Xed Out (Commentary)

So, it turns out that the Marvel plans to recast all the X-Men when they do finally bring the X-Men into the Marvel Cinematic Universe they will be recasting the team. All New, all different.

Well, except Deadpool. Marvel is not stupid.

This should not be shocking. But what has shocked me is that I have seen a fair number of people express hopes that this would not happen…like it was not a forgone conclusion. Both Dark Phoenix and the New Mutants have been delayed multiple times. Fox does not seem to have much faith int he films, to the point that there is talk that the New Mutants might end up debuting on Hulu. Which is…disappointing.

Once Disney and Fox had their deal, people kept talking like Hugh Jackman was going to charge in and slice up Thanos in Endgame. Spoiler…he totally does!

Not really. But for some reason, people assumed the Phase Four setup would include bringing in known actors in roles they made in the Fox Movies. I would have chalked this up to wishful thinking, but some people feel like Marvel and Disney are really slighting the X-Men Franchise.

But the truth is that there is little reason to have even considered the likelihood of just bringing over the existing cast. Our first example of Marvel bringing someone into the MCU from an existing franchise was Spider-Man.

But they did not just carry over Andrew Garfield. They introduced a new actor and cast entirely. And it made sense. A new Spider-Man allowed them to fit him into the Universe without dealing with old baggage.

And there is a lot of X-Men Baggage.

The first X-Men film, directed by Bryan Singer, was generally well received. It’s standout had been the most controversial casting, Hugh Jackman asa Wolverine. The cast did okay, and Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan won audiences over with their portrayals.

The second film was a step up, playing with its themes far more effectively and stronger performances all around. But then, Singer left for Superman and was replaced by Brett Ratner. It borrowed from various storylines, including Dark Phoenix and Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men storyline revolving around a cure for the mutant gene. And while it has its moments, (the sequence with a young Angel desperately cutting off his wings deserved to be in a much better film) it was a sharp decline for the franchise.

It did not help that X-Men Origins: Wolverine was…another low point. It was decided that they would try and reboot the series, but more of a soft reboot. A new film was going to focus on the friendship of Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr. They would assemble the very first team of the X-Men.

First Class introduced the Hellfire Club, Moira McTaggert, Sebastian Shaw, Emma Frost to the franchise (well, a different Emma Frost). For the most part, it is a terrific film. Emma Frost left a lot to be desired, but Shaw was a great Villain. James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender gave excellent performances. Heck, if you ignore the absurd use of Darwin, it is almost a perfect film. I mean, the early portion of the film has a great “Magneto Nazi Hunter” storyline.

The followup was meant to bring the storylines together. Featuring both the original and newer casts, Days of Future Past is quite good. And so the rebooted franchise seeme to have found its footing.

But then came Apocalypse, and the cracks began to show. One of those big cracks was the conceit introduced in the second film of the McAvoy and Fassbender era…ten year jumps between films. First Class was set in 1962. Days of Future Past sent Wolverine to 1973 and Apocalypse took place in 1983. The next film is taking place in the 90’s. First Class introduced an eighteen (or there abouts) Havok. Like in the comics, he is the brother of Cyclops. Cyclops was not introduced until X-Men Apocalypse (along with Jean Grey, Storm, Angel and Nightcrawler). We meet Cyclops as a high school student in 1983. This makes Havok about 20 years older than his younger brother. But the actors are only about six years apart, and it is painfully clear.

The time jumps meant they could catch up to the present in a few films…but they also mean Fassbender and McAvoy are playing characters over 60 and it is painfully obvious they are nowhere near that.

And really…the franchise keeps floundering. Both Last Stand and Apocalypse make big misteps and are generally not a whole lot of fun. Nor is X-Men Origins.

And the standouts are rare. X2, First Class, Logan and the 2 Deadpools have been the best the franchise has had to offer. And they are all great, but not worth trying to port an entire franchise over for. Deadpool makes some sense, because they can blow off the change with a joke. Having to come up with some Endgame related blended universe babble is just not necessary.

We are getting our second attempt at the Dark Phoenix cinematically, and it does not look promising. It would be best and smartest to simply let the Fox films come to a close. Let us see a bright new start. A fresh new class.

(Also…it would be nice to just distance the films from Singer as much as possible.)

May 12, 2019 0

Look Ma! A Sequel! (Deadpool 2, 2018)

Okay….before I write up this review…give me a moment to go check out Twitter to find out how I should really feel about Deadpool.

Okay. Well… let us try this as spoiler free as possible. First, I cannot believe they killed Professor X twice in the film.

Oops. Boy off to a bad start. Let’s try this again. Deadpool 2 is a sequel to a film from 2016 that was called Deadpool. It featured a bunch of characters from a comic book, also called Deadpool. It was pretty well received and now we have this movie. In this movie, some characters from the first film show up again, including Deadpool. Some new characters also show up. There are fights, people die, there is swearing and lots of Ryan Reynolds. It is a sequel to a movie.

What? You want more?

Fine.

