Kindergarten Cop

“Kindergarten Cop,” released in 1990, is made up out of parts that shouldn’t fit, but somehow, they do, making a shiny entertainment out of the unlikely, the impossible, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. He plays a cop who finds himself teaching kindergarten, as part of an undercover mission to locate a little boy and his mother. There is no way that Schwarzenegger can believably teach class, but that doesn’t stop him from finding warm-hearted possibilities in the role – and it doesn’t get in the way of several large laughs, either.

The movie starts with Schwarzenegger and his partner (Pamela Reed) tracking down one of the evilest drug dealer and mama’s boy (Richard Tyson). Tyson and his mother, played by Carroll Baker, are desperate to find the location of his ex-wife and their son. Just like Schwarzenegger, because he wants to find this criminal, and also because he believes that the ex-wife may have $3 million of Tyson’s drug money.

Roger Ebert described in his review, “The trail leads to a storybook town in the Pacific Northwest, where Schwarzenegger and Reed believe the little boy is attending kindergarten.” Reed used to be a schoolteacher, and so they convince the local school authorities to let her teach the kindergarten class – hoping to pick up clues even though the little boy and his mother have changed their names. Then Reed gets food poisoning, and it’s now Schwarzenegger to teach the screaming groups of 5-year-olds.

“Kindergarten Cop” was directed by Ivan Reitman, whose best work, like “Ghostbusters,” shows a way to combine the strange with the dramatic, so we’re laughing as the suspense reaches the max.

That happens this time. The parts with Schwarzenegger and the kindergarten students are the best parts in the movie, not only because the kids say the darndest things, but also because Schwarzenegger’s strength is gentle comedy, often with himself as the joke.

Ebert noted, “Contrasting with the classroom stuff is a low-key little romance involving Schwarzenegger and one of the other teachers (Penelope Ann Miller), and a parallel story involving the vicious drug dealer and his mom, and a journey to the small town for the obligatory, but quite effective, violent climax. Reitman juggles the light stuff, the heartwarming scenes, the comedy and the violence with endless invention, so that the movie doesn't seem to be shifting gears even when it is.”

Movies like this are often no stronger than their villains, and Tyson and Baker make a scary and believability team. He’s a spoiled-rotten mama’s boy who has never grown up, and whose love for his son is pretty much narcissistic. She is a jerk. Ebert admitted, “The other key performances are also effective, and it was interesting to observe, while seeing the movie in a large audience, what genuine affection the public has for Schwarzenegger.” He has a way of turning situations to his advantage, and creates an entertaining relationship with the students in the movie.

Please be advised: This is not a film appropriate for smaller children. Despite the title and the ad campaign, which make it look like a nice and fun film, it has images that will scare grade-schoolers, like a man setting the school on fire, small children kidnapped and tortured, a father slapping his child, etc. In context and for mature viewers, the scenes have a reason and the movie works. However, it’ll be frightening for smaller children who see it.

Fun fact: the “Who’s your daddy and what does he do” game was all the students telling what their father’s actually do. Reitman instructed them to tell the truth and you wouldn’t believe that when you see it. However, for much older people, this movie is a comedy that you should see. Just to see Schwarzenegger play a role that you don’t see man do in real life is funny. Check it out and see some lines that you will remember after seeing it.

Now this comes as a complete shock, but in 2016, they came out with a direct-to-video sequel, “Kindergarten Cop 2.”

After getting a huge box office success with “Twins,” star Arnold Schwarzenegger went into comedy again with Reitman in “Kindergarten Cop.” Brian Orndorf said in his review, “This time, the pairing pants Schwarzenegger’s action persona, challenging established brawn with the unpredictable energy and honesty of children, finding a unique way to celebrate the actor’s strengths by taking him out of his comfort zone in a broadly comic manner.” It took 26 years for Universal to make a sequel, but they’ve gone the direct-to-video way, replacing Schwarzenegger with Dolph Lundgren, trying to find the same comedy tone with another bodybuilder teaching a classroom of 5-year-olds.

