Aaron White is a Seattle-based film critic and co-creator/co-host of the Feelin’ Film Podcast. He is also a member of the Seattle Film Critics Society. He writes reviews with a focus on the emotional experience he has with a film. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter to be notified when new content is posted.
Welcome to Now Available, where we’ll give you a quick review of a film we didn’t cover when it was released in theaters that’s releasing for home viewing this week, along with a list of everything else and where you can see our coverage on it.
When a corporate mega-park moves in across town, the run-down, play-at-your-own-risk Action Point amusement park is in dire financial trouble. The park’s oddball owner D.C. (Johnny Knoxville), his daughter and his ragtag staff (including Jackass’ Chris Pontius) must find a way to keep the doors open. Complicating matters are lawyers and lawmakers who are fed up with the lack of safety protocols at the once proud establishment.
Don’t let that description fool you. Tim Kirkby’s Action Point is nothing but MTV’s Jackass repackaged with a flimsy plot to attempt to sell the antics of Knoxville and his friends once again. At Feelin’ Film, we like to try to look positively at movies, but I really have nothing good to say about this one at all. It’s dull, amateurish and more than just a little tired. Johnny Knoxville is an enigma to me. He has charisma to spare and has proven himself to be an adept comedic actor in the past. But instead of using that talent, he’s been content to churn out lowest common denominator dreck for almost 20 years at this point. If there’s one bright spot, it’s that it performed more poorly at the box office than any Knoxville starring films to date, so maybe as a culture we’re learning to stay away.
Action Point is a tired and laugh-less comedy from the guy who brought you Jackass. It’s one of the worst movies of the year.
Buy It, Rent It, Wait for Netflix or Skip It?
Skip It.
Also available this week:
Deadpool 2- I was a pretty big fan of this one when it was released back in May and after watching it again this week, I still am. Read my review here.
First Reformed- One of the favorites of the year so far for a few of our contributors, listen to Don and Aaron share their thoughts about it here.
Show Dogs- Despite starring one of my personal favorite comedic actors in Will Arnett and having the vocal talents of people like Stanley Tucci, this so called family comedy failed make me laugh and was offensive enough that I won’t show it to my family.
Other New Releases: God’s Not Dead 3, Black Water
Jeremy Calcara is a contributing member of the Feelin’ Film team. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter to be notified when new content is posted.
I think it’s time to change our perspective. In the world of comic book movies, there are no new stories. We’ve told them all. I don’t want to read another criticism that a film in the genre failed to tread new ground because there isn’t new ground to cover. We don’t need new stories, we need fresh ones. The original Deadpool was a fresh story. There weren’t any beats that were new, but Ryan Reynolds and company were able to inject enough fresh life into the old superhero origin story to make it the surprise hit of 2016 and guaranteed that we’d see the Merc with a Mouth on the silver screen again soon. The only question that needed to be answered was whether or not a sequel could stay fresh or if it would be nothing but a retread of its successful predecessor.
David Leitch’s Deadpool 2 puts us back in the world of Wade Wilson (Reynolds) at a time in his life where he has it all. He’s quite successful at his job and his home life couldn’t be better. But as is wont to happen in films like these, this bliss is short lived as one day, while Wilson and his wife Vanessa (Morea Baccarin) cuddle up on the couch in their Old Navy khakis and pastel sweaters discussing the expansion of their little family, some unfinished business changes his world dramatically and sends our beloved Pool on another journey of self-discovery. And all of this happens before the opening credits. From there the film embarks on what is essentially a “Would you kill baby Hitler if you could go back in time” kind of plot as DP assembles a team of mutants, the X-Force, to protect a child (and apparently future monster) caught in the crosshairs of the mysterious time-traveling Cable (Josh Brolin). That’s a pretty bare bones description, but I don’t want to give anything else away because what follows is 2 hours of violence, surprise cameos and laughs with a surprising amount of heart sprinkled in.
