Synopsis
After FBI Agent John Hartley (Dwayne Johnson) captures the art theif Nolan Booth (Ryan Reynolds), he is framed by another thief known as The Bishop (Gal Gadot). To clear his name, Hartley must work with Booth to find the famed three eggs of Cleopatra before The Bishop can.
Review I don’t know whose bright idea it was to put Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, and Gal Gadot in the same movie, but they should get a raise! Johnson, Reynolds, and Gadot are three of the most charismatic actors today and together they do not disappoint. Their chemistry is impeccable, especially between Johnson and Reynolds. I cannot even begin to describe how much fun I had with this film. It’s simple and straightforward, while still containing a few fun and unexpected twists and turns. At just about 2 hours long, it has a good pace and never feels like it’s dragging or going too fast. Overall, the story is nothing special but the movie more than makes up for it with its leading trio and charm.
I thought Red Notice was GREAT 😀 It’s part heist film, part action film, part adventure film, and part comedy film. What more could I ask for?
Trivia The movie has a budget of around US $200 million which is Netflix’s biggest budget ever yet for a feature film. (via IMDb)
Trailer
Cast & Crew
Rawson Marshall Thurber – Director / Writer
Steve Jablonsky – Composer
Dwayne Johnson – John Hartley
Ryan Reynolds – Nolan Booth
Gal Gadot – The Bishop
Ritu Arya – Inspector Urvashi Das
Chris Diamantopoulos – Soto Voce
Ivan Mbakop – Tambwe
Rafael Petardi – Security Chief Ricci
Synopsis
Guy (Ryan Reynold) is a character in the video game Free City, only he doesn’t know his world is not real. That is, until he meets Molotovgirl, aka Millie (Jodie Comer).
Review
Before the pandemic delayed much of the films expected to release in 2020, Free Guy was at the top of my list of films to see in 2020. Ryan Reynolds making a version of The Truman Show centered around a video game? Yes please! Despite whatever expectations I had for this film, it surpassed them and then some.
At this point, Ryan Reynolds is just playing himself in his films and I’m here for it. His sense of humor and delivery was on point and single-handedly carried this movie. Don’t get me wrong, actors like Jodie Comer, Joe Keery, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Taika Waititi, and Lil Rel Howery were all great too but honestly, this movie would not have been as enjoyable if not for Reynolds at the forefront. Every scene is full of non-stop laughs. I can see Reynolds as Guy in a future conversations about perfectly cast roles.
As a gamer myself, films such as this that look at video game worlds or the video game community (this film looks at both) are so much fun for me. There are plenty of call outs to video game tropes or staples that other gamers are sure to pick up the references. Streaming on platforms such as Twitch is a huge part of the gaming community these days and this film incorporates several big streamers from all across the world into the story. Their time on-screen is brief but their inclusion is a major shout out to how big game streaming has become.
Several years ago, as you might recall, Twentieth Century Fox was bought by the entertainment conglomerate know is Disney and renamed to Twentieth Century Studios. Free Guy takes full advantage of the fact that Twentieth Century Studios lives within the Disney umbrella. I’m not going to spoil it but towards the end of the film, there is a fantastic and perfectly executed cameo from a famous Marvel actor. It served as the feather in the cap to an already reference-filled experience.
I thought Free Guy was GREAT 😀 I’m a sucker for feel good films and this has shot high onto my list of favorite feel good films. Everyone in the cast makes this movie so much fun and the gaming references and easter eggs are just icing on the virtual cake. If more films had the heart and humor of Free Guy, the world of cinema would be a much better place.
Trailer
Cast & Crew
Shawn Levy – Director
Matt Lieberman – Screenplay / Story
Zak Penn – Screenplay
Christophe Beck – Composer
Ryan Reynolds – Guy
Jodie Comer – Millie / Molotovgirl
Joe Keery – Keys
Utkarsh Ambudkar – Mouser
Taika Waititi – Antwan
Lil Rel Howery – Buddy
Britne Oldford – Barista
Camille Kostek – Bombshell
Mark Lainer – Hostage
Mike Devine – Officer Johnny
Synopsis
When Cable (Josh Brolin) travels from the future to kill a mutant kid named Russell (Julian Dennison), Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) puts together a team to stop him.
