Review: ‘Deadpool 2’ Is The Overstuffed Chimichanga Of Awesomeness This Summer Needed

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May 15, 2018

Here’s something you probably didn’t expect from Deadpool 2; it’s a “family film.” Or at least that’s how Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds, still in the role he was born to play) describes it early on in the sequel to 2016’s surprising smash hit. It’s doubtful anybody expected the first movie to be as great as it was, a foul-mouthed hyper violent take on Marvel’s infamous merc that broke the fourth wall and superhero tropes right along with them. As far as comic adaptations go it’s nearly perfect, so the sequel has a ton to live up to. But again…it’s a “family film”, which may sound like the wrong direction for the most successful R-rated movie of all-time to go.

Unless that family is really, seriously, terminally fucked up. Because Deadpool 2 definitely is.

Bigger, badder, funnier, and more meta than ever, Deadpool 2 is the overstuffed chimichanga of awesomeness we were hoping it would be. Now directed by David Leitch, who co-directed John Wick and directed Atomic Blonde, the film manages to be even leaner than its rail thin predecessor, and yet packs more quips, heart, bloodshed, and humor so self-aware it’s like Deadpool is reading your mind. If there was a complaint about the last movie it was that sometimes it strained too hard to earn that R-rating, but screenwriters Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and Reynolds hit a solid groove of vulgarity and run with it like a streaker across a college campus.

Deadpool continues on his hero’s journey to become a better killer or something, or maybe someone who only kills bad guys, but this time he’s faced with an unexpected tragedy that sets him on an unlikely, and explosive, course of action. It leads him back to his old pals the X-Men, or at least the ones Fox has agreed to pony up for like Colossus (Stefan Kapicic), Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand), and her new girlfriend Surge (Shioli Kutsuna) . As for the rest of Xavier’s mutant squad…well, you’ll just have to wait and see what they’re up to but I’ll say it was the moment that gave me the biggest laugh. Inspired by his lady love Vanessa (Morena Baccarin), Deadpool sets out to protect an angry young mutant, Russell aka the horribly-named Fire Fist (Hunt for the Wilderpeople‘s Julian Dennison), from Cable (Josh Brolin), a warrior from the future sent back to kill the boy and prevent a disaster.

It’s so very Terminator that they barely make fun of it. It’s just too easy.

Not just a Deadpool sequel but an origin story for Cable and the launch of a possible X-Force franchise, there is a lot this movie needs to accomplish. The actual assembling of Deadpool’s team of badass mutants to “carry the franchise for 10 or 12 years” goes in the opposite direction you’re probably thinking and I’m not going to spoil it. There are some pretty big Marvel characters that join up, too, but the best among them is Domino (Zazie Beetz), whose wild hair and “good luck” powers provide some of the film’s most cinematically pleasing moments. She has the coolest attitude and a car-flipping action sequence that rivals anything Deadpool gets to experience on his own. In fact, he seems to have taken a bit of a step back in terms of kicking ass this time, with the slack picked up by the numerous other characters introduced. Sure, he still lops off his share of heads and sprays plenty of bullets, but it’s Cable and Domino who have the most fun.

As a longtime fan of X-Force it’s weird for me to see Cable and Domino on opposing paths like this, (Cable, Domino, and Deadpool had a very strange dynamic in the comics, long story), but Brolin and Beetz play it so well that I easily got over it. Of course Brolin is super rigid as the humorless Cable, becoming an impromptu straight man for Deadpool’s many Marvel-themed jokes at his expense, some perfectly timed to the release of Avengers: Infinity War and Brolin’s role as Thanos. The Cable character has always been less interesting on his own and the same applies here. He’s pretty flat until forced to interact with Deadpool and X-Force, which is when he becomes more than just a dude with a really big gun and a metal arm. No, he’s not the Winter Soldier, but don’t think Deadpool missed the resemblance.

The supporting cast from the previous movie all return; Baccarin, TJ Miller as Weasel, Karan Soni as the taxi driver Dupinder, and Leslie Uggams as Blind Al. All get their moments, and some, like in the case with Dopinder, get more screen time than ever. I’m assuming his part was beefed up at the expense of Weasel’s since nobody wants anything to do with TJ Miller right now. Of all the returning characters his is the most tacked on an unnecessary. Don’t expect him to come back when/if there is a third movie.