Agent Reed (Dolph Lundgren) is a top agent in the FBI, working difficult cases as he tries to track a criminal named Zogu (Aleks Paunovic), often getting close to those entering the witness protection program. With his partner Sanders, played by comedian Bill Bellamy, Reed finally finds a chance to catch Zogu when he learns that a special flash drive with sensitive FBI information has been hidden by a kindergarten teacher, requiring undercover work to find the evidence. Disguising as a teacher, Reed goes into Hunts Bay Academy ready to take control of his kindergarten class. Orndorf notes, “Instead of establishing authority, Reed is rendered powerless by the kids, unable to find what he’s looking for as the job demands intense concentration, forced to turn to fellow teacher Olivia (Darla Taylor) for help corralling his students, tending to their specific dietary and educational needs.”

Orndorf continues, “A long time has passed since the original film’s release, and to the effort’s credit, “Kindergarten Cop 2” embraces the hyper-sensitivity to everything that’s permeated the educational system in the interim. It’s not a good film, but it’s a sharp film on occasion, especially when it spotlights Reed’s attempt to manage the individual needs of the kids, finding a unique challenge at lunchtime, struggling to prepare tofu without using plastic in a microwave oven, while his bite into a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is akin to pulling the pin on a grenade, causing mass panic in a peanut-free zone. Reed is also behind the times on language sensitivity, lambasted for asking the kids to sit “Indian-style” on the floor, also shocked to discover that “retard” is no longer accepted as a term for slow students. These are small pieces of the “Kindergarten Cop 2” puzzle, but they’re the most inventive, satirizing the modern day educational system while using Lundgren as a blunt object of confusion, unprepared to deal with the needs of his students with a job he naturally assumed would involve simple monitoring and crowd control.”

The rest of “Kindergarten Cop 2” isn’t as playful, pretty much repeating parts from the first movie, making it a remake instead of a sequel. Orndorf said, “The set up is banal, delivering a broad Eastern European villain in Zogu and an unfunny partner in Sanders, who demands to join the assignment, helping Reed with surveillance and intelligence needs once the teaching job proves to be more complicated than originally imagined. Director Don Michael Paul (a DTV specialist, with credits such as “Jarhead 2,” “Tremors 5,” and the upcoming “Death Race 4”) doesn’t have Reitman’s instinct for comedy, often using the children as blunt instruments, keeping them in nose-picking, screaming mode instead of playing their innocence against Reed’s professional severity. And I don’t think Paul has ever seen the inside of a kindergarten classroom before, imagining Reed’s educational space as a cavernous playground that resembles the entrance of a well-funded community library.”

A few supporting turns work, finding Sarah Strange making laughs as Principal Sinclair, a woman obviously attracted to Reed, unwillingly scolding him when he makes a mistake, but the main focus stays on Lundgren. Orndorf notes, “The action star doesn’t play absurdity comfortably, trying to project a loosey-goosey vibe to match the effort’s sense of humor, but this isn’t a reprise of Schwarzenegger-ian contrast. Lundgren doesn’t have the chops to sell silliness, making moments with the children oddly flat.” However, “Kindergarten Cop 2” does show a scene where Reed visits a country bar, line dancing with Olivia to develop a romantic interest in his colleague. For Lundgren fans, that’s an unexpected scene.

Orndorf said, ““Kindergarten Cop” was criticized for its surprising violence, and “Kindergarten Cop 2” follows the same formula, bookending the story with extended shoot-outs that find Reed in his element, mowing down baddies, which somehow involves the presence of a name brand candy bar to satisfy product placement needs.” It’s hardly shocking, but still strange, especially when the rest of the film details relatively gentle tricks from little kids. The world didn’t need a Schwarzenegger-less “Kindergarten Cop 2,” but what’s most disappointing about the remake is how little it tries to define its own type of silliness, fine to redo instead of making a new direction of action icon confusion for a new generation.

As you might have guessed, the sequel is not one to see. You will not like it at all. Just avoid it at all cost. There is nothing good in it.

Next week, I will talk about another Schwarzenegger movie in “Buddy Cop Month.”

Heart Condition

Jack Moony is a slob, an unshaven, cheeseburger-eating drunk who is also a cop. He is also a racist, which is why he feels so nauseous when he wakes up after the heart attack. They have given a heart transplant, and his new heart once belonged to a black man. Not just any black man, but his worst enemy, a smooth, young lawyer. There another problem. Both men, recently, have had relations with the same prostitute.