Unsurprisingly, Reynolds is the star of this show. Wade Wilson is the part he was born to play and he slips into Deadpool’s red pants with ease once again. Josh Brolin is very good as Cable, a man who has some very compelling reasons to do a really bad thing. Zazie Beetz was the highlight of the supporting cast as Domino, a mutant whose super power is simply good luck. While that doesn’t seem like the most cinematic of powers (at one point Deadpool criticizes the power for just that reason), Leitch and his team find a way to really make it work. My only complaint about the cast is that TJ Miller’s part wasn’t re-cast in the light of the numerous allegations about his behavior towards women. In a self-aware film of this nature, one that outright references the #MeToo movement with a joke or two, his presence sticks out like a sore thumb.
But does it stay fresh? In this reviewer’s opinion, it absolutely does. By leaning into the self-referential humor made the first film so successful, upping the ante on the action and violence and making effective pauses in the action and comedy to give itself real emotional depth, Deadpool 2 continues the trend set by the original of making the old feel new. Is it perfect? No. Some of the tonal shifts are jarring, there are some lulls in the action that last a bit longer than they ought to and a few of the jokes don’t land (but with as many of them as there are flying at the screen, the amount that do is quite impressive). Everything else adds up to a worthy continuation of the franchise that might even compete with the original. In short, if you enjoyed your first ride with Deadpool, I can’t imagine you wouldn’t love this one as well.
PS. This film has the best mid-credits stinger(s) in cinematic history. Enjoy!
Rating:
Jeremy Calcara is a contributing member of the Feelin’ Film team. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter to be notified when new content is posted.
LESSON #1: $54 BILLION DOLLARS IS AN ASTRONOMICAL AMOUNT OF MONEY— The huge Disney/Fox deal that has been rumored finally became official on Thursday. If you thought the two $4 billion deals Disney paid years ago for Marvel Comics and LucasFilm properties was high, the price tag on this one is enormous, but consider the prizes being the list of holdings coming over in this merger (see the article). As before in this column, I get the fanboy dreams possible with this (see the character rights breakdown picture below), but I am going to miss the separation of history. Here’s a good article of the 102-history of Fox. I remain questioning whether this really is a good thing.
LESSON #2: YOUR R-RATED DEADPOOL WILL BE FINE UNDER THE DISNEY UMBRELLA— Disney CEO Bob Iger already answered one fan uproar after the merger with a statement on the fate of R-rated content like Deadpool coming over form Fox. His final line was “As long as we let the audiences know what’s coming, we think we can manage that fine.” People forget Walt Disney used to own the Dimension Films brand from 1993-1999 responsible for films like From Dusk Till Dawn and the Scream franchise. All Iger and company have to do is create another production shingle under another name just like Dimension. Hell, just call it 20th Century Fox. Easy peasy! Disney’s not going to say no to hit-making money.
LESSON #3: THE GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS REMAIN AN ABSOLUTE JOKE— This is becoming a yearly rant, but so many of the Golden Globe nominations announced Monday reek of questionable voting, taste, and any semblance of intelligence. Snubs happen with any awards, but there’s are always more dumbfounding. The Hollywood Foreign Press never seem to get the category split between comedy and drama right in a believable way. Zero comedy love for The Big Sick? No women directors? Come on. We’ve always heard the hints that this is a pay-for-play popularity contest for foreign press to throw a party to see and be seen. I’ve just about stopped watching them altogether. Still, as always, their winners senselessly affect Oscar races and it stinks.
LESSON #4: SOME FILMS HAVE NOT AGED WELL— I’ve been meaning to do some retrospectives this year since this is the 20th year since I graduated high school in 1997. This past week, I charted my reflective “10 Best” of 1997 and several other lists and categories on Every Movie Has a Lesson. The topic came to mind of what films have aged well or poorly over time. I certainly had some films from 1997 that went down in love and appreciation for me in twenty years. ScreenRant recently did a piece on the topic and made some great picks. What are some films that have not aged well for you? What are some films you liked long ago but have changed your mind on now? Comment and let’s hear some thoughts and titles.
DON SHANAHAN is a Chicago-based film critic writing on his website Every Movie Has a Lesson. As an elementary educator by day, Don writes his movie reviews with life lessons in mind, from the serious to the farcical. He is a proud member and one of the founders of the Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle. As a contributor here on Feelin’ Film, he’s going to expand those lessons to current movie news and trends. Find “Every Movie Has a Lesson” on Facebook, Twitter, Medium, and Creators Media.
