2016's Deadpool introduced a different way of doing comic book movies. It was bloody, violent, vulgar and a welcome antidote to the anodyne actioners flooding the box office- and whilst it certainly wasn't the first comic book film to do that (hello, The Crow and Blade), it felt like a shot in the arm. Two years later, Deadpool 2 offers the same raucous, anarchic fun.
This time round, the Merc with the Mouth forms a team of mutants- known as X-Force- to help protect a young mutant boy from the killer clutches of time-travelling cyborg Cable.
If you've seen the first film, then you'll know what to expect from the second. It's more of the same. More inventive cursing, more eye-watering violence, more digs at current superhero franchises (especially Wolverine). All present and correct. It felt familiar and welcoming, you know what you're going to get and- considering I went to see it after a crappy day to cheer myself up- it did what I needed it to do. Some people may be disappointed that it's all a bit samey, but for me that wasn't a bad thing.
Ryan Reynolds brings the same charm and wit as he did in the first one (he's also credited as one of the writers on this). Other cast members returning from the first film fit right back into their roles. Stefan Kapicic is great as the voice of Colossus, whilst Brianna Hildebrand is strong as the fantastically-named Negasonic Teenage Warhead. Leslie Uggams is a particular standout as Blind Al and Karan Soni and TJ Miller provide able support as cab driver Dopinder and Deadpool's associate Weasel respectively. Whilst Morena Baccarin has less to do this time round, her role is perhaps more important here. To say any more would be to cross into spoiler territory, so I'll leave it there.
As for the new cast members, Zazie Beetz threatens to steal the second half of the film as mutant Domino, whose superpower is luck. Despite claims that luck isn't cinematic, we get some pretty cool sequences where Domino's luck comes into play. Josh Brolin gives a serious and stoic performance as Cable, a lot darker than some of the turns around him, but that works. You'll also probably really like Rob Delaney's turn as Peter, who just saw the advert and ends up as part of X-Force. Julian Dennison is also strong as the abused young mutant Russell (aka Firefist) who ends up in Cable's sights and who Deadpool finds himself reluctantly protecting.
Original director Tim Miller left the project early on and is replaced by David Leitch (who directed John Wick, and Atomic Blonde). There are some great action set-pieces. X-Force's 'auditions' and introduction are particularly good, as is the final showdown as Firefist returns to exact revenge on those who have wronged him. There's also a particularly good CGI fight between Colossus and another character whose appearance in the film is particularly welcome. Again, spoilers.
Like the first film, there's an eclectic soundtrack, taking in everything from Celine Dion (with the incredibly Bond-esque opening song 'Ashes' which was accompanied by a very Bond-esque opening sequence) through to Enya and Cher, via Dolly Parton, DMX, and Skrillex. It's a soundtrack that sums up the film: frenetic, a bit all over the place, and full of hidden gems.
Deadpool 2 might not win any awards for originality, but it's a hell of a lot of fun.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Tez
Ernest Cline's debut novel Ready Player One was released in 2011 and critics were impressed by the , with one reviewer calling it 'the grown-up's Harry Potter'. Unsurprisingly, a film adaptation was commissioned almost as soon as the book was published. Now, it comes to the big screen, under the direction of Steven Spielberg (The Post, Lincoln), with a screenplay by Cline and Zak Penn.
In 2045, the world has become desolate. To escape these harsh realities, people spend most of their time in the OASIS, a virtual universe where anything is possible. OASIS was created by the brilliant James Donovan Halliday, a 1980s pop culture aficionado. When Halliday died, he released a video announcing a treasure hunt through the OASIS, looking for the three keys that would unlock an Easter Egg which would give the winner Halliday's vast fortune... and total control over the OASIS.
In the five years since Halliday's death, despite many attempts, nobody has completed the first task- a high-octane road-race- to get the key. That is until a young man called Wade Watts, who lives in Columbus. Ohio, and goes by the online name of Parzifal, works out how to beat the race. The contest is then on to find the other two keys- but Parzifal's victory puts him in the sights of Innovative Online Industries (IOI), a multinational corporation who seek to control OASIS for their own profit.
First off, I haven't read the book, so I can't tell you how faithful an adaptation this is. But what I can tell you is that I now want to go and read the book- and I really feel I need to see the film again. It's just superb.
Produced under the Amblin banner (who brought us the 1980s delights of ET, The Goonies, and Back To The Future, amongst others), the film is a loving tribute to geek culture in all its forms. There's been a bit of updating since the book was first published- there's references to 'Twitch streams' and one of the first places you see in the OASIS is a Minecraft world- but there are still references to classic Atari games, Dungeons & Dragons, John Hughes movies, The Iron Giant, anime, and so much more. In a way, it's almost overwhelming how much has been put on the screen; things like the scene in the Distracted Globe nightclub and the climactic end battle feature so many little easter eggs and references that repeated viewing would be needed to get them all.
