What would summer be without sequels, spin-offs, and superheroes? I recently saw two movies that I would characterize as "popcorn flicks"--movies that, while not excellent cinema, are fun and entertaining. I don't have a ton to say about either one of them, so I'm going to do a twofer review.
Deadpool 2
I've written in this blog before that I'm not really a fan of superhero movies. And I pretty much stick by that statement, though of course I've seen plenty of superhero movies by virtue of not living under a rock. However, I find many of them either too cutesy or too sincere. Too PG-13, if you will. So you can see how Deadpool, the self-aware, R-rated Merc with the Mouth is one of my favorites.
I LOVED the first Deadpool movie and there was no way in hell I'd miss the second. I left the theatre with mixed feelings about Deadpool 2: overall, I enjoyed it and was happy I saw it. There were a couple things about it I particularly enjoyed, such as the introduction of Domino, a lady superhero played by Atlanta's Zazie Beetz whose power is, simply, good luck. I also liked the hilarious, if short-lived "X-Force" that Deadpool gathers together and the father/son (or, more accurately, big brother/little brother) relationship Deadpool has with a young mutant named Firefist (on which the entire plot is based).
However, the movie felt very uneven and all over the place in both tone and plot. Previews implied that a giant chunk of the film would revolve around the above-mentioned X-Force, which was really not the case. There's also a time-traveling aspect to the film which led to a huge fucking plothole which annoyed the FUCK out of me.
///spoiler for plothole//
Ok, if Cable ends up not going back to the future at the end of the movie, does that mean his kid was never even born? Or, if she was, doesn't that mean he abandoned his family to live in the present?
//end spoiler//
I'm sure there are essays written by nerdy fans who explain this plothole, but I just was like "what the fuck, that makes NO SENSE" at the end.
There's also the "fridging" issue, which I won't get into--you can google "Deadpool + fridging" if you want to read more, but suffice it to say I thought it was lazy writing.
So: Deadpool 2. Good on some counts, bad on other counts. Definitely not as good as the original. But if Deadpool 3 ever comes out, I will 100% be there to watch it.
Grade: B-
***
Solo
In addition to not being a superhero person, I'm REALLY not a Star Wars person. I just never connected with the franchise. That said, I appreciate the importance of Star Wars in our culture. But I was invited to see Solo and that was the only way I was going to get my butt to go see it. I would have never just gone of my own volition. Hell, I still haven't seen The Last Jedi.
Solo is a fun movie. It takes a little while to get going, but the second half really picks up, especially when Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover) shows up to give the movie some much-needed sex appeal. Seriously, can they just make a movie about Calrissian being a total boss and fucking sexy space-ladies? I'd go see that movie.
Solo is a heist movie. Basically, Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) latches on to some career criminals, Val (Thandie Newton, who I only see as Maeve from Westworld now) and Beckett (Woody Harrelson being Woody Harrelson) and basically fucks up their big score so then he and Chewy have to help them with an even riskier heist so the big boss, Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany, going full space-Nazi here) doesn't kill them all. There are crosses and double-crosses and triple-crosses aplenty. Maybe even a quadruple-cross. I lost count at some point.
The good thing about Solo is that you don't really need to understand Star Wars in depth to get it. I mean, it helps, but you could go see it without seeing a single one of the other films in the franchise and still have a good time. And at its heart, that's what Star Wars is all about: classic stories about good vs. evil that are fun and that you can watch with the whole family.
Grade: B
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