Hello all! Another week and another bout of movies to review! One known for being a cult 80’s classic, and the other being a sequel to one of the most popular comic book characters ever! So without further ado, let’s get right into it!
Short Circuit (1986)
Well this was definitely a weird experience. I had heard of Short Circuit vaguely before watching it. I had seen some clips, some people mentioned the effects and all that, but it wasn’t one I had heard talked about much. But having watched it, part of that speaks to me saying that this is almost the perfect cult 80’s film. You have the wacky characters, you have the at-the-time cutting edge effects, you have goofy acting and totally unbelievable characters and scenarios, and yet somehow, it all gels together beautifully. The story shows the military showcase 5 new robots that have the potential to be the next greatest advancement in weapons. One of them is struck by lighting and essentially develops a human conscience. Yes, you read that correctly. So the rest of the film focuses on this robot learning about human life and essentially becoming more human itself. It vaguely reminded me of E.T. (1982) but it contains many pop culture references. The Three Stooges, the Looney Tunes, Saturday Night Fever and many other films are referenced extensively and all of them are well timed and work pretty well! The special effects for the time are excellent. This robot is completely stiff and jagged, there is fluid movement and any sort of visual effects are handled with great detail and care. The main factor that lets film down, by far, is the acting. The acting is certainly not believable and is actually unwatchable on several occasions. Too many times to the actors seem like they don’t care about what their saying, or on the opposite, that they care far too much! One character did make me laugh however, a very stereotypical Indian scientist who acts as a sidekick to the male lead, and his dialogue is well written and very well timed comedically. It actually reminds me of the cab driver in the Deadpool series (we’ll get to him later…). Overall, this film is far from perfect, but in a way, that’s what makes it brilliant. For all its bad acting and completely wacky story, it does boast impressive effects and overall a heartwarming story. Definitely a product of its time of the mid-1980’s, but its an piece of history that still will put a smile on your face for a variety of reasons. And for the most part, completely safe to show to any children, they’ll definitely enjoy it! Check out the trailer below!
Deadpool (2018)
The sequel to one of the funnest movies of 2016. When I first sat down to watch Deadpool (2016) two years ago, I knew nothing of this character. After I left, I loved him and his debut movie. So there was no question that I wasn’t going to check this one out! Just to bust a point early, I would argue you do not necessarily have to see the first film to completely enjoy this one. Sure, you’ll probably appreciate and understand things in a greater detail, but if you wanna dive straight into this, I think that isn’t a problem. And Deadpool 2 is essentially bigger, louder, more action-packed, more epic than its predecessor. Probably because of a higher budget! Ryan Reynolds shines once again as Wade Wilson/Deadpool. Cementing the popular opinion that he was born to play this part. He completely understands each and every facet of this character. What makes him tick, what makes him angry, what makes him laugh, he just completely embodies this persona. His supporting cast don’t disappoint. Straight from Infinity War, we have Josh Brolin playing Cable, who is both funny but also really badass. I think it must be Brolin himself, because I swear I haven’t seen him in anything where he hasn’t been the coolest thing to walk the screen, a very brilliant performance. The addition of new characters like Russell are hilarious too, but also serve this films more emotional and poignant side. If there is one thing that Deadpool 2 boasts more of than the first film, is I think it has a lot more heart. Right from the get-go, you have a very emotionally charged scene take place. And there are many moments that aren’t afraid to slow the film down and talk about more important issues than just cracking another joke. But one of the funniest aspects is definitely the presence of the X-Force. I won’t say much about them, but all I’ll say is, every second that they are together, you’ll be laughing your ass off! Also, stick around for the after credits scenes, theres quite a few of them… Overall though, this is truly a fantastic sequel. It doesn’t fall flat by any means, not entirely perfect, but to discuss those issues would be spoilery. But please go and see this film without any doubt that it will be anything less than spectacular. Deadpool is back, and he’s definitely here to stay. Check out the trailer to gear yourself up for a viewing!
And that’s all for this week folks! As always, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading the reviews, watching the trailers and hopefully checking out these movies for yourself! Have a fantastic week going forward and until the next one, I’ll see you all next time!
Adam xx
The Sunday Film Review 