Deadpool 2 (2018)

I had seen the first DP on DVD, but I had more incentive to go to a theater this time. First of all, the month was almost over and I hadn't used MoviePass to get my money's worth. Second, nothing else showing that I hadn't already seen grabbed me. Third, humor tends to be more enjoyable when a large audience laughs with you.

Wade "Deadpool" Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) actually manages to have a worse time of it than before. In the first act, his wife Vanessa dies (prompting a James Bond opening parody), he futilely attempts suicide, he finally takes up Colossus' (Stefan Kapičić) offer to join the X-Men, and his behavior on his first assignment lands him in a prison for mutants. But for the first time on the big screen, he sees a reason to care about someone other than himself and Vanessa: Russell "Firefist" Collins (Julian Dennison), a teen mutant lashing out at abusive orphanage personnel. Not only is Russell in trouble with the authorities, but time traveler Cable (Josh Brolin again?) channels the Terminator with a personal mission to kill him before he grows worse. Deadpool would rather give Russell a chance at redemption, partly because he relates and partly because Vanessa would want him to.

Ready Player One (2018)

Despite Steven Spielberg at the helm, my dad watched the preview and decided he'd probably skip this. He enjoyed Wreck-It Ralph, but that more clearly had something for the non-gamers, if only lush animation. His decision had nothing to do with the Ernest Cline book haters' backlash that predated RPO's release. Me, I recalled that even popular books can become middling Spielberg fare, but I still wanted to give it a try in a theater.

The year is 2045. The physical place is Columbus, Ohio, shabby home to teen Wade and evil megacorporation IOI. The virtual place, where the camera goes more than half the time, is a network of simulated worlds called the OASIS. Five years ago, the main creator of the OASIS died and left a message that his unprecedented filthy riches would go to whoever found the Easter egg. Most of the searchers outside of IOI have given up, but not Wade and his online buddies. His luck starts to change when he virtually meets and crushes on the legendary "Art3mis," who drops helpful hints. It's not immediately known what game she's playing; she claims to give the highest priority to depriving IOI President Sorrento of the grand prize, but main Wade companion Aech thinks she (or he) is just using Wade to a less noble end.

Deadpool (2016)

While I dig comic book movies, especially Marvel's lately, I've hardly read any action comics in my life. My exposure to Deadpool started with his appearance as both an enemy and a player character in X-Men Legends II; since then, I'd mostly heard about him from gushing fans. The mutant who started as a ripoff of DC Comics villain Deathstroke became a parody and then a better-known antihero, appreciated for his humor as much as his fighting prowess. The one thing that gave me pause about seeing this movie was the edginess, bound to outdo that T-rated game's version.

Like many real-life funny people, "Merc with a Mouth" Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds, who ironically keeps his mouth covered in costume) turns out not to be especially happy. Oh, he enjoyed being a rather amoral wiseacre long before he assumed the costume and alias. Having retired from Special Forces operations, he now made money by harming or intimidating petty miscreants and spent that money in seedy dives. Then terminal cancer drove him to accept a shady proposal to grant him Wolverine-like rapid healing. It worked, but the torturous process, the resulting disfigured skin (why doesn't that heal?), and the revelation that they were making super slaves (how counterintuitive) made him question the wisdom of his decision. He escaped, but so did sadistic project overseer Francis, who much prefers to go by Ajax. Now, no longer willing to show his face to fiancee Vanessa (Morena Baccarin, once again playing a prostitute), he dons a new identity and goes on a long-term hunt for Ajax, hoping for a cure as well as justice.

Big Hero 6 (2014)

My previous meager knowledge of the Marvel Comics superhero team came from an X-Men video game that identified Sunfire as a former member. The rather dopey-sounding team name reflected a Japanese identity. Imagine my surprise that they would be getting an animated treatment that, from the trailer, looked very unlike other comic book adaptations these days. I wondered if this would be what Marvel fans had feared ever since Disney bought the company.

Well, as with many a modern Disney feature (more common with Pixar, which this isn't really), the trailer fails to capture the greatness. If I hadn't known the origin of the title, I would've thought that Baymax the robot was a "Big Hero" model with "6" as a numerical designation. We see one other teammate, early teen Hiro, and they don't show off any special abilities. I wasn't even sure that Baymax could speak. He can, quite well -- and while he doesn't match WALL-E in cuteness, I want one of him even more than I want a DreamWorks dragon.

How to Train Your Dragon 1 & 2

I was going to review only 2 here, since I saw 1 four years ago. But this sort of sequel seems hard to evaluate without making many references to the original.

DreamWorks continues to move up in my estimation. The HtTYD film series is not its most original effort, but both entries to date hold their own against at least half the output of Pixar. They are more likely than anything else to make viewers, young and old, male and female, want a pet dragon.