Day: May 15, 2018

Director: David Leitch

Writer: Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Ryan Reynolds (Screenplay) Rob Liefeld, Fabian Nicieza (Comics)

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Morena Baccarin, Zazie Beetz, Brianna Hildebrand, Bill Skarsgard, T.J Miller, Terry Crews

 

Plot: Foul-mouthed mutant mercenary Wade Wilson (AKA. Deadpool), brings together a team of fellow mutant rogues to protect a young boy of supernatural abilities from the brutal, time-traveling mutant, Cable.

Tagline – Prepare for the second coming.

Runtime: 1 Hour 59 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Laugh a Minute Comedy

 

Story: Deadpool 2 starts when Deadpool (Reynolds) gets forced into helping Colossus back at Xavier’s mansion, his first mission to calm Russell (Dennison) a tortured mutant about to cause chaos with his fire ability. When things go south Deadpool ends up needing to protect Russell from the time travelling warrior Cable (Brolin) that has come from the future to kill Russell, along the way Deadpool puts together a team, the X-force with Domino (Beetz) using her ability to help in ways Deadpool doesn’t understand.

 

Thoughts on Deadpool 2

 

Characters – Deadpool has gone international with his crime fighting ways now, but when he suffers a life changing moment he goes in search of a purpose, he spends most of the film trying to save Russell from Cable with one liners coming out his mouth in nearly every scene. Cable has come from the future in search of a mutant that has killed his family, he will use his technology advances to get to him and fight to stop the mutant before he could clash with his family in the future. He is the opposite to Deadpool, cold hearted killer, but broken too. Vanessa is back and gives Deadpool all the motivation he needs to complete his tasks. Domino is the new-comer most people will enjoy, her ability is luck, she is super laid back and everything just seems to fall her way. Russell is the teenager with fire ability, he has been abused at the home for mutants, which has made him the enemy when he wants to kill the people that abused him. When it comes to the rest of the characters we get good moments with them throughout the film, but none of them become the centre of attention.

Performances –Ryan Reynolds shines once again in the role he was destining to play. Josh Brolin makes for an excellent Cable, they even throw the short jokes about him not matching the comic book Cable’s size in too. Zazie Beetz is the breakout star of the movie, having never seen her in anything, she handles this laid-back role very well. Julian Dennison, you might remember him from the Hunt for the Wilderpeople, he brings that level of performance here which adds to the comedy in the film. The rest of the returning cast do a good job as the new faces, but none reach the level of the previous mentioned performers.

Story – The story here does follow similar path to the original Deadpool, where Deadpool must take on a villain using the friends both old a new while adding comedy into the revenge premise. This keeps everything simple, gets to poke fun at the genre of superheroes and does bring a turning point for the Deadpool character and his actions. There are shocks in the storyline, but I felt like I was watching a superhero version of Looper for the most part.

Action/Adventure/Comedy/Sci-Fi – The action gives us plenty of fights between the characters, we get to see how the director has used his past experience in the John Wick films to make the action scenes feel more intense, the inclusion of the Cable character gives us more sci-fi elements with the time travel and weaponry. It is the comedy that we have come here for though, it would be fair to say barely any jokes miss, and while some are reference heavy, the target audience should understand them all.

Settings – The film gives us settings like a Fast and Furious movie, we have point A for one action sequence, point B for the next and part C for the final act, it is by the book and for the most part they check off action picks well.

Special Effects – The effects in the film look brilliant too, even when they is a reference to a CGI battle, it works for the film and makes you laugh along the way.

Scene of the Movie – Healing time.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Certain characters don’t get as much screen time as you feel they should.

Final Thoughts – This is a wonderful sequel that brings us more laughs, more enjoyment and great new characters.

 

Overall: Funniest film of the year.

Rating

 

 

Director: Josh Gerritsen

Writer: Tess Gerritsen (Screenplay)

Starring: Laila Robins, Adam Wade McLaughlin, Teri Reeves, Matthew Wilkas, Stephen Atkinson, Anabel Graetz

 

Plot: A fishing community on a remote Maine island finds itself suddenly cut off from the rest of the world after the ferry stops coming. When people start to vanish, the terrified survivors realize that someone – or something – is hunting them.

Tagline – Every thing needs to eat.

Runtime: 1 Hour 39 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Fun Creature Feature

 

Story: Island Zero starts as we meet the residents of the small fishing community on the Maine Island, Doctor Maggie (Robins), biologist Sam (McLaughlin) novelist Titus (Wilkas) and many more, with Christmas around the corner the non-permanent resident are looking to return home, only for the ferry not to arrive and connection to the outside world gone.

As the days pass the tension starts to rise and the supplies dwindle, but the bigger threat comes from the sea as a new predator is looking to eat, can they make it offer the island before becoming the latest target.