Roger Ebert said in his review, “What it looks like we have here is the premise for a dark, gloomy examination of the underside of the American psyche, but "Heart Condition" is a fantasy, not a slice of life, and there are times when it even wants to be a comedy.” The story is that the ghost of the lawyer returns to Earth and follows Jack around, telling him not to smoke or eat greasy foods, and helping him on how to solve the lawyer’s murder and get back together with the prostitute again.

What’s more is that there is an evil drug dealer who gives people injections to keep them tame. There’s a subplot of a U.S. senator who overdoses on crack, a scene where a little baby is held hostage in a shootout, a lot of car chases, and some soft moments. Ebert noted, “And that absolutely obligatory character in all recent cop movies: the wrongheaded precinct captain who completely misses the point and puts the hero on suspension just when he's about to crack the case wide open.”

The story of “Heart Condition,” released in 1990, tries to be everything to everyone: comedy, tragedy, drama, violence, fantasy, reality, cop movie, ghost movie, urban story, buddy movie. Ebert said, “That it works even fitfully under this heavy burden is because of its stars, Bob Hoskins and Denzel Washington, who bring a credibility to their roles that the screenplay doesn't really deserve.” Hoskins is a small extrovert of an actor, moving forward through the story without the least self-consciousness, and Washington is a charmer who drives the cop crazy by telling him to put out his cigarettes (“as long as you’re still around,” he reminds the recipient of his heart, “I’m still around”).

Washington’s character is not exactly a good guy, at least not initially. Hoskins hates him because the lawyer has prostitutes for clients, including Hoskins’ former girlfriend, played by Chloe Webb. Lawyers for prostitutes do not usually drive around in fancy Mercedes, but these are special prostitutes, controlled by an evil pimp, played by Jeffrey Meek, who gives them to kinky millionaires and politicians. “I don’t represent the pimp, I represent the girls,” Washington’s character declares, very convincingly, at one point in the movie.

With so much going on in the movie, it still finds time to give Webb’s character with a heart of gold. Yes, she’s a prostitute, but only to get enough money to attend art school out in the valley, and all the men in her life are cruel people who do not recognize her artistic talent. Ebert said, “Later on, after she bears Washington's child, she is transmogrified into the heroic mother battling to save her baby from the sadistic pimp.”

What’s strange about “Heart Condition” is that it goes back and forth so faithfully across the line between comic fantasy and evil urban reality. There are slapstick scenes where Hoskins tries to keep a cheeseburger away from the invisible ghost and scary scenes where the pimp threatens to kill his girls with overdoses.

Scenes where Hoskins and his cat share a bottle of whiskey and scenes where Washington’s bitter mother goes through his stuff.

The movie is all over the place, trying whatever looks like it will work at the moment. Ebert noted, “The problem is that fans of violent movies will grow impatient with the whimsy involving the ghost, and fans of reincarnation comedies are going to have a hard time dealing with sordid plot details.”

Hoskins and Washington are just fine, however, Hoskins giving another reminder that he is one of the most convincing of actors and Washington once again flawlessly giving his charisma that is making him into a huge star. Ebert said, “He plays the role with a light touch instead of with the heavy portentiousness we can easily imagine.”

For Hoskins, “Heart Condition” must have looked like déjà vu. After “Roger Rabbit,” here is Hoskins once again having conversations with an imaginary partner who has been framed.

This is alright, but nothing special. I saw this on YouTube, and I wasn’t really a fan. If you want to check it out, it won’t hurt, but it is nothing special.

Next week, I will be looking at another Schwarzenegger movie in “Buddy Cop Month.”

IF

Last night on Paramount+, I saw “IF,” released theatrically in May but on Paramount+ last month. We were thinking of maybe seeing this movie in theaters but decided to watch “Inside Out 2” instead. Now that I have seen it, I will let you know what I thought.

John Krasinski now has five films he has directed and has made a point of not submitting to a list that makes people know who he is.

Billie Melissa said in her review, “Moving from the thrilling duo of A Quiet Place and its sequel, Krasinski momentarily shelves horror for a foray into nostalgia with his new film IF, led by Cailey Fleming as Bea.”

Bea was a small child when her mother, played by Catharine Daddario, passed. Now, on the border of adolescence, at 12-years-old, her father, played by Krasinski, is having heart surgery. Bea goes to stay with her grandmother, played by Fiona Shaw, where she finds a room on the top floor that is occupied between the real and the imaginary.