Review Deadpool quickly shot towards the top of my favorite superhero movies when it hit theaters in 2016. The irreverent tone, genre-deprecating humor, constant pop culture references and fourth-wall breaking, and the perfect casting of Ryan Reynolds in the titular role made one volatile and vulgar adventure. I, for one, could not wait for a sequel, especially after Deadpool‘s post-credit scene revealed Cable would be in the sequel. Thankfully, what Deadpool 2 delivered on was much of what made its predecessor so enjoyable, along with greater stakes and more character development. Or in other words: exactly what a good sequel should do.
One of my favorite things about Deadpool was the humor. The jokes came at you quickly but the nearly almost landed. Ryan Reynolds’ delivery was sharp and snappy. It’s no surprise the the sequel would deliver much of the same. The jokes come in greater quantity and quicker this time. Not as many of the jokes stuck the landing this time around but quantity trumped quality in this case and before you had time to realize you didn’t laugh at the last joke, the film was already on to the next.
If you didn’t like the amount of pop culture references in the first film, I’m sorry to say that you’re in for more of the same here. My favorite moments from Deadpool were those that broke the fourth-wall. While those were abundant in Deadpool 2, they didn’t seem as frequent. So in essence, this film traded fourth-wall jokes for pop culture ones.
You could not ask for a better Deadpool than Reynolds. Even way back in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, I thought he made the perfect Wade Wilson. He killed it in the previous outing as Wilson and only gets better in the sequel. The casting is so perfect it is hard to determine where Reynolds ends and Wilson begins.
Superhero newcomer Zazie Beetz is an absolute scene stealer as the luck-manipulating Domino. She has the most screen time of any of the members of X-Force and she makes the most of it. Whether it is her back-and-forth banter with Reynolds or the display of her unique powers, Beetz is on point. I can’t wait to see what she does next in film.
As big of a deal the trailers made X-Force seem, they weren’t around as much as I expected before the film sent Wilson back on his own. I wish more time would have been spent with them because many of the members (read as all except Domino) didn’t get much screen time. The members of X-Force all had various powers that were seen too briefly. Except Peter. Peter has no powers. Which easily made him the most compelling member of the group. I have no doubt that if Peter had a bigger role, it would have made this movie even better. However, despite the limited time spent with the team, it was enjoyable and generated several good laughs.
For a vulgar blockbuster such as this, it was a lot more heartfelt than I expected. The basis of the movie is that Cable came from the future to kill a young mutant before he can become bad and Deadpool tries to stop Cable from doing so. The comics version of Deadpool has been shown to be capable of such actions (look up comic panels of Deadpool and a young version of Apocalypse named Evan). Many of the scenes when Deadpool was opening up to Russell or Cable were genuinely emotional. I wasn’t expecting that from this kind of film. It sounds like these scenes would feel out of place but they fit it seamlessly and naturally.
I thought Deadpool 2 was GOOD 🙂 Knowing what made Deadpool a hit, the sequel offers much of the same. Although not quite as funny as the first, it trades some humor for something more heartfelt. Almost every member of the cast delivers fantastic performances but Ryan Reynolds and Zazie Beetz offer some of the more memorable of the film. I hope a third film is made because I can never get enough of Ryan Reynolds in his signature tight, red spandex.
Favorite Quote
Deadpool: With this collar on, my superpower is just unbridled cancer. Give me a bow and arrow and I’m basically Hawkeye.
Trailer
Cast & Crew
David Leitch – Director
Rhet Reese – Writer
Paul Wernick – Writer
Ryan Reynolds – Writer
Tyler Bates – Composer
Ryan Reynolds – Wade Wilson / Deadpool
Josh Brolin – Cable
Morena Baccarin – Vanessa
Julian Dennison – Russell / Firefist
Zazie Beetz – Domino
TJ Miller – Weasel
Leslie Uggams – Blind Al
Karan Soni – Dopinder
Jack Kesy – Black Tom
Stefan Kapicic – Colossus (voice)
Brianna Hildebrand – Negasonic Teenage Warhead
Shioli Kutsuna – Yukio
Eddie Marsan – Headmaster
Nikolai Witschi – Head Orderly Frye
Rob Delaney – Peter
Lewis Tan – Shatterstar
Bill Skarsgard – Zeitgeist
Terry Crews – Bedlam
Brad Pitt – Vanisher
Hey! [Bad guys start shooting at Deadpool] Wait! You may be wondering, “why the red suit?” Well, that’s so bad guys can’t see me bleed. This guys got the right idea, he wore the brown pants.
