Deadpool 2

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Deadpool 2 follows Wade Wilson / Deadpool (played by Ryan Reynolds) as he tries to become a better person after a life-altering event in his life. He is primarily trying to help a kid named Russell (played by Julian Dennison) who is being hunted by time traveling bounty mutant Cable (played by Josh Brolin) because Russell has a dark future ahead of him. Perhaps, the biggest flaw Deadpool 2 suffers from in my opinion is that it can easily feel too big at times. A smaller flaw that ties into this bigger flaw in my opinion is that some of the supporting cast can feel underused. For these reasons, I still think I prefer the first movie just a little bit more. It never really goes overboard with feeling too big, thankfully. In Deadpool's own words "Deadpool 2 is a family movie," and in many respects this is true. It is about Deadpool hitting rock bottom and being forced to work his way back to where he was before. He has to find his own form of "family." The stuff with X-Force is easily one of the best parts of the movie, without giving too much away. I also love the mid-credits scene. I recommend staying for that scene if you are able to. As usual, Ryan Reynolds practically owns the role of Deadpool, and is perhaps the best example of being the perfect marriage between actor and character. Deadpool 2 may not be as good as the first film in my opinion, but I do still find it to be a worthy follow-up.     

9 / 10   

Super Troopers 2

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Super Troopers 2 is the long awaited sequel to the cult comedy classic from 2001. This sequel deals with the boys returning to potentially phase out a team of mounties because of a geographical and political fuck-up. From there, the typical shenanigans start happening. I honestly enjoyed myself with this movie. I think it made me laugh almost as much as the first movie. I really appreciate that, especially when that's the purpose of a comedy. The troopers all have some good chemistry with one another, and are clearly enjoying reprising their roles. Much like the first film, Brian Cox proves to be the perfect straight man to the insane antics (even if he does occasionally get himself involved). I think it could have been easy to rehash a lot of the jokes from the first movie, and really come off as a greatest hits. At times, they can do that, but I think they take some of the jokes they bring back in something of a new enough direction. First example, they bring back the meow gag, and it starts off seeming like it's just a cheap rehash, but they offer up just enough of a twist at the end to make the joke work in something of a new way. The mystery subplot is probably the weakest part of the movie. When it's first brought up, I picked out who I thought was going to end up being villain almost immediately. Without giving it away, I was right in the end. I also can't say this is nearly as quotable as the first movie either. I remember laughing a lot in this movie, but couldn't exactly tell you any lines that stood out. Does this movie work on the same level as the first movie does? No. But, I also didn't find it to be the piece of shit a lot of critics are making it out to be either.

6 / 10  

Avengers: Infinity War

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Avengers: Infinity War is the nineteenth movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and arguably the most anticipated movie of 2018. The movie deals with Thanos (played by Josh Brolin) trying to collect the infinity stones while the Avengers, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, Black Panther, and the Guardians of the Galaxy team up in order to stop him. The movie is well-paced. It's two and a half hours long, and never feels like it. Thanos builds on Marvel's recent streak of great villains. He's someone who truly believes he is the hero of his story, and Brolin's performance adds a lot of necessary heft and menace to the character, but the filmmakers also give him a lot of emotion. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo, and screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely really do their best to add some emotional weight to the movie. Without giving too much away, the movie really lives up to the "war" aspect of Infinity War. As much as I truly believe Brolin deserves praise, I don't want to take anything away from the rest of the cast. This is a movie with a lot of characters, and it could have easily felt too overstuffed, and too disjointed. It never really reached that point for me. Most of the cast gets a chance to shine in some way or another. The ending is something that will split people. It honestly worked for me, but I know there are going to be people who will get mad at this. The humor is something that could have easily been a problem, but I honestly felt that a lot of it worked because it comes naturally from the characters and how they would naturally react in that particular situation. Overall, Avengers: Infinity War worked on pretty much every level, and it does make me wonder what's going to happen in the next Avengers movie, and how that is going to be achieved.  