So, Deadpool would have been a perfectly fine film to leave as a one off. But apparently movie studios like money. Part of what made the first film work for so many is it had a rather irreverent approach to Super Hero films. Wade Wilson is a sarcastic mercenary who, in the first film was subjected to tests that left him severely scarred, but unable to die. He can recover from most any wound. That film centered around his relationship to Vanessa. In this film, we find his life bordering on blissful, until one of his contracts results in tragedy.

Deadpool finds himself, somewhat unwillingly, into trying to save a mutant kid from the time traveling Mutant Cable. Things go haywire and violent stuff happens.

While the main theme of family does not always quite come together, the film is still ambitious in how it tries to give a character who cracks jokes to the theater audience an emotional through line. Sometimes it works and other times not so much.

Where the film works best is it’s humor. The jokes come at a pretty fast pace, but Reynolds has a certain charm that allows for most of the jokes to land. There is an ongoing bit where Deadpool and new teammate Domino debate if “being lucky” is a real super power or even remotely cinematic. But the filmmakers have a lot of fun with Domino’s amazing luck.

The film managed to surprise me repeatedly. I just had certain expectations due to “Comic Book Movie” that managed to surprise and entertain me. Brolin’s Cable is played straight which works very well against Reynold’s rapid fire motor mouth. I found Domino to be a blast in this film. My one complaint is that I wish we got more Teenage Negasonic Warhead in this film, as she was such a highlight of the first film.

So, the first film was a bit stronger in how tightly it kept to the story, but honestly, I found myself (and the audience I was with) laughing throughout the film. I enjoyed this one, and think in some areas, they may have even made some improvements.

May 18, 2018 0

Marvelous

So, I recently wrote about how some feared what the success of Deadpool meant for the future of comic book and superhero films. And it looked like we were getting a glimpse of those fears being realized. There was first the announcement that the Superman vs Batman Blu-Ray would have an ‘R-Rated’ edition. Then they announced a go for the third Wolverine as an ‘R’.

There are reasons I think those were possible before Deadpool, but I think it did play at least a minor role.

However, proving that this may not be the trend it appeared to be, Marvel has announced they will not be making their Cinematic Universe a haven of ‘R-Rated’ super-hero films. This is welcome news. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has skewed comfortably PG-13. They are not little kid safe…but older kids on up have been able to enjoy them. Parents have been able to take older kids and teens and enjoy the films. They were not to risqué (Guardians of the Galaxy pushed that envelope the most).

I am glad to see Marvel sticking to the plan, rather than being distracted by Deadpool dollars.

March 5, 2016 0

The Danger of Deadpool’s Victory

So, since the last time I talked about Deadpool, I was proven very wrong. Deadpool was a hit with critics and audiences, receiving a lot of praise. There are people who did not care for it, but the movie broke records nobody expected.

I am happy to be wrong here. I am glad it has succeeded. And I think there is room for both family friendly super hero films and ‘R-Rated’ super-hero films.

On Twitter a week or so back, I got involved briefly in a discussion that was inspired by a tweet that stated that “Nothing Good Can Come From Deadpool’s Success.” I took the opposite side, arguing I do not think it means all super-hero films are suddenly going to go hard ‘R’.

Then in a couple days time, we saw announcements of the next Wolverine film will be ‘R’ and there will be an ‘R’ rated “super cut” of Superman vs Batman. And I do get the concern, though I am not ready to admit defeat. The Wolverine is not surprising, and they have skirted the violence of the character for over a decade.

Going back to X-2 we were being given pitches that we were about to see the Wolverine the last film did not deliver. We got a more violent cut of the second Wolverine film. At best, the success of Deadpool let them know that the ‘R’ is not the kiss of death.

In regards to Superman and Batman…Warner Brothers has always seen dark and gritty as the key to success. When Superman Returns did not succeed quite as big as the WB had hoped? They cited that it was not Dark Enough. When the Dark Knight succeeded they felt vindicated and even suggested that this is how they would fix Superman. When Green Lantern failed Warner Brothers blamed the film for not being dark enough.

Yet Man of Steel was dark and grim. And it seems the DC Universe was already on this path, well before Deadpool.

What is sad, is there is a lesson to be learned from Deadpool’s success. Deadpool was not a dark and grim take on super-heroes. It was a fun and bizarre ride. It had dark humor, and lot of it. But it was funny and intentionally so. The creators (from the writers to the director to the stars on) got the character. They knew and were faithful to their source.

Deadpool proves taking a big risk is worth doing. Films that know who they are? They are what studios should take a chance on. Truth their creatives, don’t micro manage. Letting the creators be free often produces positive results. Micro-Managing everything gives us studio vision and less interesting films.

February 26, 2016 3

Four or Five Moments (Deadpool, 2016)

Tim Miller’s Deadpool is hilarious and fun. A darkly comic take that brings the pages to life by simply understanding the character. The movie is also extremely crass, full of over the top cartoonish violence, raunchy humor, some nudity and plenty of profanity. This is not for everyone, and if you find those things hard to get past, I would recommend skipping this one. It is also not for your kids. This film earns it’s ‘R’ rating.