One thing you don’t have to worry about are the best moments being spoiled by the many trailers and promos. A lot has been cut out in the final version and it’s actually for the better. One thing the promos completely leave out are the emotional stakes, and believe it or not there really are some this time. Deadpool goes through the wringer here, and while he’s still just as idiotic as ever we are made to care if he makes it through to the other side with his fragile grip on reality intact. Everything is taken to the extreme and that includes the merciless tugging at our heartstrings, especially in the final act. Of course, Deadpool can’t help but prick us in our bleeding hearts and laugh about it the whole time.

If there’s still dust in your eyes over the grim Infinity War finale, Deadpool 2 might be the solution you need. And it has a post-credits scene that is more essential viewing than most whole movies. Let’s see the Avengers try and top that.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

First Look At Dakota Johnson In Luca Guadagnino’s Long-Awaited ‘Suspiria’ Remake

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John Nolan

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May 14, 2018

I feel like I should be leaving this to Roxana Hadadi who has a much deeper appreciation for Dario Argento’s Suspiria than I do. A remake of the horror classic has been in the works for what seems like forever, with director Luca Guadagnino repeatedly throwing other films in front of it, including last year’s Best Picture nominee Call Me By Your Name. But Suspiria is now only a few months away, and Amazon has released the first images of star Dakota Johnson.

The images don’t reveal much but we know that’s just a tease for the horrific nightmare that follows. Johnson plays an American ballet dancer who joins a prestigious dance company, only to discover there is something sinister going on. Tilda Swinton, Chloe Grace Moretz, Mia Goth, Sylvie Testud, Jessica Harper, and Lutz Ebersdorf co-star.

Here is the synopsis: As a darkness builds at the center of a world-renown dance company, its artistic director (Swinton), a young American new to the troupe (Johnson), and a grieving psychotherapist (Ebersdorf) become entangled in a bloody, sighing nightmare.

Guadagnino’s greatest strength is creating a vibrant atmosphere that tickles all of the senses. How he takes that talent and uses it to scare the crap out of us is what I am most looking forward to.

Amazon plans to release Suspiria in theaters on November 2nd.

DC Universe Adds Live-Action ‘Doom Patrol’ Series From Greg Berlanti

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John Nolan

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May 14, 2018

Warner Bros. is pulling out all the stops growing their DC Universe streaming service. Already with live-action Swamp Thing, Metropolis, and a Titans series in the works, plus a third season of animated Young Justice: Outsiders and a brand new animated Harley Quinn series, they have now added a Doom Patrol show from none other than Greg Berlanti.

Berlanti, the guy behind Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Black Lightning, and nearly a dozen other shows, will spearhead Doom Patrol, a team that is basically DC’s band of misfit heroes. They include members Crazy Jane, Robot Man, Flex Mentallo, and led by mad scientist Niles Caulder aka The Chief. The 13-episode season will be penned by Supernatural writer Jeremy Carver, with Berlanti, Geoff Johns, Jeremy Carver, and Sarah Schechter exec-producing.

Most interesting, though, is how the team will be introduced. They will first appear in the fifth episode of the Titans series before spinning off on their own. Here’s how THR describes it:

The Doom Patrol’s members each suffered horrible accidents that gave them superhuman abilities — but also left them scarred and disfigured. Traumatized and downtrodden, the team found purpose through The Chief, who brought them together to investigate the weirdest phenomena in existence — and to protect Earth from what they find. Part support group, part Super Hero team, the Doom Patrol is a band of super-powered freaks who fight for a world that wants nothing to do with them. Picking up after the events of TITANS, DOOM PATROL will find these reluctant heroes in a place they never expected to be, called to action by none other than Cyborg, who comes to them with a mission hard to refuse, but with a warning that is hard to ignore: their lives will never, ever be the same.

DC Universe kicks off later this year, and at this rate it’s going to be tough to turn it down.

