Deadpool & Wolverine

Was this trip really necessary? I’m far from convinced that it was. I won’t say there isn’t any funny in here; there are some real laugh-out-loud moments along the way in this script. But then again, a lot of the story reads like it was copied and pasted from fan fiction posted on message boards. I wasn’t quite sure how and why the main characters were where and what they were at the start of things—I guess I really don’t live and breathe these flicks after all; score one for me—and it never got all that much clearer as things went on. Others may be satisfied with the Easter egg experience of seeing some obscure characters brought into the plot as cameo devices, but that only goes so far in my view. (Dafne Keen’s appearance worked best for me, as her character actually had some relevance to the last time we saw Hugh Jackman as Logan.) And, of course, the over the top violence is fun, for a while. Then it gets numbing, and your mind starts to drift onto other ideas—like, for instance, what is the point to all this besides making money? The answer may not surprise you. Alas, everyone’s favorite unkillable supersomething may live on again and again, until the profit margin grows small enough to invoke the powers that no franchise can resist: studio accountants. I guess that’s the real subtext of this thing. That certainly is the lasting takeaway of this movie. Let’s see how many wisecracks it takes to overcome that.

Deadpool 2

I laughed. I think that was the goal of this crew; I did laugh, in a few places out loud. But not all the way through. Too much of the effort was forced; the referencing was not nearly as organic and impactful as in the previous film. "Trying too hard" is always a poor option, especially so when it's an idea so antithetical to the very protagonist himself. It also didn't help that our...hero?...did not exactly have the same level of motivation as in the original outing. The whole thing was a little too forced. Relax a little and maybe the next one--we know there will be a next one--will rise back up to the earlier heights.

Serenity

Flawed but entertaining, much like its television predecessor Firefly. The biggest flaw: sometimes the main plot feels less interesting than the secondary shenanigans--the action, the wit, the developed character interactions--but the overall story works, and is never so subordinate as to ground the whole flight. And when this ship soars, it soars. I'd be on board for more movies with this crew.