Silliness and pure swag in the Marvel universe doesn’t come any better than Deadpool and if you haven’t seen the first installment…my only question is WHY?! I absolutely dig this character, Deadpool is unlike anything ever seen in any superhero universe. Watch any of the promo videos for the movie and you’ll see why. Such was the success of the first one that a second installment was immediately confirmed and in the works.

It’s finally here with our favorite hero continued to be portrayed by the oh so cool Ryan Reynolds and the gorgeous Morena Baccarin (who I have a huge crush on) returning as his love interest. Starring alongside them this time around is the villain (of sorts) Cable played by the colossal Josh Brolin who did an amazing job in his portrayal of Thanos in Infinity War.

All set up to be something special, did it live up to the billing and is it another gem from Marvel?

Cast – Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Morena Baccarin, Julian Dennison, Zazie Beetz, T.J. Miller, Brianna Hildebrand, Jack Kesy & Stefan Kapičić

Directors – David Leitch

Running Time – 2 hours

The Plot

After surviving a near fatal bovine attack, a disfigured cafeteria chef (Wade Wilson) struggles to fulfill his dream of becoming Miami’s hottest bartender, while also learning to cope with his lost sense of taste. Searching to regain his spice for life, as well as a flux capacitor, Wade must battle ninjas, the yakuza, and a pack of sexually aggressive canines, as he journeys around the world to discover the importance of family, friendship, and flavor – finding a new taste for adventure and earning the coveted coffee mug title of World’s Best Lover.

I did mention that this is one silly movie, didn’t I? The above synopsis should further add to that argument. The whole franchise is set up in a unique manner and mixes outright ridiculousness, bags of humor, violence and all out action. The movie is a breath of fresh air and paints the comic book world with a much lighter brush. Even individuals who aren’t necessarily fond of comic books and like movies will find themselves enjoying Deadpool. That’s probably the reason why the movie is currently breaking all kinds of records at the box office managing to even surpass Infinity War in the process.

Despite its humor and light heartedness, the movie does include a few serious moments that will have you pause for a minute (like literally a minute though). The whole premise of it is driven by humour excellently led by the brilliant Reynolds who is tailor-made for this role. Whilst watching, it was also interesting to note the X-Men references throughout the movie and how the character is closely linked to that universe in the overall Marvel Comics Universe (MCU)…would be interesting to see our friend Deadpool in an X-Men movie…probably won’t happen anytime soon but its always nice to dream and stranger things have happened before so why not?

Deadpool 2 picks up where the first installment successfully left off. A brilliant franchise that is unique in its approach and unlike anything ever seen in any comic book-based story. A different but equally successful product from Marvel who continue to produce magic. I’m quite amped for the next movie in the franchise (yes looks like there will be another one…rejoice!) and overall can’t wait to see what Marvel does next with their other upcoming movies. A perfect blend of humour, silliness, ridiculousness and action, Deadpool 2 is everything and more I could have wanted in any good and enjoyable movie. An epic 8.5 out of 10 rating is what it gets from me. Go see it NOW.

If you haven’t latched on already, my excitement levels are on the ultimate high. I feel like all my movie watching life has been in preparation and building up to this movie, that’s an honest assessment. Hotly riding on its previous successes including the recent and epic Black Panther movie, Marvel is seemingly delivering the ultimate knock out punch with their latest offering coming in the shape of Infinity War. Word of advice, this is going to be one of my longest reviews as it should considering what it’s based on…so best be prepared.

Cast – 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

Directors – Anthony & Joe Russo

Genre – Fantasy/Science fiction film

Running Time – 2h 40m

The movie Avengers: Infinity War – Part 1 was officially announced in October 2014 with the Russo brothers coming on board to direct it in April 2015. By May, Markus and McFeely signed on to write the script for the flick, which drew inspiration from Jim Starlin’s 1991 “The Infinity Gauntlet” comic and Jonathan Hickman’s 2013 “Infinity” comic. In July 2016, Marvel shortened the title to Avengers: Infinity War. Filming began in January 2017 at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Fayette County, Georgia, and lasted until July 2017, shooting back-to-back with a direct sequel. Additional filming took place in Scotland, England, the Downtown Atlanta area and New York City.

The Plot

If you’ve been following the trilogy, like most of us, Infinity War picks up two years after the Avengers were torn apart during the events of Captain America: Civil War, Thanos (played by Josh Brolin who is also set to feature as Cable on the upcoming Deadpool movie) arrives on Earth to collect the Infinity Stones for a gauntlet that will allow him to bend reality to his will. The Avengers must join forces with the Guardians of the Galaxy to stop him before his onslaught of destruction puts an end to half the universe.

With so many layers to the movie, it’s hard to determine where to start exactly analysing it. What I will say from the onset though is it lived up to the billing and more, Infinity War blew my socks off and I can safely confirm that it is now one of my favourite movies ever, bunched up there with the likes of Inception and The Dark Knight Rises. In my book it is one of the best movies made and definitely the best comic book and fantasy led movie at the moment.

From the beginning it’s apparent that Marvel weren’t messing about with this one with the opening scene getting straight to the point involving some of the Avengers team members, the larger than life Thanos and his team of generals. Larger than life because that’s exactly what he is, he is almost Godlike. Marvel did a fantastic job with the CGI created character villain who blew me away. I’ve always said one of the biggest things that make a movie work well is the villain and Thanos in this instance is a more than worthy instigator deserving of going up against our favourite heroes.

Most of the storyline revolves around the villain who is hellbent on accomplishing his main mission and causing all kinds of destruction in his wake whilst at it. A fantastic job Marvel made to have Brolin play him, talk about a perfect fit. What I especially like about Thanos is how his character is humanized with softer moments accompanied by pure power, madness, narcissism, charm and dominance.  

Considering the number of moving parts involved, it would have been easy for a story like this to go sideways quickly…Marvel in conjunction with the Russo brothers did a fantastic job of knitting it all together perfectly and giving just about every hero and scene enough attention and screen time. I’m blown away by how everything was done perfectly in under two and a half hours, nothing felt rushed or out of place.

The concept of also having our heroes fighting for the same cause in different universes and parts of the earth was brilliant. In addition, the fight scenes were everything and more giving us a taste of what our favourite heroes are best known for, from Doctor Strange and his mind bending magic tricks and sorcery to Thor’s pure resilience and power…this movie had it all! The added humour in parts also made this a joy to watch. I’m afraid I don’t have anything bad to say about it, it’s near perfection. The now famous ending of the movie should also have you speechless and sets up the sequel perfectly…I wish that was coming out today! Needless to say, stick around for the short end credit scene after the movie has ended.

Marvel have delivered another masterpiece and literally a massive knockout punch, without a doubt their best movie ever. Topping this is going to be tough even for them. In my book, Infinity War is already a classic. Filled with all kinds of emotions, great characters and a fantastic piece of storytelling, this movie is everything and more. After watching I can safely confirm that it is indeed the movie I’ve been preparing for all my life. I don’t mind watching this one over and over again, in fact I’m going to watch it again and again and again…that’s why it gets an out of this world 9 out of 10 rating from me.

As always, special thanks to Ster Kinekor & MNet Movies for hooking a brother up with another superb screening.