‘BlacKkKlansman’ Trailer: Spike Lee Attacks Racism With A Buddy Cop Movie

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John Nolan

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May 14, 2018

When I think about the plot of Spike Lee and Jordan Peele’s film, BlacKkKlansman, about the true story of an African-American cop who infiltrates the KKK, the first thing that pops into mind is that David Chappelle skit about Clayton Bigsby, the black white supremacist. It just sounds silly as Hell, and certainly too weird to be based on fact. And based on footage from CinemaCon it seems that Lee has decided the best way to tackle it is to make it more like a buddy comedy than one of his incendiary pieces about race.

We’re picking up on the retro cop comedy vibe Lee is laying down in the first official trailer for BlacKkKlansman, which stars John David Washington as Ron Stallworth, the first African-American cop in Colorado Springs, and Adam Driver as his partner Flip Zimmerman. Together they find a way inside the KKK to expose a terrorist plot.

While the tone for this maybe different than people were expecting, especially as it premieres to compete for the Palme d’Or at Cannes, it’s not without echoes to today. Topher Grace plays former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke, who has been more in the news lately than ever as the white supremacist movement has been emboldened. Just how far has the civil rights movement come in light of something like that? Lee seems to be addressing that in some way with this movie.

Also starring Laura Harrier, Corey Hawkins, and Ryan Eggold, BlacKkKlansman opens August 10th.

‘3 Faces’ Trailer: Banned Iranian Director Jafar Panahi Is Back With A Road Trip Drama

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John Nolan

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May 14, 2018

If you’ve heard of Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi then you probably know his story. The director of such humanistic films as The White Balloon, Offside, and Crimson Gold ran afoul of the Iran government for the content in his work, which often criticized certain aspects of life in his home country. In 2010 Panahi was arrested, along with his family and friends, on a charge of spreading propaganda against the government. He was convicted and sentenced to a 20-year ban on making movies. Since then he has kept making movies, albeit in secret. With that kind of back story it makes the Cannes premiere of his latest, 3 Faces, all the more special.

A fictionalized story in which Panahi and actress Behnaz Jafari play versions of themselves as they search for a young girl who reached out to them for help in leaving her conservative family. The new trailer shows them exploring different villages in northwest Iran, encountering colorful people who have a very different way of life. Here’s the synopsis:

Well-known actress Behnaz Jafari is distraught by a provincial girl’s video plea for help – oppressed by her family to not pursue her studies at the Tehran drama conservatory. Behnaz abandons her shoot and turns to filmmaker Jafar Panahi to help solve the mystery of the young girl’s troubles. They travel by car to the rural northwest where they have amusing encounters with the charming folk of the girl’s mountain village. But the city visitors soon discover that the protection of age-old traditions is as generous as local hospitality…

Fortunately, 3 Faces looks pretty solid in terms of international distribution but there’s no word on a stateside release. Hopefully we’ll learn more once Cannes wraps up.

‘The House That Jack Built’ Trailer: Matt Dillon Gets Bloody In Lars Von Trier’s Serial Killer Film

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John Nolan

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May 14, 2018

Lars von Trier isn’t exactly known for subtlety, and certainly hasn’t shied away from sexually or violently graphic material. So when he warned audiences before the Cannes premiere of The House That Jack Built that it would be his most brutal film yet…well, it meant something. And based on the trailer he wasn’t exaggerating.

Matt Dillion stars as the titular serial killer, which takes us through his murderous career while showing the influences on him as a child. Here’s a hint: Jack is pretty screwed up. Uma Thurman, who had a very memorable role in the director’s Nymphomaniac, is back as “Lady 1”. Uh oh. That doesn’t sound good for her character, does it?

Here’s the synopsis: U.S.A. in the 1970s. We follow the highly intelligent Jack through 5 incidents and are introduced to the murders that define Jack’s development as a serial killer. We experience the story from Jack’s point of view. He views each murder as an artwork in itself, even though his dysfunction gives him problems in the outside world.

Despite the fact that the final and inevitable police intervention is drawing ever near (which both provokes and puts pressure on Jack) he is – contrary to all logic – set on taking greater and greater chances. The goal is the ultimate artwork: A collection of all his killings manifested in a House that he builds. Along the way we experience Jack’s descriptions of his personal condition, problems and thoughts through a recurring conversation with the unknown Verge – a grotesque mixture of sophistry mixed with an almost childlike self-pity and in-depth explanations of, for Jack, dangerous and difficult maneuvers.