Thanks for everyone’s submission and one red suit to the following people for answering correctly:
Synopsis
When Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) gets diagnosed with terminal cancer, he agrees to undergo experimentation that would grant him super powers.
Review
I have been waiting to see Deadpool on screen for some time. It looked like we were going to get a good Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but think we all know how that turned out. We got a good Wade Wilson but their Deadpool was an abomination. He is one of my favorite comic characters and it hurt to see him treated in that way. But now, he finally has a proper movie. Does Deadpool deliver everything the character’s fans were hoping for? You bet your chimi-fucking-changas it does!
Much like Ryan Reynolds’ portrayal of Wade Wilson in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, he perfectly brings the character to life here again. He never shuts up, always cracking jokes, being a vulgar smart-ass, and constantly talks to the audience. Even his appearance, from his skin post-transformation and his costume are pulled straight from the comic book. Everything about Deadpool was on point. This was the truest adaptations of a comic character in a long time.
This is not your typical comic book movie. Some comic book movies will tone down the action and language to get a PG-13 rating. If Deadpool had tried that, this movie would have failed miserably. Deadpool is a character that deserves the R-rating. He is very foul-mouthed, over-the-top violent, and unrefined. To do anything less would have been a disservice to the character. If you are expecting a movie along the lines of Iron Man, go look elsewhere. When you watch Deadpool, expect a lot of blood, guts, exploding heads, dismemberment, and f-bombs.
As I’ve mentioned before, Reynolds did a fantastic job the first time as the character. He is even better the second time around, especially since he spends more than five minutes as Wade Wilson. I believe Deadpool would not have worked as well if anyone besides Reynolds was in the red spandex. Reynolds has both the comedic timing and action skills to pull off all aspects of the character.
It seems each new comic book movie is longer than the last. Deadpool clocks in at 108 minutes. As a result, it moves pretty fast. The studio knows what the audience wants to see, so there is no extra fluff. It starts off with a big action scene, then the back story is slowly sprinkled in. The number of characters is fairly small so there is nothing more than what is necessary. I almost wanted the movie to be longer! I was having so much fun that I didn’t want it to end.
I think my only gripe is that between the several trailers, much of the great moments from the bridge fight scene in the were spoiled. This scene on the bridge takes a good chunk of the movie so it was disappointing when the scene kept going and I felt like I had seen it already.
I thought Deadpool was GREAT :-D. Ryan Reynolds perfectly captures Deadpool, who is true to his comic book counterpart. The action is comically over-the-top and a quick run time keeps the movie focused. I knew I was in for a treat when the opening credits, before anyone even speaks, made me laugh.
Favorite Quote
It’s a big house. It’s weird that I only ever see two of you. Almost like the studio couldn’t afford another X-Man. -Deadpool
Trailer
Cast & Crew
Tim Miller – Director
Rhett Reese – Writer
Paul Wernick – Writer
Tom Holkenbog – Composer
Ryan Reynolds – Wade Wilson / Deadpool
Ed Skrein – Ajax
TJ Miller – Weasel
Morena Baccarin – Vanessa
Stefan Kapicic – Colossus (voice)
Brianna Hildebrand – Negasonic Teenage Warhead
Gina Carano – Angel Dust
Karen Soni – Dopinder
Leslie Uggams – Blind Al
Answer to MWL 2/10/16: Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) – X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Wade Wilson: Great. Stuck in an elevator with five guys on a high-protein diet. William Stryker: Oh, Wade. Wilson: Dreams really do come true. Stryker: Just shut it! You’re up next. Wilson: Thank you, sir. You look really nice today. It’s the green. It brings out the seriousness in your eyes. Wolverine: Oh, my God. Do you ever shut up, pal? Wilson: No. Not when I’m awake.
Thanks for everyone’s submissions and one elevator ride with Wade Wilson to the following people for answering correctly:
Synopsis
Drew's Movie Reviews 