Antho got us tickets to see DP2 the first day we could go see it.... With the 7:20pm tickets in our possession, we went about the necessary nonsense of our day before walking our happy butts up to the Eclipse theater in Downtown Las Vegas. Thank the gratuitous advertising machines that are the entertainment industry, because even with our arrival being about 10 minutes behind the original "start" time, there were still ample previews and plenty of lighting available when we got into the theater. The Eclipse theater, by the way, is extra-fancy in that not only does it offer big cushioned reclining chairs to kick up your feet in, but you get a menu and in-theater service should you choose to take it. One guy in our theater got multiple beers throughout the film, and other's were getting sliders or nachos to nom on. Yes, you can in fact order cocktails to enjoy while watching DP 2. They missed an opportunity by not serving chimichangas, but so it goes. We, being artists of a moderate income, opted out of the $12 cocktails and $17 snacks, at least this time through, but they're definitely there should you want them. The servers are clad all in black and have pathways they navigate through during the film so as to be minimally invasive, but it's still a tad bit distracting in the midst of the action.
Shortly after our arrival, the lights went dim and we were on our way into the messy, raunchy, silly mess that is Deadpool 2.
And don't get me wrong- I loved the first of this installation of Deadpool! I loved it so much I went for it and recreated Negasonic Teenaged Warhead's hairstyle, for crying out loud. This two-films-so-far franchise has vastly outranked it's horrifying X-Men Origins bastard cousin, and is a fun ride all around.
The problem is, can they cover any new ground? With a film like Deadpool, which was so groundbreaking upon its release (OMG, a superhero movie that breaks the 4th wall! has an R-rating!), they're going to be confronting a lot of expectations. If it's too similar, fans will (maybe) hate it for being derivative, because if it's not Star Wars that's not acceptable. If it charts whole new ground and veers into uncharted territory, leaving familiar faces and arcs behind, people will flip their shit, too. It really seems a difficult situation for the film-makers, who, ideally, just want to make a movie that's true-ish-enough-to-the-character-of-the-comic-book incarnation of the Merc with a Mouth. In the end, of course, it's all about money...but let's (try to) be positive here!
What we end up with is something that feels similar, has a lot of familiar faces, with some fun new additions and some shocking new developments. It's decidedly more fun than Infinity War, if not solely because I don't feel like I need therapy after watching it. I laughed. I cried. But I didn't feel particularly blown-away. This was, for the most part, familiar terrain. There were some new jokes and situations thrown in that made me literally laugh-out-loud and guffaw, but for the most part it felt like the movie version of slipping into that ratty old robe with the weird stains that you've grown comfortable with and loved for a while but aren't entirely sure why you still subject your naked and unprotected flesh to it's embrace time after time. The new ground was gratifying, but not mind-melting if you've got a cursory familiarity with the backstory.
I didn't hate it. In fact, it was kind of fun.
Did it break whole-new-ground and make me cream my pants with the sheer amazeballs of it? Nah. But it entertained and kept the spirit of the prior installation well enough. I think the inconsistency with the behind-the-scenes situation does come through to an extent, but that could be the result of the overall inconsistent tone of the movie. It hammers on some heavy topics, but it's in Deadpool's irreverent style so it can feel a little jarring at times, perhaps. We watched the first movie prior to seeing this one, and it was a noticeable change in tone. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's noticeable. I definitely felt like there was more of an intentional "take-home" message from this one.
Overall, I'll be seeing it again. It's not the worst thing I've seen this year, and there were definitely some funny moments worth revisiting.
Cheers.
💖
XOXO,
NAU
No comments:
Post a Comment