Deadpool 2

Actors: Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Morena Baccarin, Julian Dennison, Zazie Beetz, T.J. Miller, Brianna Hildebrand, Jack Kesy

Rating: 9 out of 10, This sequel was going to be difficult to pull off because the first movie was so innovative, irreverent, and funny. That’s a difficult formula to repeat and to the filmmakers credit they didn’t. Deadpool is still hilarious and continually shatters the fourth wall but this played as a more straight forward superhero action flick, albeit with hilarity liberally spread throughout. Ryan Reynolds continues to own the title role and once again proves to be a master of the one-liners. He decided to explore how many ways he could dismember himself and the resulting regrowth periods were all too funny. Zazie Beetz was a very welcome addition to the cast and James Brolin again ably handled a semi-villainous role as a Soldier from the future having to deal with Deadpool’s insanity. I will never forgive them however for limiting the contributions of Morena Baccarin – that should be a chargeable criminal offense. Julian Dennison was a miss in the part of the mutant child targeted by Brolin for death, he got the adolescent annoying part down but not much else. There are some absolutely stunningly funny cameos which I’ll have to see the movie multiple times to catch completely along with the one liners I was laughing too hard to hear. It was, in other words, a Deadpool movie – a glorious mish mash of laughter, gore and inappropriateness. I loved it.

MVP: Reynolds, this totally his show and he dominates

Avengers Infinity War

Actors: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Don Cheadle, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Josh Brolin, Chris Pratt

Rating: 9 out of 10, I loved the movie which is a glorious send up of geekdom in general. It’s absolutely relentless as the Marvel characters I and fellow geeks have invested so heavily in over the past eighteen Marvel movies are brought together for dizzying confrontation with Thanos. Thanos plays the ultimate environmentalist as he plans of solving the universe’s population problems by eliminating half of said population. This doesn’t sit well with our heroes but Thanos is not your garden variety tree hugger. The death toll is constant and at times troubling as the big stars with contracts running out fall by the wayside in increasing numbers. I do find it strange that despite both sides having galaxy spanning technology the final confrontation always seems to come down to a fist fight and spears but with Marvel there’s an undeniable need to suspend disbelief. It was magnificent and too much fun. Marvel also smartly put out this was the first of a two movie arc so we don’t have to worry too much about all the dead heroes. In the immortal words of Miracle Max, I’m sure most of them are only “mostly dead”. Go see it, total popcorn escapism at its very best.

MVP: Saldana as Gamora, making green look good

Lady Bird

Actors: Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts, Lucas Hedges, Timothée Chalamet, Beanie Feldstein, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Lois Smith

Rating: 9 out of 10, One of the best movies I’ve seen this year. My daughter raved about it and claimed it reminded her a lot of her own teenage years with her mother. That’s the core of the story – the difficulty of a highly creative Californian teenage girl’s senior year in high school surrounded by drama on all sides, especially from her mother. My wife rightfully took exception to being compared to the emotionally callous mother in the movie – played with exquisite depth by Laurie Metcalf. The real message of this refreshing movie is the emotional byplay of the mother-daughter relationship when the younger one moves from child to woman. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it done better and that is a tribute to Metcalf but more so for Saoirse Ronan in the title role – she owns this movie. I truly believe she’s incapable of doing anything badly. This is a movie with heart as Lady Bird sails through her senior year beset by both family and social challenges but remains true. There are excellent subplots involving the value of friendship, home, and several aspects of teenage angst. This movie is squarely aimed at mothers and daughters but it was fascinating for an old dad to see and learn from as well.

MVP: Metcalf as the emotionally brutal but loving mother

Rampage

Actors: Dwayne Johnson, Naomie Harris, Malin Åkerman, Jake Lacy, Joe Manganiello, Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

Rating: 7 out of 10, This movie would not have worked, such as it does, without the Rock. He’s one of those rare, generational actors who make something like this worth watching. It is a little bit of sneaky fun as well. Rock plays an ape specialist, granted – a bit of a stretch, who has an almost too familiar relationship with an albino gorilla. When that gorilla along with a wolf and an alligator are accidently mutated into gigantic killing machines by the inevitable evil corporation the fun begins. Miss Moneypenny shows up to help the Rock emote as they trail their friend across the country after an ape induced plane crash. He and his two buddies are doing their best to level Chicago with the help of the US military until the Rock shows up to put things right. He finds a very interesting way to introduce an antidote into his gorilla bud and they team up to take on the other two creatures. Best line in the movie, “Of course the wolf has wings!”. So……it’s that kind of movie, harmless escapist fun with just the right leavening of humor and, of course, the Rock.

MVP: The Rock, of course