On The Screen – Deadpool 2 – 5/25/2018

**No Real Spoilers Here**

You’ll rarely get a negative movie review from me – although I have my concerns about “Solo” – which I plan to see this weekend.  I even found things to like about “Pacific Rim Uprising:

http://booksofbrian.com/on-the-screen-pacific-rim-uprising-4-15-2018/

What can I say – I’ve been a sucker for Kaiju since Elementary School.

It therefore won’t come as a surprise when I say that I absolutely LOVED this movie.  I waited to review until after my second viewing to make sure that my initial reaction would hold up over time and it definitely did.

I’ll start by acknowledging that this movie won’t be a win for some – it’s full of low humor – there’s no shortage of scatalogical laugh lines – plenty of sexual innuendo – Deadpool is a clown who’s impossible to take seriously.  That won’t work for many but I couldn’t get enough – and I was glad for it after the HEAVY, painful ending to Avengers:  Infinity War – another movie that I truly loved but that broke my heart a bit.  I needed a break and I’m thankful to Deadpool for providing it.  I’m hopeful that Ant-Man and The Wasp will provide more of the same.

First comment – this movie begs to be watched more than once.  I have a pretty good eye and ear – I don’t miss many things on a first viewing – but I found myself catching things the second time around that blew past me during the first showing.  Part of that is just the speed with which things come at you – Deadpool is an one-liner machine who never stops and rarely slows down.  I don’t know that it’s possible to appreciate all his material without seeing this movie more than once.  I enjoyed it every bit as much – in some ways more – the second time around.

Second comment:  I got a universal two thumbs up from the entire family on this one.  Both my step-daughter and my son – neither of whom are easy viewers to please – really enjoyed the movie.  My son is particularly hard to impress – he’s never been an enthusiastic movie goer – nonetheless, I couldn’t help but notice during the film that he was laughing just as hard as I was and he was genuine in his praise after the film.  The fact that both walked away praising the movie helped convince me that I wasn’t just “fan-boying” out on this one.

Third comment:  there really isn’t any Fourth Wall in this movie.  Ryan Reynolds / Deadpool is talking to the audience so frequently that he just makes you a part of the story.  It’s almost hard not to feel that this isn’t just a conversation between you and RR – broken up by comedy / action scenes.

Fourth comment – and building on the one above – this is as much a stand-up comedy routine using the movie as a backdrop as it is a cinematic experience.  With RR constantly smashing through the Fourth Wall and talking directly to you – it almost feels like you’re part of his schtick – along for the ride – giving him permission and getting permission from him in return – to make fun of everything that happens in other superhero movies – DC and the MCU.  He’s on stage – you’re his audience – and everything else in the movie is a prop.  It’s kind of a crazy feeling but I found it to be a ton of fun.

Finally – the post credit scenes were – in many ways – in my opinion – the funniest, most rewarding parts of the movie.  I give RR 5 full stars for his ability to ridicule himself along with everyone and everything else connected to the superhero cinematic genre.

This one is different – it’s crazy – it’s funny – it’s ridiculous – it’s totally irreverent – it’s a bit gross at times – and as far as I’m concerned – it’s a big, giant, red ball of wonderful.

Summer’s obviously arrived! 🙂