The House That Jack Built has its world premiere on May 14th. The cast includes Riley Keough, Bruno Ganz, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, Sofie Gråbøl, Jeremy Davies, and Ed Speleers.

Steven Soderbergh’s Panama Papers Film ‘The Laundromat’ Targets Gary Oldman & Antonio Banderas

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John Nolan

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May 14, 2018

We’ve known for a couple of years about Steven Soderbergh’s movie about the Panama Papers, the document leak that exposed a number of powerful people and their tax evasion tactics. We haven’t heard a ton about it, but today comes word about some potential casting to go along with the film’s title: The Laundromat. Fortunately, it has nothing to do with the dry cleaning industry, but a different type of laundering.

Deadline reports Gary Oldman and Antonio Banderas are circling roles in the film, which has a script by Scott Z. Burns (Contagion) adapted from Jake Bernstein’s book. We don’t have any details on their roles, but lets assume they’re playing one of the many people affected by a whistlelblower’s document leak from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca that revealed how politicians and celebrities legally hide trillions of dollars from the government, mostly through offshore accounts and shell corporations. Can you spell “tax evasion”?

Scoring Oldman and Banderas is a great move for Soderbergh, but to be honest having A-list stars hasn’t helped his last couple of films at the box office. But it could work this time, as The Laundromat seems to be closer in style to Soderbergh’s 2001 classic, Traffic, and docudramas really seem to be making a comeback.

‘Climax’ Trailer: Gaspar Noe Is Back With A Wild Horror/Dance Movie Mashup Or Something

By

John Nolan

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May 14, 2018

Oh look, it’s a new film by Gaspar Noe. That’s sure to make the Google Ads censors perk up their ears. Every time we get a new violation it’s either because of Lars Von Trier or Gaspar Noe, and both have films at Cannes right now and both with trailers out today. Goody. Anyway, Noe is back with Climax, which like his previous efforts looks like another wild orgy for the senses.

Noe’s latest effort including the divisive Irreversible, Enter the Void and 2015’s evocative (but kinda boring) Love, this one stars The Mummy and Kingsman‘s Sofia Boutella in what looks like a horror/dance movie mashup. With lots of sangria. And some kind of descent into madness. Apparentlyh this is based on a true story, too? Oi.

Here’s the synopsis:

In the mid 90’s, 20 urban dancers join together for a three-day rehearsal in a closed-down boarding school located at the heart of a forest to share one last dance. They then make one last party around a large sangria bowl.

Quickly, the atmosphere becomes charged and a strange madness will seize them the whole night. If it seems obvious to them that they have been drugged, they neither know by who nor why. And it’s soon impossible for them to resist to their neuroses and psychoses, numbed by the hypnotic and the increasing electric rhythm of the music… While some feel in paradise, most of them plunge into hell.

Climax debuted at Cannes last night and the buzz is through the roof. Expect to see it stateside eventually, but for now get high off this trailer.

Dan Stevens Rejoins ‘Legion’ Creator Noah Hawley For ‘Pale Blue Dot’

By

John Nolan

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May 14, 2018

Noah Hawley has found tremendous success with FX’s Legion series, which as a spinoff of the X-Men movie franchise had potential to be a disaster that alienated fans. Instead, Hawley has found a way to make the show accessible to everyone who loves trippy stories that mess with your head. His astronaut drama Pale Blue Dot sounds like it may be just as paranoid and unnerving, which may be why Hawley is turning to his Legion star Dan Stevens for a key role.

Stevens has joined Natalie Portman, Jon Hamm, and Zazie Beetz in Pale Blue Dot, which is loosely based on the story of Lisa Nowak, the astronaut who drove 900 miles (the joke was she wore space diapers the whole way) to kidnap a romantic rival in a bizarre love triangle. The film will center on Portman’s character, a married astronaut who returns home and finds it hard to assimilate back into normal life. Jon Hamm plays the astronaut she starts an affair with, while Zazie Beetz is the woman he moves on to, which drives Portman’s character to lose her grip on reality. Stevens will play Portman’s husband.

