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Interview: Director David Leitch talks ‘Deadpool 2’

As the film’s audience and the box office numbers can attest, there’s ample room in the movie marketplace for R-rated superhero adventures like “Deadpool 2,” director David Leitch’s and star Ryan Reynolds’ outrageously entertaining sequel to the 2016 worldwide blockbuster “Deadpool.”

The great thing is, Leitch, as well as Reynolds — who co-wrote the sequel with the original film’s scribes Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick — have proven that there’s much more to the film than Deadpool/Wade Wilson’s trademark wiseass humor that made the original such a blast. The four creatives without question realized that there was a lot of room for the narrative to grow with “Deadpool 2,” which makes the film not only one of the best of the year so far, but arguably better than the brilliant film from two years ago.

One of reasons for that, Leitch believes, is apart from the F-bomb slinging irreverence and vengeful nature of the title character, Deadpool/Wade is a real person who feels pain like the rest of us.

“There’s something about the blue humor and subversive nature of ‘Deadpool’ that, it has to be rated R and it has to be naughty, but it doesn’t mean that it can’t have a heart — a beating heart — and a soul and a moral message,” Leitch said in a phone conversation Wednesday from Los Angeles. “I think that’s what makes it unique. It’s something that you don’t find in anything else, and that’s what makes it such a breath of fresh air.”

Now playing in theaters nationwide, “Deadpool 2” finds the mutant affectionately known as the “Merc with a Mouth” on a mission to save a young and rebellious mutant, Russell (Julian Dennison) from the crosshairs of Nathan Summers/Cable (Josh Brolin), a time-traveling cyborg who comes back from the future to eliminate him. Deadpool isn’t about to go it against Cable alone, though, recruiting fellow mutants like Domino (Zazie Beetz) and a handful of others to form the X-Force — leading to, as a result one of the film’s many unexpected but laugh-out-loud hilarious scenes.

Photo: Fox

Despite the enormous success of the first “Deadpool” film, it became immediately clear from the very beginning that Leitch, Reynolds and company weren’t going to rest on their laurels and coast on the waves for the sequel. It became apparent, in fact, from the opening scenes of “Deadpool 2,” where Deadpool suffers an unspeakable tragedy, that the film was willing to not only break the mold of its predecessor; it was going to have to obliterate it to move the story forward.

“It wasn’t a matter of ‘Can we go there?’  We had to go there,” Leitch said. “We wanted to access the character’s humanity and keep the stakes insular and about Deadpool. It wasn’t about global stakes and world-ending consequences. He’s a relatable, flawed human like all of us. There’s a wish-fulfillment part that of him when he says all the raunchy stuff that we wish we could say and there’s the bumbling nature about his political correctness, but at the end of the day, his heart is huge. If you play into that emotion and people love him, they’ll go on the journey with him and all his wisecracks and irreverence. Without that, he’s just a grating asshole.”

Even though the next film for Deadpool/Wade is “X-Force,” fans will be excited to know that there’s more of “Deadpool 2” on the way, either in the form of an extended theatrical cut or in all likelihood, as part of the home video release of the film. Leitch said there’s an additional 12 minutes of the film fans will see, which is a significant amount of footage that will be interspersed throughout the original cut.

“In terms of the additional footage, I feel the movie speaks to you in postproduction and the movie that we presented theatrically is the best version of the film. I really do believe that,” Leitch said. “There’s a pace to making a film and a pace to the storytelling and you want the audience to be constantly falling forward, and getting their dose of drama and narrative and subverting it with a laugh. You find a rhythm and with this movie we did and I’m really proud of it.”

However, when the success of movie allows a director the opportunity to add back in footage they toiled so hard to get in the first place, it hard not to go for it.

“As a filmmaker, there’s a cathartic process where you have all these things you worked so hard to get during production that you have to let go,” said Leitch, who is currently in pre-production on his next film, the “Fast and the Furious” spinoff “Hobbs and Shaw.” “You feel like, ‘Man, we shot 15 hours that day! We’re going to cut that scene? We can’t cut that scene!’ and then you have to cut it for the scene for the betterment of the movie and that’s part of the process.”

Photo: Fox

Still, Leitch said, it will be fun to show the additional footage for fans who would love to have more material. And while Leitch realizes it’s a tricky proposition to add footage back into a film, he assures fans that it won’t alter the story that fans are loving now.

“I don’t think it changes the narrative, but it changes the flow of the film maybe a little bit,” Leitch said. “If you’re already a fan of the theatrical cut, you’re going to love this one. There are some more jokes, there are a couple additional scenes and a little more action, but it’s not exhaustive in any way. It’s actually in the spirit of everything else that’s going on. There were just some jokes that we loved as a creative team that we wanted to share with audiences as we move forward.”

Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for The KQ92 Morning Show,” “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC), WCCO Radio, WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere.

Copyright 2018 DirectConversations.com

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Movie review: ‘Deadpool 2’ laugh-out-loud stroke of brilliance

“Deadpool 2” (R)

Twice as crazy, twice as funny and overall twice as entertaining as the insanely entertaining first film, Deadpool 2 is double the fun of the original 2016 blockbuster — and 20 times more daring than any superhero movie out there. Even with the monstrous weight of expectations on his shoulders, Ryan Reynolds has unleashed the beast of Rob Liefeld’s eccentric Marvel comic book character and not only does he smash those expectations, he’s created what is easily one of the best movies of 2018.

“Deadpool 2” begins with Reynolds’ Deadpool/Wade Wilson skewering Hugh Jackman’s Logan/Wolverine, his far more serious, R-rated counterpart in Twentieth Century Fox’s decidedly more graphic Marvel movie universe. Jackman and Logan are merely the first targets, however, of Deadpool’s offbeat, take-no-prisoners humor, as he savages all-things pop culture and topical during his latest superhero mission – to save a young and rebellious mutant, Russell (Julian Dennison) from the crosshairs of Nathan Summers/Cable (Josh Brolin), a time-traveling mutant who comes back from the future, hell-bent on eliminating him.


AUDIO: Listen to Tim’s review of “Deadpool 2” on “The KQ Morning Show” with Tom Barnard (segment begins 1:30 in).

Loaded with one-liners, political incorrectness and self-aware humor, Deadpool is laugh-out-loud hilarious throughout, as Reynolds injects his quick wit into almost every turn. The great thing is, Reynolds realizes he’s a team player, allowing for returning characters like Blind Al (Leslie Uggams), Weasel (T.J. Miller), Colossus (voice of Stefan Kapicic) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Breanna Hildebrand), as well as new characters Cable and the lucky mutant Domino (Zazie Beetz) time to shine. It’s a perfect marriage of madness made complete by the return of Morena Baccarin as Wade’s true love Vanessa, whose presence looms over the film even though her role is of the smaller, supporting variety this time around.

Naturally, the film has a couple of end credits sequences, so anxious moviegoers are urged to sit patiently as the scenes unfold. The last end credits scene, which obviously won’t be revealed here so not to spoil the fun, may in fact be the best stinger ever to grace a superhero movie. Yes, it’s that brilliant, as is the entire movie to precede it.

Lammometer: 9.5 (out of 10)

Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for The KQ92 Morning Show,” “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC), WCCO Radio, WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere.

Copyright 2018 DirectConversations.com

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Movie reviews: ‘Deadpool,’ ‘Zoolander No. 2’

20th Century Fox
By Tim Lammers

“Deadpool” (R) 4 stars (out of 4)

The Marvel Comics superhero movie genre has turned a big page with “Deadpool,” an insanely entertaining origins story of the anti-hero superhero that erases the stained memories of the character’s big-screen debut in “X-Men Origins” in 2009. Oddly enough, “Deadpool” star Ryan Reynolds also played the “Merc with a Mouth” in that film — which was trashed by fans – but makes things right with this gritty, F-bomb-laden, ultra-violent and hilarious R-rated adaptation of the comic book icon.

Reynolds plays Wade Wilson, an ex-Special Forces op who, after meeting and falling in love with former call girl Vanessa Carlysle (a stunning Morena Baccarin), is diagnosed with terminal cancer. But through a mysterious invitation, Wade is given a chance at a cure that involves a sadistic experiment that turns him into a mutant with miraculous healing capabilities. Unfortunately, the treatment left him horribly scarred, leading him on a path of revenge in the guise of a blood-red suited vigilante he names “Deadpool.”

Interview: Morena Baccarin talks ‘Deadpool’

Reynolds, whose career has been uneven in the past few years (including the lukewarm movie version of “The Green Lantern”), makes a storming comeback here, and he’s clearly in his element every minute he’s onscreen. If there ever was an actor to the-bad-guy-who-Fs-up-the-worse-guys, Reynolds is it. As entertaining as Reynolds is, he gives plenty of room for his supporting cast to shine, which includes the hilarious T.J. Miller as his wise-cracking best buddy and confidant, Weasel, and Ed Skrein as the scientist, Ajax, who unsuccessfully failed in his bid to turn Wade into a killing machine for his own, sick purposes. MMA star Gina Carano also packs wallop as Ajax’s deadly assistant, Angel, and Stefan Kapicic and Brianna Hildebrand create a welcome X-Men presence as Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead, respectively.

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“Zoolander No. 2” (PG-13) 2 stars (out of 4)

There’s a scene early on in “Zoolander No. 2” where long lost fashion stars Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller) and Hansel (Owen Wilson) are invited back to the runway for what seems to be their comeback, but instead are duped into wearing costumes that come with the labels “Old” and “Lame.”