10 / 10 

The Hurricane Heist

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A group of thieves try to rob a Treasury Building located in Alabama. The only ones who are able to stop the thieves are a treasury agent (played by Maggie Grace), a meteorologist (played by Toby Kebbell), and a repairman (played by Ryan Kwanten). Despite a ton of plot twists, there really isn't a whole lot in terms of story. This is a movie I wasn't sure what to make of going into it. Neither Toby Kebbell nor Maggie Grace have ever been actors that I enjoyed watching on screen. They kind of worked for me in this, even with struggling with their southern accents. The effects are pretty bad. They never remotely look convincing. A lot of the character development feels pretty thin, and a lot of the time, when you do get it, it's actually pretty jarring. So, this isn't a good movie. At all. It works as something of a guilty pleasure, though. The movie was written in the 90s, and the script was just never produced. Watching this movie, it really did have a 90s feel. The best way I feel like I could describe this movie would be The Rock meets Twister. Based on description like that, you'll probably be able to guess whether or not this movie is going to be the right kind of stupid for you. I think it might be the right kind of movie to watch with friends while you toss back a few beers. 

6 / 10  

Thor

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Selfish, arrogant Thor (played by Chris Hemsworth) is cast out and banished to Earth by his father Odin (played by Anthony Hopkins) in an effort for him to learn humility. From there, he befriends and is humbled by Dr. Jane Foster (played by Natalie Portman), her assistant Darcy (played by Kat Dennings), and her mentor Dr. Erik Selvig (played by Stellan Skarsgard). Foster would become his love interest as the movie goes on. As he tends to do, Tom Hiddleston as Loki owns this movie. This is a movie that could have made him very one-note. Director Kenneth Branagh doesn't do that, he fleshes out the characters that truly need it. Loki is a far more complex villain than he would have been in the hands of a lesser director. He truly lends a Shakespearean feel to the family relationship between Thor, Loki, and Odin. Granted, there are some things that feel a little too rocky. Storywise, this your typical hero's journey, even if it does work. There are a lot of supporting players that honestly feel wasted (and too sidelined). The best examples of this have to be Idris Elba, Rene Russo, and Jaime Alexander. Elba and Alexander do own their roles when they have the chance to be onscreen, but they just aren't in the movie enough. I did like Russo's performance, but her character truly feels underwritten. There isn't nearly enough of her to make the relationship she has with Loki feel justified. The comedic elements of the movie can be incredibly off-putting for people. Kat Dennings never really bothered me, but I can easily understand how she does annoy other people. Overall, Thor is well directed, well acted, and has some strong character development. It also suffers from some under-written and under-used supporting players, and potentially off-putting comic relief.

7 / 10 

Ranking the Friday the 13th Movies

#12: Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning: I get what they were trying to do with this movie. They attempted to kill Jason off for good in the previous movie, and wanted to pass the torch off to someone new. The problem is the final result was an unfocused mess that didn't really feel like a new beginning (or justified) in any way. It seemed closer to falling back on all of the old tricks. The kills were pretty tame for the most part, and the killer reveal (and motivation) didn't make any sense. 

#11: Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan: When I first saw this movie, I remember thinking it was my least favorite. My opinion ultimately hasn't changed much because I still find it relatively dull in the long run. The one thing I definitely think puts this a notch above A New Beginning is Kane Hodder as Jason. The man was committed to the role, and actually gave the character something of mean streak. 

#10: Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday: I respect that this was an attempt to really try something new and different with Jason. Kane Hodder's back for about five minutes, and he is my personal favorite of the actors who have played Jason. The main problem I have with Jason Goes to Hell is that it tried something different, and it just didn't work. I'm not sure why, but I can believe Jason going to space,  Jason coming back as a zombie, and Jason fighting a teenage girl with telekinetic powers before I could honestly believe him being a demonic creature that jumps from body to body. 

#09: Friday the 13th Part 3: This might be the dullest movie in the franchise. One or two deaths might stick out, but that's about it. Richard Brooker is fairly underrated as Jason in my opinion, and I give the movie credit for being the originator of the now iconic hockey mask. My biggest problem with this movie is that this was actually the first time they tried ending the franchise, and I'm glad the series didn't end with this movie. If it had, then this franchise would have gone out with a whimper instead of a bang.  

#08: Freddy vs. Jason: The stuff between Freddy and Jason is awesome. I love their fights, and there's some pretty creative kills. The problem is, there wasn't enough Freddy vs. Jason. You don't really care that much about the dumb teenagers that are just there to die. I actually enjoy this movie, but when I really think about it, I can't put it any higher than this. 

