Showing posts with label movie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movie. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Deadpool: Does It Suck?
The Deadpool movie was released over this weekend. If don't know who Deadpool is, he is this wacky mercenary with a heart of gold and quite a hardon for killing bad guys. The comic books Deadpool seems almost like a self-aware parody of most comic book heroes and antiheroes. The character has the nickname Merc with a mouth as he is wisecracking and never shuts up, often saying and doing things that are out of place and comical. This is do to him being mentally unstable and unpredictable. His mind is so out of wack that he often breaks the fourth way in his comics and other Marvel characters' comics as well. This isn't our first run of seeing Deadpool in movies. How could you not forget, or try to, his appearance in X-Men Origins: Wolverine also played by Ryan Reynold. That version of him was a contrast to the comic book version where that movie's version was more of a badass that occasionally said something funny and smart whenever the bad script provides time to do so. Anyway, long painful lack of story short, that version sucked. This film promised to be more inclined to the comic book version of the character. Even if that is true, it could still be bad, Reynolds was cast as Deadpool in both movies. Will this movie break our hearts as well as the fourth wall? Does the move suck?
Acting
Ryan Reynolds did a great job playing Deadpool. That really shouldn't comes to no surprise. The man has a pretty stellar resume not only playing superheroes, but in comedy as well. See two of his most comedic performances X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Blade Trinity. It does seem like he has gotten a bit of his character from the school of Nolan North, that's a good thing, but do get a bit of classic him in it as well. Not only did Reynolds deliver, but most of the cast did.
Stefan Kapicic did a good job voicing Colossus, who is not played Daniel Cudmore (as if the X-Men movie universe is not as fucked up as it is with the continuity errors and Kitty being somehow able to phase consciousnesses through time). He played Colossus as this very comedic goody two-shoes that worked in counter balance with Deadpool's anti-heroic attitude. Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead was another gem from the movie. She played this brooding teen which often acted as the straight man, err woman, to many of Deadpool's jokes throughout the movie. It's also funny how Warhead and Colossus plays almost like a Batman and Robin throughout the movie, almost like an Adam West Batman meets a non killing Damien Wayne type Robin. Most of the cast was good except for Ed Skerin. If his role was to play a pretty boy dick then he should be nominated for an Academy Award. He wasn't very intimidating or very menacing. Hell, the woman who played Angel Dust, Gina Carano, was more of a badass villain than him.
Story
Deadpool isn't just your normal superhero (origin) story, it's a love story, or a horror story, maybe a revenge story. It's probably all the above. Kinda like When Harry Met Sally meets Kill Bill with a bit of Spider-Man for taste. Any, the story is Deadpool basically getting his revenge on a guy who turned him into a superhero, and super ugly, and therefor can't get back with his girlfriend. It's a lot better than what I described it.
The comedic writing was masterfully done. Of course if you're new to Deadpool, you would know that the character, and comic, is a mixture of comedy and action. That's exactly what they've done to the script, incorporate the comedy and action and had them coexist together. Unlike the other Superhero films, it did intend to focus more on story than action. There were some little fourth wall bits to look for in the film, not just in the obvious points where Deadpool himself breaks it. It's fun to see a couple of more times to find them.
Action
The movie is jammed pack full of action scenes and very cool action scenes at that. The comedic spin of Deadpool cracking jokes and playing around gave the scenes a little more personality.
Final Verdict
Did Deadpool suck? Not at all. Again it was a lot of action and a lot of comedy and the great thing was that they were mixed together beautifully. It didn't come off as all try hardish like how most superhero films do, and often fail miserably. Also kudos to the production team for giving us a Deadpool who was faithful to the comics and undoing the one we got from the X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie, which was greatly referenced in the movie. If I had to rank Deadpool, it would get a five out of five. Take you girlfriend, it's kinda a rom-com movie. Deadpool said it himself. That's your excuse to take her to it. Now have a Happy International Women's Day, if you're into that kinda thing and like it.
Saturday, September 20, 2014
Smosh the Movie: Will it be a Smash or go Smush?
YouTube viewers Rejoice! It has been announced that the comedic YouTube duo, Smosh (Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox), will be making a full feature movie. According to Variety, Smosh have partnered with Lionsgate who will be deal with global distribution rights for the movie. According to the press release, the movie is being helmed as a Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure of 2014 with a bit of Road Trip thrown in to the mix. The movie will have the duo embarking on a wacky and zany adventure to erase an embarrassing clip from being seen by all, particularly Anthony's crush in the movie, Anna.
For those who haven't heard of Smosh, they are a part of the YouTube elite. When people say that in order to make money and be famous on YouTube you have to had an account in 2005, they're mostly referring to them. Smosh has made an empire on YouTube. Their main channel consists of them posting comedic videos from the duo that are being watched by over 18 million subscribers. They have broken off to other projects. They have a gaming channel and a channel that produces other content like cartoons.
Smosh, new feature film adventure is the most recent of the current trend of other YouTube celebrities that are trying to venture off from the site and are trying to make some money in Hollywood. Musical comedic duo Garfunkle and Oats have a TV series on IFC, Grace Helbig is getting a show on E!, and Epic Meal Time has a cooking show on FYI. All of this has started with Fred, a character Lucas Cruikshank created by posting videos of him as the character on YouTube. Cruikshank's Fred character has led to a series on Nickelodeon and a movie, which was also distributed by Lionsgate.
While it is cool while Smosh have a major movie on their hands, the question is how will it fare to the general public that doesn't sit down in from of a computer to watch videos all day. Honestly, they will have their work cut out for them. They will be presenting their stuff to an almost different format. These will not be the same core audience of people who sit in front of a computer to watch content. It is known that people who watch videos on YouTube have short attention spans, so the transitioning content from a 3-5 min video to an hour and a half movie will be a big task. A matter of fact it will be really hard. Will their fans actually sit in front of a screen to see the same content for over an hour? You also risk losing the quality of the content in the video like certain jokes by stretching them out and risking them not be funny. Going back to Cruikshank, Fred the Movie was a disaster. It was universally panned by critics and moviegoers and only 7.6 million people saw it.
I'm not dooming the movie before it even comes out nor am I saying that it can't be done. Again, it will be a hard task. There is a possibility that the Smosh can pull it off and the movie might do well. Regardless if it does well or not, it is fascinating to see Smosh try to do something outside of their comfort zone of posting YouTube videos. Like the other YouTube stars I mentioned earlier, I'm sure they know that their time on YouTube is short. You can't capitalize off of YouTube forever. You have to try other markets and do something bigger and different. It will be interesting to see if they can actually venture off from web content and make a name for themselves in Hollywood.
What are your thoughts on how the movie will fair? Do you thing it will be good or will it be bad?
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