The script was written by Brian C. Brown and Elliott DiGuiseppi with Reese Witherspoon originally to star. She was on board for a while before having to drop out, but remains on as a producer. Even with Hawley’s busy schedule developing new seasons of Legion and Fargo, not to mention a Doctor Doom movie that’s in the works, expect Pale Blue Dot to shoot soon. [THR]

Review: ‘Terminal’, Margot Robbie Can’t Breathe Life Into This Stale Hitman Flick

By

Travis Hopson

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May 14, 2018

“Revenge Never Looked So Good” is the tagline for Vaughn Stein’s directorial debut, Terminal, a gorgeous and atmospheric neo-noir that smartly placed Margot Robbie in the femme fatale role. There’s truth in advertising in this case because the film is stunning to look at, colorful and surreal like if Dick Tracy stumbled into Alice in Wonderland, but not even Robbie and stylish visuals can prevent this film from being a retread of just about every trope of the hitman genre.

Robbie is, in just about every sense of the word, a classic movie star. She is nearly worth paying to see Terminal for, as she once again plays a character whose angelic beauty hides something twisted. She plays Annie, a mysterious woman who seems to be everywhere in an anonymous town so seedy it’s like Sin City had a secret underbelly nobody knew about. Sometimes she’s a waitress in a grungy old diner, other times she’s lurking around bus stations in a red coat that evokes Little Red Riding Hood. The wolves in this forest are everywhere, though. Max Irons and Dexter Fletcher are combative hitmen Alf and Vince, in town on a lucrative job for a benefactor they know nothing about. Simon Pegg dials down the humor in an understated role as Bill, a primary school teacher with a terminal illness. He takes some comfort in conversations with Annie about life, death, and regrets, although she does seem to be steering him on a questionable path.

As you probably guessed, nobody is exactly who they seem to be and double-crosses come aplenty. But none of it matters because the characters Stein has created have no soul, no depth, nothing that makes them stand out. They jabber on and talk around one another the way mercurial assassins would, but we’re never given a reason to care. And this goes on for the bulk of the film’s 90 minute runtime, putting you through one snoozer of a conversation after another, all sounding like they were lifted from the Guy Ritchie playbook. If you’ve seen Snatched or Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels (Fletcher is a Ritchie regular) then you can probably predict every line. But there’s no story that develops around their ruminations. At one point Alf and Vince lament they’ve been stuck in an apartment for weeks waiting on their target, and you’ll feel similarly trapped and stir crazy hoping something will happen.

If only Stein had fully embraced the film’s quirkier aspects this wouldn’t have been such a familiar bore. Mike Myers takes a rare screen role as a seemingly omnipresent janitor/cleaner who scrubs the toilets, drops pearls of wisdom, and mops up after the occasional murder. He plays the character as close to Austin Powers as possible without dipping into self-parody, but it’s also like he’s winking knowingly at us the whole time. This is such a baffling film for him to appear in and I think Myers enjoys picking his spots like this. Other than Robbie he’s the only one here who does anything remotely memorable.

Robbie is a true force here, vamping it up in a serious of costumes one more illicit than the next. But not even she can overcome a screenplay that goes nowhere until the final 20 minutes, which are admittedly pretty great even if the big twist is obvious to anyone who has seen The Usual Suspects. Robbie, dripping with sexuality that is both alluring and deadly, proves she can chew up scenery as well as anybody. She and Myers are basically fighting one another to devour every possible moment, which they need to because Pegg, Irons, and Fletcher are so bland.

You might be surprised to learn that Terminal was shot way back in 2016, then sat gathering dust before somebody realized they could try and bank off Robbie’s Oscar nomination for I, Tonya. She’s listed as a producer here and has been a champion for the project ever since she joined it, but the fact it’s not lighting up multiplexes and is dropping quietly On Demand should tell you everything you need to know. Robbie may be a rare breed of Hollywood megastar, but not even she can pump life into Terminal. Ah well, there are always more Harley Quinn movies, aren’t there?

Rating: 2 out of 5