In the same kind of way that Avatar blended real world with fantasy, the film does a great job of differentiating between the two. Wade's real world in 'The Stacks'- mobile homes piled high on one another- looks drab and grim and gritty, whilst the OASIS looks bright and sumptuous. The CGI on the avatars looks great, and the worlds created in the OASIS all look amazing- even a note-perfect version of the Overlook Hotel from The Shining!
So, visually, it's stunning- no surprise there. But Ready Player One also has substance beneath the sheen. There's some pointed social commentary on the use of technology to escape reality, the nefarious plans of corporations to monetise and control people, how the real world compares to the fantasy world created online, even down to making the simple point that you may know people online but how much do you really know them? There's a lot to think about. Plus there's also the quest narrative (something I particularly enjoy) to get invested in.
Performances are strong across the board with Tye Sheridan (Cyclops in X-Men: Apocalypse) taking the lead role of Wade/Parzifal. He's great as the hero, a young man whose real world experiences are dreadful and seeks refuge in the OASIS, only to find the actions of the online world having real-world consequences. He's a geeky obsessive but one with social skills, and you really get behind him as he progresses through the egg hunt. Olivia Cooke plays Art3mis, another participant in the egg hunt whom Parzifal has an attraction to. Their relationship blossoms in both the real world and in the OASIS. Lena Waithe is superb as Aech, Parzifal's friend in the OASIS, who turns out to be someone very different in the real world. Win Morisaki and Philip Zhao complete the motley crew known as the Hi-5 as players Daito and Shoto respectively, with Zhao getting a lot of the laughs when his real-world identity is revealed.
Ben Mendelsohn is great as Nolan Sorrento, the weaselly yet powerful head of operations for IOI. His attempts to manipulate the game in order for IOI to win are particularly villainous, which really gives you something to root against. Even when he tries to pass himself off as not just a corporate suit, he's just so supercilious and unpleasant that you can't wait to see him fall. He's provided with great support by Hannah John-Kamen as F'Nale, a handler for IOI who does the dirty work in the real world, and by T.J. Miller who voices an OASIS character called i-R0k, who does his dirty work in the virtual world. Miller riffs on his Deadpool character as the snarky support and also gets a few laughs.
One other performance to note is that of Simon Pegg, who appears as Halliday's former business partner Ogden Morrow. Pegg makes the most of limited screen time to provide some heart to the situation. He also makes an uncredited cameo elsewhere in the film which is particularly nice when it's revealed. Finally, Mark Rylance reunites with Spielberg after Bridge Of Spies and The BFG to play Halliday. Halliday is a shuffling eccentric who finds the real world just that little bit too difficult to navigate, hence why he built the OASIS. It's a lovely supporting performance by Rylance, who also provides the voice of Halliday's avatar in the OASIS- a wizard with the rather lovely name of Anorak.
I cannot recommend Ready Player One highly enough. Chockfull of geeky references to keep even the most avid trivia buff busy, it's also got a lot of heart, a lot of adventure and more than enough going on to make the running time of 140 minutes disappear in the blink of an eye. Superb stuff.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Tez
Ready Player One is on general release from 29th March 2018.
It's taken years for Deadpool to have his own film but, boy, has it been worth the wait.
It's essentially an origin story, but not told in the traditional way. Instead, we see in flashbacks how cancer-ridden mercenary Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) became the spandex-clad Deadpool via a clandestine operation overseen by the smarmy Ajax (Ed Skrein). Wade goes after Ajax for revenge. Carnage and fourth-wall-breaking ensues.
Watching Deadpool reinforces just how badly X-Men Origins: Wolverine misjudged the character. Deadpool is a gobby little sod- his nickname is the Merc with the Mouth, for God's sake- and Ryan Reynolds' glib rat-a-tat delivery gives the film most of its humour. You don't neuter a character like this by sewing his mouth shut (although that gets a nice sly dig when Wade and Ajax talk before the operation). For me, this is Ryan Reynolds' best performance- he's likeable, snarky and cool but also shows a tender side with Wade's relationship with Vanessa (an equally brilliant and totally kick-ass Morena Baccarin).
All supporting characters do well - Ed Skrein exudes just enough villainy as Ajax (or should that be Francis?) and Gina Carano is pretty menacing as his mostly-mute sidekick Angel Dust. Two X-Men turn up- a fact that is not lost on Deadpool and which gives rise to one of the funniest lines in the entire movie. These are Colossus (voiced by Stefan Kapicic) and the brilliantly-named Negasonic Teenage Warhead (an assured film debut by Brianna Hildebrand). T.J. Miller and Leslie Uggams provide some great comedy relief as Wade's friend Weasel and his room-mate Blind Al and Stan Lee's cameo is just superb.
The script is achingly self-aware, crammed to the ginnels with pop culture references and the aforementioned fourth-wall-breaking. But it never feels quirky or try-hard, nor pandering to diehard fans at the exclusion of others. It's full of neat little Easter eggs which fans will get a kick out of but, if you don't know the reference, it won't impair your viewing.
Brash, loud, vulgar, cheerfully offensive, unremittingly violent and just downright bloody funny, it's a winner from start to finish.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Tez