Melissa said, “While a wholesome family film on the surface, IF grapples with the complexities of coming-of-age while also discussing how grief often manifests as us shutting down parts of our memory to feel "safe" and move on before we are ready.”

Bea believes she isn’t a kid anymore; she is very firm about not wanting to be interested in her childhood hobbies. She tells her grandmother she doesn’t paint anymore and acts like she is her father’s caretaker, whose inner child is still active, something Bea has difficulty understanding.

Throughout “IF,” Krasinski is clearly referencing many classic movies and, at one point, has then in the background of the film to deepen the context of Bea’s experience. Melissa notes, “Watching a filmmaker so lovingly wear their influences on their sleeve is endearing.” It feels nice and familiar because of it and invites everyone to be a part of the experience.

Melissa said, “From the opening montage, Krasinski sets his manifesto: he will use his movie to resurrect the inner child in all of us.” At an hour and 45 minutes, he tells audiences what movies can be and how they have their way to take us to places we have forgotten.

Ryan Reynolds plays Cal, who is helping a small group of long forgotten imaginary friends who want to not be forgotten.

A group of imaginary friends have that same fear as they live a few blocks away under a rundown amusement park ride in a retirement home, and Bea and Cal go to find new children for all of them. However, as they go on, they learn something more important, which is where Krasinski’s formula starts.

Movies like “IF” are hard to market. Who are they for? What message are they trying to say? Have people lost interest in the family movie genre, and should they continue to release them?

Melissa pointed out, “Krasinski makes a strong case for the necessity of play in cinema, and the product is a heartwarming tearjerker that provides not only an enjoyable film that works for all the family, but one that asks you to reconnect with who you are and what you may have lost in the transition from childhood to adulthood.”

We need more films that are feel good, which are also thoughtful and pay attention to detail. Jess Gonchor’s costume design is noteworthy. It does an indirect but beautiful job of helping the narrative while giving each character their own personality and style.

Yes, the screenplay has flaws, and the film looks over things it would help from going deep into, “IF” does a nice job of bringing back forgotten memories and allowing you to escape reality for some time.

To give too much will spoil everything, so the best thing to do is to watch this with an open heart and let Krasinski suck you into his magical, musical adventure.

Overall, my thoughts are this is a nice family film for everyone to watch. Check it out on Paramount+ and see for yourself because I think people will feel good after watching this. Especially the last half-hour, which is emotional. I think everyone will like this just fine.

Thank you for joining in on this review today. Stay tuned Friday for the next installment of “Buddy Cop Month.”

Red Heat

For the month of August, I’m going to review some famous buddy cop movies. Let’s start off with the 1988 comedy, “Red Heat.”

This is not the first movie about a couple of completely different cops, and it will not be the last, but as we know what this is, this is a superior example. Roger Ebert said in his review, “It's an action picture with a sense of humor and slyly comic performances by Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Belushi, and after the awful police teamwork of Sean Connery and Mark Harmon in last week's “The Presidio,” it's an example of slick professionalism.”

Ebert continued, “Hollywood calls movies like this “high concept” pictures, because you can summarize the plot in a few words, and the words could go like this: Schwarzenegger plays a tough Russian cop who follows a criminal to Chicago and teams up with Belushi as a Chicago slob who knows more about clout than glasnost. Take that line and you have the movie.” All you have to do is put in a story and some gunfights and chase scenes.

Walter Hill directed and co-wrote the film, and he is skilled at doing these films. His specialty is male buddy and action films, and he somewhat reinvented the genre when he casted Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy in “48 Hours.” One of the nice things about “Red Heat” is that it doesn’t copy Hill’s previous film (except for the basic concept) and finds new things to say about a strange paring of law enforcement.

Schwarzenegger plays Captain Ivan Danko, a straightforward Russian cop, all business, ripped and tough. Belushi plays Sergeant Art Ridzik, the type of cop who doesn’t believe in working hard every day and is capable of teaching his Russian partner to lighten up. He is partnered with Danko as somewhat of a guide and bodyguard, and together they come across the usual group of eccentrics and conspiracies.

What actually happens in the film is very unimportant in movies like this. Style is everything, and if there is a bond between the two actors then everything else will come naturally. “Red Heat” works because Schwarzenegger and Belushi are both pretty much comic actors.

