Film Shapes

So, after years of teasing punters, Huge Action said yes to appearing alongside Deadpool, the result being this uneven, snarky bloodbath. It's very funny in parts, slow in others but it seems to have washed its face already, bringing in over $600 million worldwide to the evil Disney coffers. This is the third film in the Deadpool series, but the first since Marvel/Disney acquired FOX studios, a Hollywood business deal referred to way too often in this film - once or twice would be enough but I reckon most of the audience don't find these Pool asides as funny as the writers do. Speaking of writers, there's a veritable stable of them credited here - Ryan Reynolds himself; Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick from the first two Deadpool films; Zeb Wells; and director, Shawn Levy; not to mention the comic creators, Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza. Many cooks, lots of broth. Plot-wise, there's a lot to get into here but I'm not sure that's really of concern - the 'sto...

A dodgy title doesn't mean the quality of the film itself has to follow suit. Sadly though, this is the case here, with Jeff Nichols' bog-standard, diet-Scorsese effort. The story is based on a coffee table book about bikies in the USA, put together by Danny Lyon, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Nichols. It follows three main protagonists - Jodie Comer's garrulous Kathy; Austin Butler's dull Benny; and Tom Hardy's intense Johnny - as they witness the expansion of the motorcycle gangs of the 60s and early 70s.  The film plays with ideas of obsession, loyalty and redundancy but the lack of direction or energy is a concern. It reminded me of Goodfellas, but without the gravitas, with Comer in the Lorraine Bracco role and Butler as a mono-syllabic Ray Liotta. To stretch the comparison, I guess Hardy must be De Niro. Honestly, Hardy's the best thing about the film. He inhabits characters, and much has been made of his voices, but it's not just that. Physic...