Review of Deadpool 2

Warning: This isn’t really a review.

I went out with Ron and his niece to see Deadpool 2 Fourth of July afternoon.  Quick review: it’s a great movie.  Like the first one, it’s really funny, it has heart, and has a decent story.  The bloodshed might be toned down a small bit.  As Deadpool says during the movie, “It’s a family film.”  (Not really, not at all.)  Ron’s niece mentioned anyone young-looking who went to see the first film at the theater she went to got carded twice (buying tickets and before going into the film) to give you an idea of the nature of the content of that one. 

I am mad that Internet reviewers again misled me, as they called the film disappointing at best and kept me away.  (The film even put in a couple of liberal “jokes,” just for the reviewers.)  I don’t know who to trust anymore.  Reviews seem to have an Agenda attached to them, rather than an honest appraisal.  Then again, the first Deadpool, which me (and judging by its box office) and bunch of other people loved, just as many other people saw it and went, “Meh.”  Ron was perhaps in that category, but really liked this movie, but his niece, who was the one who showed me the first movie, was apathetic towards this one.  “I may be over superhero movies,” she said afterward.  There’s no accounting for taste.

         

I feel somewhat compelled to comment on the violence, though not just on this movie.  Both Deadpool films are extremely graphic, but the violence is generally played for laughs.  It’s violent like a Warner Brothers’ Roadrunner/Coyote cartoon.  On some level, it may satire of the violence in the rest of the movie industry.  I bring this up more because of a couple of previews that came on before the movie.  These showed essentially the same level of mass random destruction and graphic bloodshed for some sort of shock value. 

I don’t know if fictional movie and TV violence has desensitized me to real world violence, but it has desensitized me to movie and TV violence.  If I don’t feel anything for the characters or empathy for innocent bystanders, it’s just mindless bloody destruction.  To go along with the Independence Day theme, it’s like a fireworks show, but not as pretty.  I think the job of a filmmaker is to make the audience feel something, so if you’re showing death and destruction, there should be more to it than just explosions and gunfire.  Less would be more, if there was an emotional investment.  Deadpool at least made the events funny.  

In one of the trailers before the movie, I was really impressed with how Lebron James coordinated his move to the Los Angeles Lakers with the release of his new film.  I guess we can look forward to seeing more Lebron on film as he’ll likely have more offseason time to fill, since he won’t be in the finals.  Oh, wait.  My bad.  That wasn’t Lebron.  It was Denzil Washington in a bad beard.  Silly me.  There he is without the beard. 

Wait.  Is that Denzil?  Looks more like Bill Cosby.  What a daring career move, going from disgraced comedian to bad ass action hero, mindlessly killing everyone in pursuit of vengeance, which is actually the definition of a villain.  (Deadpool sort of addresses that issue during the movie.)  No.  I’m sorry.  It is Denzil.  I can see his name in the credits there.  (He’s not aging well.) 

It has been speculated that Lebron is going to Los Angeles to perhaps work on an acting career.  His first job will be acting surprised that the crummy team he’s on isn’t instantly a contender just because of his presence.  Lebron seems to have trouble grasping that basketball is a team sport and that the other four guys on the court aren’t just there to make him look good.  I understand his confusion, since, according to the sports media, the entire rest of the Association is just there to provide a foil for him to perform against (and lose to in the finals) and has no other significance.  (Can you name three of Lebron’s teammates?  Can even his coach name three of his teammates?  Does Lebron even know his coach’s name?)

What was I writing about again?  Yeah, Deadpool 2 is a great movie.  This review is way late (thanks Internet reviewers) and will likely be out of the theaters by this weekend.  I missed Infinity War and I’m bitter.  This also means I can’t even look forward to seeing Part 2, which I won’t be able to see, since I missed Part 1.  I didn’t even really write a review here.  I should stick to baseball.