 

Thoughts on Island Zero

 

Characters – Maggie is the temporary doctor on the island, she does her best with the residents, but can’t wait to leave to return to her home on the main land for an isolated Christmas. She provides help when the attacks happen, while remaining calm through any panic. Sam is a marine biologist that lives on the island who believes the problems in the water will happen with the fish population seemingly vanishing, he does have to face relationship issues with his wife not wanting to stay on the remote island. Lucy is the wife of Sam’s, she is a journalist, but isn’t happy on the island anymore looking to move back to the mainland either with him or without him, she always feels like a replacement mother to his daughter which has made her feel insecure at times.

Performances – Laila Robins is good in one of the leading roles, she shows the calmness required in her character throughout the film. Adam Wade McLaughlin is good as the marine biologist while Teri Reeves is good as the one that wants a sensible solution to what is going on. The rest of the cast are good throughout the film without anyone being a stand out.

Story – The story here shows the residents of a small remote fishing community that come under siege by an unknown predator that can’t be seen by the naked eye and will hunt to feed. This does fall into the creature feature style of survival film where the group must survive against a new predator. It is a tried and test formula and plays out how you would expect without being overly challenging to watch, the idea does leave our characters facing personal demons to survive too.

Horror – The film is a creature feature which does play into the horror well, if you saw the movie Grabbers, this does have similarities without the comedy parts.

Settings – The film is set on the remote island, with only one way to get off the island, this works wonderfully because it shows the isolation the characters will be facing with no way of communication to the mainland.

Special Effects – The effects in the film are used well, moments of practical for the gore and the infra-red to identify the predator and wildlife around the island.

Scene of the Movie – Interrogation.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – It does take slightly too long to get going.

Final Thoughts – This is a simple fun creature feature, it hits the marks it needs to and keeps everything entertaining for the audience.

 

Overall: Creature feature 101

Rating

 

 

Director: Nick Love

Writer: Nick Love (Screenplay)

Starring: Sean Bean, Danny Dyer, Bob Hoskins, Rupert Friend, Sean Harris, Lennie James, Sally Bretton

 

Plot: A group of people who feel betrayed by their government and let down by their police force form a modern-day outlaw posse in order to right what they see as the wrongs of society.

Tagline – There will be no excuses. The guilty will be punished. No one is above OUTLAW

Runtime: 1 Hour 43 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Brutal British Action Film

 

Story: Outlaw starts as we meet five everyday working guys, returning soldier Danny Bryant (Bean), office worker Gene Dekker (Dyer), broken victim Sandy Mardell (Friend), security guard Simon Hillier (Harris), lawyer Cedric Munroe (James) and former police officer Walter Lewis (Hoskins) who have seen the effects of the violence behaviour going on in London.

Simon recruits Danny to build a group they get Gene, Sandy and Cedric to prepare to be fight back against the thugs and criminals in the world. Walter helps feed the information needed to get the job done cleanly, will there be a price for what they are doing.

 

Thoughts on Outlaw

 

Characters – Danny Bryant is a soldier returned from his tour in Iraq, he finds his life gone with his wife moved on, he sees the abusive behaviour of the people and builds a team to fight back. He does control how far the men go. Gene Dekker is an office worker that suffers a beating after an accident which drives him join to fight back. Simon Hillier is a security guard, he is the loose cannon of the group, he wants to push things too far, but he also brings the guys together. Cedric is a lawyer who has his wife and unborn child killed by his latest case, he does offer the biggest moral compass about whether to go through with the murders. Walter Lewis is a former police officer, he has been reduced to pick ups and offers inside help to help clean up the streets.

Performances – We have a great British cast here, Sean Bean in the leading role gives us a demanding performance where we always want to see what his character does next. Danny Dyer is giving his best Danny Dyer performance, do well but not offering anything new. Bob Hoskins is good too he shows how people will have been affected by what happened in the past well. Lennie James and Sean Harris show us both sides of the scale as they could take their characters to either side of the fence.

Story – The story shows us how crime rates are going up with the criminals not facing the consequences, we see the men that got pushed too far and decide to fight back. We have everything you would imagine with an outlaw move would take place, yes we are in London during modern day which adds something new, to the tried and tested formula.

Action/Crime – The action is thug related behaviour which comes off a brutal as it needs to for the movie, sometimes it will be harder to watch. The crimes are brutal to watch as the behaviour is shown to be out of control.

Settings – Most of the film is set in and around London, this shows the high crime rates, which helps the countryside showing the hiding places for everyone to hide.

Scene of the Movie – The preparations.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – It seems like Gene isn’t quite like the rest.

Final Thoughts – This is one for the British fans of action films, it keeps us feeling like we are seeing real crimes committed and the idea of an outlaws helps make us understand their motives.

 

Overall: One for the British action fans.

Rating