"DEADPOOL" (2016) Review
The Hollywood industry received a great surprise when it discovered that a low-cost superhero movie became the first box office hit for 2016. The movie? "DEADPOOL", which is based upon a character from Marvel comics and the "X-MEN"franchise.
Actually, "DEADPOOL" is the eighth installment in the "X-MEN" movie franchise and it starred Ryan Reynolds in the title role. This was not the first time that the character appeared in one of the franchise's films. Nor was it the first time that Reynolds portrayed the character. He also portrayed Wade Wilson aka Deadpool in the maligned 2009 film, "X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE". In the 2009 film, he was a mutant special forces operative who worked under U.S. officer, William Stryker. Wade is transformed into Deadpool, a being with the powers of former mutants who were either dead or captured by Stryker. In this film, Wade is simply a well-trained former Special Forces operative who becomes a mercenary. He meets escort Vanessa Carlysle at a local bar and they become romantically involved. A year later, Wade collapses after proposing marriage to Vanessa. He is diagnosed with terminal cancer and decides that he does not want her to watch him die. A recruiter for a secret program approaches Wade with an offer of an experimental cure for his cancer. Wade finally decides to undergo the procedure. Unfortunately, Wade meets Ajax aka Francis Freeman, a weapon expert and leader of the program. The two end up disliking each other and Ajax subjects Wade to days of torture that eventually triggers the latter's latant mutant genes, which cures his cancer. Unfortunately . . . Ajax continues to torture Wade and ends up disfiguring the latter's face. Unwilling to subject Vanessa to deal with his disfigurement, Wade leaves her, changes his name to "Deadpool" and searches for Ajax in revenge for what happened to him.
What can I say about "DEADPOOL"? Well . . . it is rather funny. It is a very witty film, thanks to Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. Even the movie's opening credits featured more of the movie 's sharp humor and ability to mock the comic book hero genre. And the screenwriters, the producers and director Tim Miller were lucky to have Ryan Reynolds as the star of the film. The actor seemed well-suited for the film's style of humor and the main character in general. It is not surprising that the character's penchant for breaking the fourth wall and mocking the comic book movie genre - especially the "X-MEN" film franchise - appealed to so many moviegoers. I certainly found it appealing. The film's sharp humor seemed to manifest in the supporting cast's performances as well. For me, the funniest performances - other than Reynolds' - came from T.J. Miller as Wade's best friend Weasel; Leslie Uggams as Wade's elderly and sardonic roommate, Blind Al; and Brianna Hildebrand as teenage X-Men trainee, Negasonic Teenage Warhead. Even leading lady Morena Baccarin, who portrayed Vanessa Carlysle, had her moments of sharp humor, especially in the movie's first half hour. And although voice actor Stefan Kapičić portrayed X-Men Colossus in a straightforward manner, his interactions with Wade provided the movie with a good deal of humor.
What else did I like about "DEADPOOL"? Well . . . nothing. I hate to say this, but aside from the movie's wit, I was not impressed with "DEADPOOL". Not one bit. For a movie that was supposed to mock comic book hero films, it eventually sank into one. This was pretty obvious in the movie's last half hour, as Deadpool prepared to rescue lady love Vanessa from Ajax and the latter's assistant, Angel Dust. And what led Deadpool and Ajax to become such bitter enemies? They pissed each other off. Simple as that. Between Wade's uncontrollable sarcasm and Ajax's penchant for torture, they became enemies. And Deadpool sought revenge against Ajax for the torture and leaving his face scarred. Ajax retaliated after a near miss and went after Vanessa in revenge. I have never felt so disappointed over a pointless movie plot in my life. It seemed so weak.
To make matters worse, the Vanessa character was also a mutant named "Copycat". For some reason, the producers and screenwriters decided to remove her mutant abilities and simply portray her as Wade's girlfriend. Baccarin made a big deal about how Vanessa was no "damsel in distress" . . . that she was a kickass. Yes, Vanessa managed to escape from being tied up on her own. And she even managed to drive a pole (or stake) into Ajax, even if her action failed to cause him any harm. But in the end, she was a "damsel". Finally, there is the matter of the Wade/Vanessa romance. Overall, I had no problem with it. Reynolds and Baccarin made an engaging on-screen couple. They even provided a good deal of pathos, when the scene demanded it. But could someone please explain why it was necessary to include a montage of Wade and Vanessa in a series of sexual positions as a means of conveying their love for one another? A sexual montage? Really? What is this? "CINEMAX AT NIGHT"? Accuse me of being a prude if you like. But I stand by my words. I would not have minded if there had been one sex scene. But a montage? I get the feeling that the screenwriters and Miller had included this scene for the benefit of the immature fanboys.
Actually, this entire film seemed to be an ode to comic book fanboys. This is the only way I can explain this pointless film. I find it ironic that many "X-MEN" fans and Reynolds had put down the 2009 film that first introduced the character. I would not regard "X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE" as one of the best Marvel films, let alone one of the best in the "X-MEN"franchise. But I thought it was a hell of a lot better than this mess. No amount of sharp humor, breaking the fourth wall or comic performances could save this movie . . . at least for me.