Ebert pointed out, “Schwarzenegger's whole career is based on his ability to see the humor in apparently hard-boiled situations. That doesn't mean the actors stand around cracking one-liners, but that even the straight sequences are setups for later payoffs, and you get the quiet feeling that both actors are amused by the material.”

Ebert continued, “The premise is that Schwarzenegger, nicknamed Iron Jaw, would rather die than bend, and that Belushi would rather bend than die.”

Faced with the industrialist extras of Chicago, Danko has some conventional Russian criticisms, and Ridzik responds with dialogue that often sounds improvised, even if it’s not. The two of them both have to calm the strict chief of detectives, played by Peter Boyle, who issues serious warnings when they violate departmental procedure. At one-point Ridzik is taken off the case, although that, obviously, doesn’t change any of his behavior. Boyle’s role is the hateful one in the film. Ebert noted, “The stern chief is the oldest cliche in cop movies, with his obligatory lectures on protocol to touch cops who shift back and forth on their feet like guilty schoolboys.”

The film is filled with violence, which is a large amount, although most of it is exaggerated comic-book type instead of being really violent. Ebert ended his review by saying, “Walking that fine line is a speciality of Hill, who once simulated the sound of a fist on a chin by making tape recordings of Ping-Pong paddles slapping leather sofas.”

To hear Schwarzenegger, do a Russian accent, which isn’t all that good because you can still hear his actual accent, it’s still pretty funny. This is a really funny movie that I think people should check out. If you haven’t seen it, and you love watching Schwarzenegger movies, like myself, I would say check it out, especially if you’re a Belushi fan.

Look out next week for the next installment of “Buddy Cop Month.”

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

Tonight, on Netflix, my brother and I saw “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,” which was released theatrically in March but on Netflix a few days ago. From what everyone has been saying about it, is it really as bad as everyone says it is? Let’s find out.

MontiLee Stormer started her review by saying, “Had I written this within hours of seeing Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024), this review may have been more favorable. Given time to marinate and process, this sequel to the 2021 reboot doesn’t have the razzle-dazzle, given the star power behind it.”

The Spengler family, Callie (Carrie Coon), Trevor (Finn Wolfhard), and Phoebe (Mckenna Grace), as well as Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd) have moved into the old Firehouse and have taken the title of the Official Ghostbusters of New York. While good at giving a solid public service, there comes so much collateral damage, angering Mayor William Peck, reprised by William Atherton, last seen in the original “Ghostbusters” as the EPA inspector that ordered the Ecto-Containment Unit to be shut down. Phoebe, while a smart kid and fearless, is sidelined, and legally unable to handle the proton packs or help capture ghosts because he is 15. She makes a friend, Melody, played by Emily Alyn Lind, a lonely teen ghost and wants to be with her own deceased family. Meanwhile, a strange man named Radeem (Kumail Nanjiani) brings so much of his grandmother’s stuff to Dr. Ray Stantz (Dan Ackyrod), still running Ray’s Occult. One of the objects is a powerful orb, solid and able to bring so much cold and seismic activity. As you might have guessed, all of this connected and brings about great danger unless certain stuff happens from a lot of loose storylines.

Stormer admitted, “The trailers for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire look profoundly unsettling but that may not be the movie you’re expecting. Instead of going for thrills, it settles for family-friendly scares and pulls a lot of punches, going instead for light-hearted fun, some pseudo-science, and a darling little teen crush (and not the one you’re expecting).” Because it’s targeting for a younger audience, included in the sequel are two children from “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” Podcast (Logan Kim) and Lucky (Celest O’Conner) mysteriously brought from Summerville, OK. Podcast works for Ray and Lucky works for Winston, reprised by Ernie Hudson. Necessary? Not really. Wouldn’t Trevor and Phoebe make new friends in New York? Stormer answered, “No one wanted to think that hard and they needed to pad the situational dramedy with young faces.”

Stormer continued, “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is front-loaded with family drama and teen angst, and is very, very light on the actual ghosts, at least ghosts we haven’t already seen. Aside from Melody, who appears as a wispy teen in her own wispy blue tendrils of flame, there are at least two callbacks to the original Ghostbusters, one a Non-Terminal Repeating Phantasm (Class V Full Roaming Vapor) and the other is a Class IV Semi-Anchored Entity. To avoid spoilers, I won’t name them, but they’re recognizable enough. At 115 minutes, there was room for more encounters with new ghosts.”