#07: Jason X: I wasn't sure where to put Freddy vs. Jason and Jason X, I settled on ranking Jason X above Freddy vs. Jason for a couple of reasons. The first one is that this is the last movie of the series where Kane Hodder played Jason. The second is this movie has my absolute favorite kill in the entire Friday the 13th franchise.

#06: Friday the 13th (2009): Of all the horror remakes to come out of the 21st century, this is the one I think is kind of unfairly hated. I'm pretty sure the filmmakers were just trying to make a Friday the 13th movie and ran with it. Derek Mears is a solid Jason Voorhees, and some of the kills are pretty entertaining. One or two characters are enjoyable (and the actors actually give pretty good performances). 

#05: Friday the 13th Part 2: This is the first movie in the series where Jason was the killer. Ginny was a solid heroine, and actually uses psychology to try and stop Jason's rampage. One of the things that I think works about this movie is that the first two victims are the only two survivors of the first film, so it gives off a feeling of legitimate uneasiness because it tells you that anybody can go this time around. 

    

#04: Friday the 13th (1980): Aside from some of the acting being pretty underwhelming, the original Friday the 13th movie is a good slasher with a decent mystery aspect to it. Some of the kills are pretty creative. I enjoy seeing a young Kevin Bacon. Betsy Palmer as Mrs. Voorhees steals the show, even though she's hardly in the movie. Adrienne King as final girl Alice is pretty good, and honestly seems like she gets overlooked a lot. 

#03: Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood: After Jason Lives turned Jason Voorhees into a zombie, having him fight a girl with psychic abilities felt like the logical next step. The character Tina Shepard is my favorite final girl of the franchise. Kane Hodder is my favorite Jason actor, and this movie is a big part of why. This is the movie that cemented the character's (and actor's) brutal streak. The fights between Jason and Tina are also pretty fun, especially because Jason doesn't often have a hero figure that's actually a match for him. 

#02: Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives: After Part 5 seemed like it was going to kill and bury the franchise for good, Jason Lives was a shot in the arm for the franchise. Zombie Jason is pretty entertaining, and some of the best kills come out of this movie. Standouts include the paintball scene and the scene in the van. Out of the three actors to play Tommy Jarvis, this verison is my absolute favorite. 

#01: Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter: This might just be the most brutal movie in the series, and actually succeeds as a "final chapter" where part 3 and Jason Goes to Hell failed. I mentioned that Jason's kills are some of the brutal in this movie. There's a guy who has his head twisted around after his throat is cut with a saw. Crispin Glover gets stabbed in the face with a meat cleaver. Even Jason's own death is pretty nasty. Corey Feldman as Tommy Jarvis also provides the first time the series played around with what the main protagonist in one of these movies could be.   

Iron Man 2

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Iron Man 2 came out in 2010, two years after the first movie and was the third film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This time around, Tony Stark has been living a life where his secret identity has been exposed. The son of a man his father worked with wants vengeance against Tony. Also angry at Tony is a business rival. I'm not going to lie, this is probably the weakest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. I like the performances from Mickey Rourke and Sam Rockwell as the film's villains, but the development to both characters felt very thin. Mickey Rourke's character feels especially weak. I remember a couple of his lines because they were being delivered by Mickey Rourke with an over the top accent. I remember that he wants revenge, but I don't remember why he wanted revenge. Black Widow (played by Scarlett Johansson) is first introduced in this movie, but she feels fairly tacked on. I'm glad the character got more development as the movies went on, because there doesn't feel there's much to her in this movie. A lot of the movie feels like a giant advertisement for future Marvel movies. It doesn't feel like you get subtle hints at what's to come. It feels like you're being beaten over the head. Now, I don't want it to necessarily come off as though I didn't like this movie. I did. The performances are strong. Robert Downey, Jr. owns the role of Tony Stark. Despite not being very developed, I still think Johansson, Rourke, and Rockwell gave really strong performances. This is the movie that replaces Terrence Howard with Don Cheadle, and I personally think Cheadle just does a better job. Gwyneth Paltrow also does a solid job returning as Pepper Potts, and their relationship does feel like it has some expansion. The action scenes and visual effects are excellent as always. Iron Man 2 is a fine movie, it's just the weakest in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

6 / 10