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.

Cast – Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, T.J. Miller, Simon Pegg & Mark Rylance

Director – Steven Spielberg

Genre – Thriller film/Fantasy

Running Time – 2h 20m

The Plot

In the year 2045, people can escape their harsh reality in the OASIS, an immersive virtual world where you can go anywhere, do anything, be anyone-the only limits are your own imagination. OASIS creator James Halliday left his immense fortune and control of the Oasis to the winner of a contest designed to find a worthy heir. When unlikely hero Wade Watts conquers the first challenge of the reality-bending treasure hunt, he and his friends-known as the High Five-are hurled into a fantastical universe of discovery and danger to save the OASIS and their world.

Ready Player One is a brilliant conceptual movie that will no doubt lend itself well to most movie fans especially sci-fi, gaming, comic book and general movie watchers with a keen eye for special effects. Mostly shot in a virtual world setting, this movie is visually spectacular and if given the chance to I would strongly recommend watching it in a 3D setting…trust you won’t regret it.

This is every much “a gamers dream movie” with most of it being carried out in a gamified environment. At times, when watching, you can’t help but feel that you are playing an adventure videogame…at least that’s how I felt. Its full of various ideas and elements that I found quite interesting with some clever connotations sprinkled across and a little bit of humour to boot.    

I have watched quite a few sci-fi and virtually based movies before, but I can’t say I have seen anything quite like Ready Player One, and that’s a good thing. What sets it apart is the level of thinking and effort put into it. But even with that said, I wasn’t particularly blown away by it. I can’t quite say why exactly but the impression I had after watching was it’s a cool and fun movie. One is for sure, it’s one I would strongly recommend to my gaming and sci-fi friends.

Ready Player One presents a fantastic idea complete with amazing visual effects that will endear itself to many especially gaming and sci-fi fans. It’s a great flick to go out and enjoy by yourself, family or with a couple of friends. In a 3D, IMAX or B-Box setting, it would be an experience and a half. Officially releasing this week, this flick gets a solid 7 out of 10 rating from me.

Special thanks to Ster Kinekor for the exclusive pre-screening.