There is less storytelling than worldbuilding, probably for another sequel, depending on what happens. Unfortunately, it feels familiar and in a city like New York, the story should be bigger and carry and heavier cost. Stormer noted, “Plus, the place is still crawling with mini Sta-Puft Marshmallow men that are the size of Hasbro Trolls, but suspiciously reminiscent of the Adipose in Doctor Who. They aren’t very menacing, just psychotically curious and blissfully unaware of their own self-preservation.”

The plot isn’t complicated, but it feels a lot with multiple storylines included to fill in the last 20 minutes. “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” brings back the old team – again, including Janine (Annie Potts) and Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) who aren’t given a lot to do, along with Patton Oswalt who plays a version of Patton Oswalt (but the character’s name is Dr. Hubert Wartzki) who works out of a library basement and knows things. This is all very simple stuff.

Mckenna Grace’s Phoebe continues to carry on the legacy of Egon Spengler, both intelligently curious and logical to a fault. Stormer said, “Setting aside the original crew for all of their complaints about their sunset years, she’s a solid bridge to the past, and could likely carry a film on her own. It would have been nice to see Finn Wolfgard’s Trevor develop a personality and do more than sigh heavily and make puppy-dog eyes at Celest O’Conner’s Lucky, but Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire was just too busy with the 13 other characters.”

Stormer continued, “Director Gil Kenan, responsible for another paranormal retread, Poltergeist (2015) is given a lot of ideas to work with, but not a lot of dramatic capital. There’s no way to keep emotional investment and tension with comedic pratfalls, mis-timed sight gags, and unrealistic deus ex machina. You’re trying to tell me a state-of-the-art containment unit holding an unknown number of paranormal entities relies upon only a single generator that takes 10 seconds to reboot?”

Stormer went on, “While Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is a fine enough film to take the kids to, and the merchandising is already in full swing, I was expecting something more modern.” Instead, we get another ancient evil spirit who’s waited thousands of years to destroy everyone. If we get another “Ghostbusters” sequel, hopefully it gives us something to really be scared of.

I don’t think this is as bad as everyone says it is. Yes, there are a lot of characters with different storylines thrown in here, which makes it convoluted and a mess. However, there is still humor and the visual effects are still great. Overall, I find this to be ok and better than the 2016 film, but the least of the ones in the original storyline. Check it out if you like on Netflix.

Thank you for joining in on this review tonight. Stay tuned to see what excitement I have next month.

Deadpool & Wolverine

This morning, my siblings and I went to the theaters to see “Deadpool and Wolverine,” which came out yesterday. How is the latest installment in the franchise and the new addition to the MCU?

2018 was not a good time for Deadpool (at least he has one in this installment, although “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” has been referenced before). On the “sacred timeline” The Avengers are assembling to fight Thanos and they need everyone. Almost everyone. In the typical Deadpool way, the films starts with “I guess you’re wondering how I ended up here.” He’s digging the grave of Logan, aka Wolverine, in his final resting place at the end of “Logan.” How did Deadpool end up trying to get Wolverine, the main X-Men out of his grave and why? This is a result of the Fox/Disney merger and Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool not being as Disney friendly as other superheroes.

Somewhere in the multiverse, Deadpool has not been living very well. He’s working with Peter, played by Rob Delany, selling cars and has hung up the suit for good. Vanessa, reprised by Morena Baccarin, has moved out. He believes he doesn’t matter. This was before the merger, and you will see plenty of explanations about that.

Wade Wilson is depressed but pretends everything is okay. He still has his friends as he’s sharing his apartment with Blind Al, reprised by Leslie Uggams. On his birthday attended by Peter, Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand), her girlfriend Yukio (Shioli Kutsuna), Colossus (Stefan Kapicic), Shatterstar (Lewis Tan), and others, he gets a knock on the door from some TVA agents and believes they have been called for some dirty party acts. However, they’re there to take him to Mr. Paradox, played by Matthew MacFadyen, a Time Variance Authority bureau chief with a desire for preventive dimension pruning.

Deadpool’s hilarious R-rated comedy action has been a huge success. A lot of that has to do with Ryan Reynolds and his commitment to the act both on and off screen. That included a fake rivalry with good friend Hugh Jackman (Wolverine) and a team up that was expected despite Wolverine’s adamantium corpse being what was left of the Fox X-Men Franchise. Not to worry, the multiverse and the “Loki” introduced TVA are here to save the fans.