"THE HITMAN'S BODYGUARD" (2017) Review
It occurred to me that the buddy action film genre has become a dying breed in Hollywood summer blockbusters. I cannot think of the last one that did not feature science-fiction, fantasy or costumed heroes. So, imagine my surprise when Lionsgate released "THE HITMAN'S BODYGUARD" during the late summer of 2017.
Directed by Patrick Hughes and written by Tom O'Connor, "THE HITMAN'S BODYGUARD" is an action-filled travelogue about a private bodyguard who is hired to protect a professional hitman convinced to testify against a bloodthirsty dictator at the International Criminal Court. The movie began with Private European Union based bodyguard Michael Bryce protecting a Japanese arms dealer leaving London. Unfortunately for Bryce, the arms dealer is shot in the head through the airplane window after boarding a plane. Because of this failure, Bryce's reputation declined within two years, until he found himself eking out a living protecting drug-addicted corporate executives in London.
During this time, the ruthless Belarus dictator, Vladislav Dukhovich has been put on trial for crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court. But thanks to Dukhovich's men assassinating potential witnesses, the prosecution has been unable to make headway in the case against him. The prosecution finally struck gold when they managed to make a deal with an incarcerated hitman named Darius Kincaid, who agreed to testify against Dukhovich in exchange for the release of his wife Sonia from prison. When Dukhovich's men managed to kill nearly the entire security detail escorting Kincaid from Manchester, England to the Hague in Amsterdam; the surviving guard, Interpol agent Amelia Roussel recruited ex-boyfriend Michael Bryce to serve as Kincaid's bodyguard.
Upon the release of "THE HITMAN'S BODYGUARD", it received mixed reviews from critics. They loved the screen chemistry between the two stars - Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson. But many of them found the movie's narrative rather unoriginal. I must admit that I also found the plot unoriginal. An uptight, possibly "official" bodyguard or law enforcer escorting a criminal type across country? Reminds me of the 1988 movie, "MIDNIGHT RUN", the recent film "HOT PURSUIT" and scores of other action-adventure comedies. I had another problem with "THE HITMAN'S BODYGUARD"and it had to do with the character Amelia Roussel. I found it difficult to believe that the same woman who managed to shoot it out with Dukhovich's thugs in order to protect Kincaid had to be rescued by Bryce, when the dictator's Interpol inside man tried to strangle her. After seeing Roussel in action earlier in the film, I would have preferred if she had rescued herself instead of depending upon one of the leading men to rescue her. Frustrating.
Otherwise, I enjoyed "THE HITMAN'S BODYGUARD". It was not the best film I had seen during the summer of 2017. And it is certainly not the best action-adventure film I have ever seen. But I still enjoyed it. One, I liked the characters. Well, most of them. Two, aside from the last thirty minutes or so, the movie is basically a road trip . . . which I love. Three, the movie featured some first-rate action sequences, thanks to director Patrick Hughes. And four, the best aspect of "THE HITMAN'S BODYGUARD" proved to be the two leads - Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson. I do not know if the pair had ever worked with each other before. But I must admit that they really had a strong chemistry. Between Reynolds' portrayal of the uptight and proud Michael Bryce and Jackson's sardonic and very clever Darius Kincaid . . . hell, they were dynamite.
The movie featured some pretty strong supporting performances from the cast. My favorite performances came from Élodie Yung, who portrayed Bryce's ex-girlfriend, the strong-willed Interpol Agent Amelia Roussel; Joaquim de Almeida as the slippery Interpol Assistant Director Jean Foucher; Richard E. Grant as the very nervous and funny drug-addicted corporate executive, Mr. Seifert; and especially a very hilarious Salma Heyek as Kincaid's temperamental wife, Sonia Kincaid. Gary Oldman portrayed the movie's main villain, Vladislav Dukhovich. He made a very effective villain. But my problem is that I did not find his performance particularly memorable. I found his performance a bit too subtle - especially in a movie that featured borderline over-the-top performances.
I found Jules O'Loughlin's cinematography rather lovely. His sharp and colorful photography brought out the best in his shots of Great Britain, Bulgaria and the Netherlands. And as I had stated earlier, I thought the action sequences were first-rate. But my two favorite sequences featured the Dukhovich thugs' first attempt to kill Kincaid in Manchester; their attempt to kill him in Amsterdam, which led to an excellent boat chase along the city's canals and the final action within the halls and on top of the Hague's rooftop. More importantly, Hughes did an excellent in maintaining a steady pace for the film.
What else is there to say about "THE HITMAN'S BODYGUARD"? It was not a perfect film. Nor was it one of the best action-adventure comedies I have ever seen. But I cannot deny that it was entertaining film that not only maintained my interest, but also had me in stitches. And it was all due to a decent screenplay written by Tom O'Connor, lively direction by Patrick Hughes and a first-rate cast led by Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson.