Old and lame. Got that right.

Sadly, lame is the best way to describe “Zoolander No. 2,” the long-awaited sequel to the hilarious 2001 original. Unfortunately, there aren’t too many places to take vacuous characters like Derek and Hansel, because if they do become self-aware or smarter, for example, they simply wouldn’t be Derek and Hansel.

There’s a reason it took 15 years for this movie to make it the big-screen, and the new film – which manufactures a plot around a “chosen one” male model — is utterly disappointing. Filled with forced humor and multiple meaningless (and sometimes embarrassing) star cameos, the film only comes off as mildly entertaining thanks to the wild antics of Will Ferrell (returning as fashion mogul Mugatu) and Kristen Wiig as a Donatella Versace-like designer with some tricks up her sleeve.

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Quick Takes:

“Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” (PG-13) 3 stars (out of 4)

“The Finest Hours” 3 1/2 stars (PG-13) (out of 4)

“Kung Fu Panda 3” (PG) 3 stars (out of 4)

“Where to Invade Next” (R) 1/2 star (out of 4)

Interview: Morena Baccarin talks ‘Deadpool’

It shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that after starring in such TV favorites as “Firefly,” “V” and “Gotham,” and voicing Talia al Ghul in animated “Batman” projects, Morena Baccarin considers herself a comic book/sci-fi geek like the rest of us.

After all, geekdom is something the stunning, 34-year-old Brazilian-born actress has known her whole life. In fact, that’s why she was thrilled to play the pivotal role of Vanessa Carlysle — the tough-as-nails girlfriend of Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) — in the hotly anticipated, R-rated movie adaptation of Marvel Comics’ “Deadpool.”

“Growing up, I became a comic book fan through my brother by osmosis,” Baccarin said in a phone conversation Tuesday from New York City. “But personally, I was a fan of ‘Labyrinth,’ ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ and ‘Star Wars’ – all of that stuff. I’ve enjoyed my fair share, and while I wouldn’t say I’m a hardcore fan, I’m humbled by the passion of the people who are.”

Opening in theaters nationwide on Friday, “Deadpool” tracks the origins of the iconic comic book anti-hero superhero through the colorful musings of Wade Wilson, a former Special Forces operative-turned-mercenary who is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Left with virtually no options, Wade enters into a shady deal where he is promised a cure for his cancer, but in return, he is injected with a serum and forced to undergoes days of torture that will cause a mutation to kick in.

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The last stage of his transformation, however, comes with an even bigger price. While his mutation gives him the ability to heal from any malady or traumatic injury — he can even grow back severed limbs — his treatment in an airtight oxygen tank has caused his body to be severely disfigured. Hiding his scars under a blood red costume and dubbing himself “Deadpool,” Wade goes on the hunt for the sadistic doctor, Frances Freeman, aka, Ajax (Ed Skrein), in the hope that his physical appearance can be reversed.

Unable to show himself to his longtime love, Wade is forced to confront his fears when Ajax kidnaps Vanessa as a way to lure his mercenary alter-ego into battle.

Baccarin loves the fact that Vanessa was scripted not as a damsel in distress, but a woman who can not only hold her own against Wade, but the bad guys as well.

“I feel like character is strong, funny and no-hold-barred, and that’s what’s so great about her,” Baccarin said. “It’s really nice to see a character that is equally matched to her counterpart.”

Of course, the stars of “Deadpool” have been subject to the monstrous expectations from the fans who have wanted to see the likes of Wade and Vanessa properly represented on the big screen for years. Thankfully, Baccarin said, the focus of the fans was squarely on the character affectionately known as the “Merc with a Mouth.”

Photo: Fox

“The fans of this particular project were more interested in Wade,” Baccarin said, laughing. “They wanted to know whether Deadpool was going to be written the way he is written in the comics, or whether it was going to be toned down, because Marvel movies have this history of making stories more mainstream. I think that was an major concern. Getting an R-rated film made was a really big accomplishment, and something Ryan, the writers and (director) Tim Miller really wanted to do for the fans.”

Baccarin said she certainly responds to comic book-inspired movies like “Deadpool” being grittier, just because it seems to open a whole new avenue of creativity. The actress said there’s no reason any project should feel limiting — even if it’s on TV like “Gotham” — especially given the Batman-inspired tale’s source material.

“I think things feel more real that way, and people are ready for that,” said Baccarin, who plays Dr. Leslie Thompkins in the series. “I love that Batman has some darkness to him, because it’s very real. It’s reflected in the comics. It didn’t come out of nowhere. What’s interesting about Batman or the world of ‘Gotham’ is that it’s gritty and it’s not clear cut. It’s not black-and-white. There are moral struggles, and that’s something that’s very human.”

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