Honestly, it is a bit amazing this film got made. While attempt to parody and mock super-hero film have been attempted, they are really never successful. They never seem to understand the thing they are lampooning. Miller, Ryan Reynolds and the writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick have given us a surprisingly clever film. It is a bit amazing that they even got the opportunity to make it. After the disaster of X-Men Origins: Wolverine (The first attempt at playing the character by Reynolds), the idea of a Deadpool movie was shelved by the studio.

Then, somebody leaked test footage of a sequence that was created to pitch the shelved film. The response was so overwhelmingly positive the film got greenlit and Miller and Reynolds went to work.

And what they gave us is one of the most unique super-hero movies we have seen, while still fitting into that world. Reynolds bring snarky charm to Deadpool, also known as Wade Wilson. Wilson has been experimented on and his latent mutant genes activated. He takes damage, but due to a healing factor, all his wounds fix themselves. So, like a real life Wile E. Coyote, he gets abused relentlessly, but keeps coming back. A lot of the film’s humor comes from this.

There is a running gag that Colossus is always trying to get Deadpool to change his ways and join the X-Men. And along with the sullen Teenage Negasonic Warhead, he spends the film trying to get Deadpool on that path. And these two characters are great additions. They fit into the world well.

The real success is pulling off the character of Deadpool. Constantly cracking wise, he spends the film talking to the audience. In one scene Colossus is startled by a comment from Deadpool, not understand why he made his comment. Deadpool explains that he is not talking to Colossus…he is talking to “Them”. Them is the audience. Wilson is constantly breaking the fourth wall. Instead of narrating the film, he just turns and talks to the audience. He is fully aware he is in a movie universe.

One of the other fun aspects is that Reynolds is merciless to himself. There are numerous slams of his previous film outings and even a slam on himself as a talent. And the film’s opening credits (which kept me laughing even after I got the gag, it just stayed funny) effectively let you know the film’s sarcastic attitude. This is not your regular X-Men movie.

Of course, the movie is definitely set in the Fox Marvel X-Men Universe. This has caused some consternation among some geek sites, as they cannot reconcile the difference between Daniel Cudmore’s Colossus in the previous X-Men films and the version we see in this film, who appears older and is voiced by Stefan Kapicic with a thick Russian accent. This is pretty easy to reconcile, as the Days of Future past altered the timeline. It is entirely possible Colossus came from Russia when he was older.

I found myself liking all the characters in Wilson’s circle. There was an oddball charm in his relationship with Vanessa (Morena Baccarin). His roomate Blind Al (Leslie Uggams) is a riot. T.J. Miller’s bartender (he runs a bar for mercenaries) Weasel is a fun character (his best line comes right before Deadpool goes to take out his villain, Francis (Ed Skrein). Francis really hates Deadpool because he is so mouthy…and Deadpool refuses to call him by his chosen villain codename… Ajax.

Anyways, while I have repeatedly expressed concern that the film will not be successful for precisely the reasons I enjoyed it, I am more than pleased if it succeeds, as it could open the doors to more creative takes in superhero films. There are a lot of them on the slate, and it would be great if they all sought to set themselves apart from the crowd.

February 13, 2016 0

Suicidal Glee

Folks are talking about the new Suicide Squad Posters…and drawing comparisons to the Superman V Batman posters.

Here is the new trailer:

Uh…and here is the most recent Batman v Superman:

Notice anything? Like the posters? The trailer for the Suicide Squad suggest an energetic and fun film. I was not sure how well the Suicide Squad would translate, after all, it is comprised of established bad guys from the DC Universe. There is a sense of goofiness amid the grit and violence. The attitude coming across is not grim.

Batman V Superman? It seems like a dour and angry affair. Nobody cracks a smile (aside from Lex Luthor). It is trying so hard to scream “Epic”, it misses that there should be cheer. It should be inspiring.

Suicide Squad (like Deadpool) is showing a gritty violent side paired with a wink and a smirk. A bit of joy, almost. Batman v Superman? It pairs gritty and dark violence with a joyless intensity. And I wonder how that can be. How is it that the band of bad guys forced to be heroic looks way more fun than Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman???

January 21, 2016 0

Early Reports of Death

The early reports from folks who have seen Deadpool are coming in, and they are quite positive. Deadpool is a film that exists predominantly due to the fact that fans (and that includes Ryan Reynolds) want it really bad, like really bad.

And yet, part of me suspects it may be an overall flop, even if it is loved by critics. Right now? It is the fan community getting to see it. Of course, Fox wants that positive word of mouth. And it is encouraging to hear that the filmmakers really get what makes the comics and character so entertaining.

The ad campaign is very tongue in cheek and funny.

And yet, I wonder…will that all translate to success with a wider audience? Is the Deadpool fanbase enough to make this film a hit? Will the dark and violent humor translate outside that target market? It make, but I suspect that right now, this film may not be the success some are anticipating, precisely because it appears to be very reverent to it’s source material.

January 20, 2016 0