"R.I.P.D." (2013) Review
The Summer of 2013 seems destined to be known as "The Season of Flops". I have never come across so many summer movies that bombed at the box office in such a short space of time. One of those flops turned out to be "R.I.P.D.", a recent adaptation of Peter M. Lenkov's comic book novel, "Rest in Peace Department".
The movie begins with the aftermath of the theft of gold found during a drug bust by Boston Police Department Detectives Nick Walker and Bobby Hayes. Nick buries the gold in his backyard, hoping to use his share of the gold for a better life for his wife and himself. But when he expresses regret for taking the gold to his partner Hayes, the latter kills Nick during a police raid at a warehouse in order to prevent the younger man from returning the gold. After ascending to the afterlife, Nick finds himself in into the office of Mildred Proctor, director of the Boston division of the Rest In Peace Department (R.I.P.D.), an agency that recruits deceased police officers to patrol the afterlife and capture "Deados" - spirits that failed to cross over and return to Earth as monstrous ghosts. Nick agrees to join the R.I.P.D. after Proctor explains that it would stave off a potentially negative final judgment for at least a century. He also meets his new partner, an ex-U.S. Marshal from the 1800s named Roy Pulsipher.
While attending his funeral, Nick learns that all R.I.P.D. officers have avatars - fake appearances perceived by the living. Nick is viewed as an elderly Chinese man named Jerry Chen and the living see Roy as a beautiful Russian woman named Opal Pavlenko. When the two partners nab and kill a suspect named Stanley Nawlicki, they find pieces of gold identical to the ones Nick and his old partner Hayes had stolen. The duo learn from one of Roy's snitches that the gold is connected to a dealer named Elliot. They trace Elliot to none other than Nick's former partner, Bobby Hayes . . . and eventually learn that the latter is actually a "Deado", who used a token to disguise his dead state. They also learn that both Hayes and Elliot have been gathering gold to construct a mystic device called the Staff of Jericho, which could reverse the tunnel that transports the dead into the afterlife, returning them to Earth.
What can I say about "R.I.P.D."? It was not perfect. Ryan Reynolds gave a first-rate performance as the movie's main character, Nick Walker. But the character also proved to be a somewhat dour and slightly off-putting personality who seemed to have little patience with his R.I.P.D. partner. Not only did I find Christophe Beck's score unmemorable, but almost undetectable. Once the Bobby Hayes character is revealed to be a "Deado", he struck me as . . . somewhat unthreatening. It did not help that actor Kevin Bacon portrayed the character with a less menacing air, after his character's big secret was revealed. And I do not know whether to blame Bacon, director Robert Schwentke or Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi's screenplay. My biggest beef with "R.I.P.D." proved to be the movie's final action sequence. The final battle between the two R.I.P.D. officers and Hayes and the other "Deadoes" struck me as anti-climatic . . . lacking in substance. The chase sequence through downtown Boston seemed fine. But the fight on the roof of one of the city's skyscrapers did not strike me as particularly exciting or eventful. Nick and Roy's defeat of Hayes and the other spirits almost seemed to easy. I cannot help but blame Schwentke, whose direction of the action finale in 2010's "RED" did not particularly impress me.
I could have easily accused "R.I.P.D." of lack of originality, pointing out that it seemed like a mixture of the MEN IN BLACK franchise and Showtime's 2003-2004 series, "DEAD LIKE ME". And I would be right. But I cannot blame the director or the screenwriters for the lack of originality. The blame belongs to Peter M. Lenkov, who created the comic book in the first place. But if I must be honest, I do not care if the movie's premise lacked any real originality. In the end, I realized I enjoyed the idea of supernatural cops reigning in dead spirits too much to really care. There were other aspect of"R.I.P.D." that I also enjoyed.
The makeup department did an outstanding job with some of the "Deado" characters, especially for the Elliot character, whose revelation as a dead spirit nearly blew my mind. I also enjoyed Alwin H. Küchler's photography of Boston, even if the scenes could have used sharper color. Despite Reynolds' dour portrayal of the Nick Walker character, I cannot deny that he and Jeff Bridges made a pretty decent screen team. But it was the interaction between Bridges' Roy Pulsipher and Mary-Louise Parker's Mildred Proctor that really seemed to sizzle to me. I also enjoyed the idea of Nick and Roy's avatars as a duo - especially in the form of veteran actor James Hong and model Marissa Miller. For some reason, the two clicked on screen . . . in a rather eccentric way. And although I had some problems with the story's finale, I must admit that I found the humor featured in the movie rather funny - especially many of Bridges' lines and some of his scenes with Parker.
Yes, I realize that "R.I.P.D." was not particularly perfect or even original. But you know what? I still managed to enjoy the film, despite its imperfections. The movie featured some outstanding visual effects, sharp humor from Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi; and some funny performances, especially from the likes of Jeff Bridges and Mary-Louise Parker. I am certain that many would disagree with me, but I did not find "R.I.P.D." a waste of my time.