To say “Deadpool & Wolverine” had a story would not be saying enough. The set up is Wade Wilson’s dimension is about to get pruned but if he plays nice, he at least will have a future which includes being with Thor. As his timeline has lost Wolverine, he must accept they’re finished. Not exactly. Wade is going to find another Wolverine and fix everything.

Shawn Levy, who has worked with both Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds in the past, is a great comedy director, and as expected, “Deadpool & Wolverine” is a comedy. Even the action scenes are like extended comedy skits. They’re blood-filled but the first thought is to laugh and not be impressed by the choreography. Nadine Whitney said in her review, “With “The Worst Logan” located Deadpool and Wolverine end up in ‘The Void’ (another Loki reference) where useless superheroes and it seems entire Marvel universes get sent to stop bothering the sacred Disney timeline.”

There are two villains. Whitney said, “Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin) Charles Xavier’s mummudrai twin who rules over The Void, and Mr Paradox – essentially an out-of-control middle management efficiency expert who can easily be described as a studio accountant. Do either of them pose a palpable threat? Not particularly. Nova’s plan is some universe (multiverse) ending palaver but it’s unlikely anyone is coming to Deadpool & Wolverine for actual stakes. The audience turns up for the scatological humour, the irreverent pokes at pretty much everything, and the buddy comedy where Hugh Jackman manages to keep up an impressive scowl and straight man routine for the runtime.”

Fan service is expected, and the movie delivers sporadically despite intentionally making fun of people who are fans. The lack of hatred with Ryan Reynolds’ jokey character, or maybe equal opportunity hatred, is what keeps everything fun. Reynolds and Jackman make jokes about themselves. There are two real-life divorce jokes. Blake Lively gets mentioned. Hugh’s Broadway career. A lot of jokes about Canada and how Hugh is not Canadian so why is he the best mutant from Canada. Also, so many cameos which would make a typical MCU film good.

Whitney said, “Deadpool & Wolverine almost hermetically seals itself from the standard criticism any superhero movie gets by blatantly pointing out it knows it’s doing the things people want and don’t want from them. People who were exhausted by the MCU and the interconnected nature of the multi-movie soap opera now get a new level of references which go back as far as… well to say which films would be a spoiler in itself but assume you might need to have prior knowledge of the Fox Marvel properties.”

Is “Deadpool & Wolverine” a “good” film? I think so and it is a friendly film which knows how insanely silly the ongoing comic book franchise are and makes the audience laugh at it and themselves which being given so many Easter eggs only the Marvel fanbase that has been following along since the beginning will get.

If the audience will enjoy the film and accept and embrace the comedy action they are just as responsible for what they’re seeing as the companies who own these properties, then everyone is going to have a good time.

As you can guess, this is the funniest of the Deadpool movies. The comedy, action, writing, pacing, the working off of the two leads, the cameos, Easter eggs, the twists, even the humanizing moments were all great. You should definitely go to the theaters to see this because you will be uproariously laughing at it like I was. There was a part where a person in the audience hollered, which I will not spoil. There is an after-credits scene that will have you laughing. I give this a solid 10 as it is another one of my favorite comic book films. I can’t wait to see what the MCU’s future holds for Deadpool and the X-Men.

Thank you for joining in on this review tonight. Stay tuned to see what I will review next month.

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F

Not that long ago, a certain sequel like “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” would have made so much at the box office over the Fourth of July weekend. However, we’re in a different time, and the long-awaited fourth film in the Eddie Murphy franchise was released on Netflix on July 3^rd instead of in the theaters. Brian Tallerico said in his review, “While streaming services sequels usually mean the death of quality control, “Axel F” is a shockingly entertaining diversion, the best in the series since the film that helped make Murphy one of the biggest stars of his generation.” These long-awaited sequels are often a cash-grab for nostalgia, but there’s been a change in this lately with amazing hits like “Creed” and “Top Gun: Maverick.”

“Axel F” may not be nearly as good as those film, but it’s so much closer than you would think. If nothing else, it reminds audiences just how amazing Murphy can be in the right area by giving him talented supporting cast to play his comedic skills with, like Taylour Paige, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Kevin Bacon. Tallerico noted, “The nostalgic callbacks to characters from the original trilogy feel almost contractually required and, hence, fall flat. Still, there’s enough here to accomplish exactly what Netflix wants on a holiday weekend when people used to go to the theater in droves: make them stay home.”

