likes stories about lawyers crusading for a righteous cause. On the surface, Woman In Gold is another generic entry, but its sometimes powerful true story, a split narrative chronicling two time periods, an unsurprisingly strong performance from Helen Mirren and, perhaps somewhat more surprisingly, capable support by Ryan Reynolds helps lend it more weight and impact than just a courtroom drama. Continue reading
R.I.P.D. (2013)
DIRECTOR: Robert Schwentke
CAST: Ryan Reynolds, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Bacon, Mary-Louise Parker, Stephanie Szostak
REVIEW:
R.I.P.D. is one of the most depressing kinds of movies to sit through; a completely uninspired, by-the-numbers, unengaging, lazy film that literally offers nothing memorable. Playing out something like a cross between Men in Black and Ghostbusters with a dash of Ghost tossed in for good measure, it’s billed as a supernatural action-comedy/buddy movie, but it doesn’t succeed in any direction. It’s not funny (or at least not often enough to justify its existence) and it’s never exciting, no matter how much money it blows on splashy special effects. Continue reading
Green Lantern (2011)
DIRECTOR: Martin Campbell
CAST:
Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Mark Strong, Tim Robbins, Angela Bassett, Jay O. Sanders, Michael Clarke Duncan (voice), Geoffrey Rush (voice), Clancy Brown (voice)
REVIEW:
Green Lantern is passable entertainment for two hours of diversion for comic book movie fans who aren’t too demanding, but for anyone else—and probably even them—it’s generic and disposable. Continue reading
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
DIRECTOR: Gavin Hood
CAST:
Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Lynn Collins, Ryan Reynolds, Taylor Kitsch, Will.i.Am, Daniel Henney, Dominic Monaghan, Kevin Durand
REVIEW:
Prequels rarely avoid feeling unnecessary, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine isn’t an exception. The spin-off for the character embodied onscreen in three X-Men films by Hugh Jackman (who produced here) is not exactly a train wreck, but it’s a bit of a disorganized mess that doesn’t escape a feeling of generic, uninspired redundancy. Continue reading