“Axel F” starts as these films do, with Axel Foley getting into undercover trouble in Detroit, this time stopping a robbery at a Red Wings game that ends up with a destructive chase through the city in a snowplow – the first of a series of well-done chase scenes in the film, something that isn’t done anymore in this realm of over-CGI films. We see that Axel’s former partner in the DPD, Jeffrey Friedman, played by Paul Reiser, is the Chief of Police now, but he’s already filed for retirement. This starts a series of conversations about veteran law enforcement and a profession that doesn’t always handle its seniors well.

Axel himself is now getting old, but he goes back to Beverly Hills when his estranged daughter Jane played by Paige, is nearly murdered because she gets too close to a case involving dangerous cops. Now this signals the return of familiar faces like Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and John Taggart (John Ashton). Rosewood is a private detective after a fallout with BHPD Chief Taggart, that made him leave the force. Additions to this series for the first time are Detective Bobby Abbott (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Captain Cade Grant (Kevin Bacon). Abbott is Jane’s ex and an obvious ally. Tallerico described, “Grant might as well be twirling a handlebar mustache, and he’s so clearly the bad guy.”

From the beginning, “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” is resistant and playful in a way that long-awaited sequels usually aren’t allowed to be, and that was missing the previous two sluggish sequels. Murphy is at his best when he’s allowed to move through a film, light on his feet, laughing and smiling in a way that fans love. Even the score here feels playful as Lorne Balfe includes parts of the original Harold Faltermeyer classic into something fresh while also directly using tracks from the huge 1984 soundtrack.

You might say this is a cheap trick, but there’s a balance. When Bronson Pinchot’s Serge shows up in a bad scene, you could remember the potential version of this film that’s all callbacks and familiar areas. Tallerico said, “However, director Mark Molloy uses familiarity as seasoning instead of the whole meal. It may seem like faint praise, but there are so many iterations of this reboot – probably including the one almost once directed by Brett Ratner – that go for cheap jokes about cancel culture, generation gaps, and other beats that usually drag down recent films with older comedy stars.” There’s thankfully little of that here as the script keeps the story going in a way that doesn’t call attention to the fact that it’s a franchise that skipped at least one generation.

It helps a lot to have supporting cast willing to help out. Tallerico noted, “Murphy often comes to life when he’s given fun sparring partners, such as acting opposite Wesley Snipes and Da’Vine Joy Randolph in “Dolemite is My Name.”” Paige, Levitt, and Bacon aren’t quite that good, but they all understood what to do, not phoning it in like so many Netflix original supporting actors. Bacon goes into his self-righteous antagonism, and Levitt grounds the film in a few moments when it really needs it. Paige is great but the writers admittedly run out of things to do with her, forcing her into the same arguments with her distant dad quite a bit. As for the returning actors, Reinhold disappears for most of the movie, but Ashton delivers when he’s called to do so.

Tallerico mentioned, “As for the production, cinematographer Eduard Grau (“Passing”) works with commercial vet Molloy to give the film just the right amount of Cali sheen, getting closer to the look of the original with just enough touches to remind people of the Tony Scott aesthetic of the first sequel too. Dan Lebental knows how to cut together these hot-weather legacy action/comedy sequels, following up his editing of “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” with another tightly-cut summer sequel with the right action rhythm. It may seem like nothing to most Netflix viewers, but the truth is a lot of streaming original films, especially the ones that could be called cash grabs (looking at you, "Red Notice"), look lazily made, and that’s never true here.”

You can also see that Fourth of July movies have often meant escapism, a way to leave our problems behind for a few hours and separate ourselves form reality in the theaters. Tallerico said, “While the world becomes a more divisive, tumultuous, anxiety-producing place by the day in Summer 2024, there’s something almost comforting about a movie that, like the no-nonsense cop of its title, gets the job done.”

If you haven’t been impressed with the last two sequels in this franchise, see this one on Netflix. As a movie that was in talks for years, coming out 40 years after the original and 30 years after the last sequel, it was well worth watching. Check it out and see a Murphy movie that needed a sequel desperately.

Thank you for joining in on “Beverly Hills Cop Month.” I hope you enjoyed this month. Stay tuned next month to see what I will review next.