Deadpool 2 - Forever The Merc With The Mouth

***WARNING: Here it is, your spoiler warning. If you haven't seen Deadpool 2, I highly recommend you don't read ahead, unless you like spoilers. Do you like spoilers? What fun is that? Go get your laugh on by watching Deadpool 2, then come back and read this post.***

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Deadpool 2 Movie Poster

Honestly, I'm not sure where to begin. I mean, it's not like I had kids interrupting me while I watched Deadpool 2 (our once per year date night -- ha ha).

I guess I'll start with this: it's funny. Yeah, a little simplistic, but hey, it's been hot out and I think my brain melted a little. Of course, it's only funny for those who like Deadpool's sense of humor. And seriously, Deadpool doesn't shut up. Ever. He's the kind of person I wish I could be, coming up with the wiseass remarks and burns in the moment (instead, I'm the person whose tongue trips over itself -- this is why I prefer writing to speaking, I can go back and fix things).

Now, I know there are people out there who say it's pretty much just a rehash of the first movie. But what do you expect from a specific brand of humor? All those sitcoms on TV? Yeah, same kind of humor over and over again. That doesn't make those shows any less funny for people who love that kind of thing (I mean, how many seasons of Seinfeld were there?). Same with Deadpool -- if you loved the humor in the first movie, you'll love it in the second. And if you complain about it being repetitive, you didn't really love it in the first movie and you can go suck a lemon because you're clearly not the target audience.

Deadpool's humor is of course the biggest draw, but like with the first movie, there's still a solid story arc. Mind you, I was a bit shocked that Vanessa died in the first five minutes, though it worked (and well, nothing that couldn't be fixed in the end credits with Cable's little time gadget -- heh). After losing Vanessa, Deadpool needs to find something else to live for, and while he's pretty selfish at the beginning, he eventually makes it his goal to save Russell, a kid who could destroy much of the world if he accomplishes a single act. He even sacrifices his own life to save Russell from turning into the monster that Cable claims he'll become.

Speaking of Cable, I loved his arc (and when Deadpool called him Thanos -- lol). At first, he's the big bad. But you see he's not really bad -- he's trying to save his family. He's simply a hero that's at odds with another hero (and I use the term hero loosely, since we all know Deadpool is the biggest anti-hero, ever). You can see the logic and good intentions behind his acts, even if he is trying to kill a kid. And in the end, he actually sacrifices being able to see his family again to save Deadpool. Of course, the teddy bear he carries turns from charred and bloody to clean and shiny, so he knows his family has been saved. And it was great how after he turned back time, he still aimed to shoot at the kid and have Deadpool take the bullet. So the outcome would be the same. But this time, the skee ball token stopped the bullet since Cable had clearly given it back to Deadpool.

Even with all the humor, the story arc was pretty serious, and this created a great balance.

My biggest qualm was the short screen time for Juggernaut, and his subsequent quick death. My biggest exposure to Juggernaut was with that old 90s X-Men cartoon. And I loved the conflict of Juggernaut with his brother, Professor X. Now, the relationship was hinted at in Deadpool 2, but by killing Juggernaut off, that squashes the possibility of him showing up in an X-Men movie (since the universes have been established as connected). It's one of those instances that I hope dead doesn't stay dead. It would have been awesome to have an Easter Egg at the end with Juggernaut emerging from the pool, as if he was just knocked out instead of killed. Dead isn't always dead, right? Not in a comic book! I can hope.

Oh, also Domino = love! I can't wait to see more of her. That power of hers is pretty awesome, and I always got to love strong women who don't take shit from anyone (including Deadpool). The rest of the X-Force dying was hilarious, too. Especially since the previews were a red herring and made you think they were all in the fight. Super glad they picked Domino as the survivor, though.

I'm sure when I watch Deadpool 2 again, I'll find a few more things that I like, and other things that bother me, but I think this first viewing I was laughing too often to notice many of the negatives. I mean, that's why I went, to laugh. Mission accomplished.

And I can't wait to hear what's next for all of these characters. Even if we don't get Deadpool 3, I'm sure he'd work well in an ensemble X-Force movie!

1001 Reasons Not To Clean - #31 through #35

Welcome to 1001 Reasons Not to Clean! The main goal of this series is to see if I can actually reach 1001 reasons, 5 reasons at a time (the final post, if I get there, will be 6 reasons). I'm sure I can. It's not just my crazy brain being unrealistic, right? Links to previous posts are below. And feel free to share your excuses, and they might get added to my list (with credit, of course)!

#1 through #5 ~ #6 through #10 ~ #11 through #15 ~ #16 through #20 ~ #21 through #25

~ #26 through #30

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31. Spring is finally here! Wait, it is spring isn't it? Mother Nature is laughing again because we kind of skipped over spring and went straight into summer. Anyway, winter is finally done, and you want to enjoy the lack of snow on the ground and warmth in the air.

32. You walked two hours today because you needed to ferry your preschooler back-and-forth to school (no, I don't drive and I have my reasons, we'll leave it at that). Exhaustion doesn't begin to define how you feel.

33. You walked two hours yesterday, and somehow you feel worse than you did the day before. You're getting too old for this shit (or you're just more out of shape than you're willing to admit).

34. You'd rather go for a walk with the family to see if you can spot any ducklings by the river.

35. Instead of quickly and easily snagging the pictures you need for your blog post, you waste an hour trying to figure out why your pictures aren't downloading properly to your computer, only to find out that Apple has switched all of its pictures to a new format (that since you've only recently upgraded to a phone that uses iOS 11, you had no clue about said switch until now). Eventually you find the converted JPEG files peppered in the downloads -- because even if something looks like it's done downloading, it rarely ever is. Hey, you were supposed to be cleaning during that wasted hour (or maybe you weren't and are just using the photo issues as an excuse not to clean...).

Avengers: Infinity War - Wow, Just Wow

***WARNING: I know Avengers: Infinity War hasn't even been out for a week, so you might not have seen it yet. However, there are a lot of spoilers below. It's hard not to spoil something when talking about this movie. And if you've been following any of the other Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, you should really just go out and see the third Avengers movie already! But if you don't want spoilers before you do so, come back and read this post after you've seen the movie.*** ❦

Avengers: Infinity War Movie Poster

I went into Avengers: Infinity War fully expecting some characters to die. With as huge of a cast as this movie has, it was bound to happen.

But I didn't think I'd find myself saying, "Not Loki!" in the first five minutes. Ack! I felt a little betrayed. (Heimdall, too!)

Now, I know comic books are famous for killing people off and bringing them back. I fully expect the MCU to be the same. I mean, Loki came back once already, though this time even Thor admits that he's not likely coming back this time. Which sucks. My hubbie made a good point, though. Loki's story arc is pretty much played out. Not that I want to fully accept that, along with his death, but part of me knows it's true.

Honestly, the beginning of Infinity War is what bugs me the most about the movie. Not because of Loki's death (I mean, I'm upset, but I get it), but because of how it felt like the movie that came directly before it, Thor: Ragnarok, felt kind of pointless. Ragnarok was a great movie, and at the end Thor saved as many Asgardians as he could. To only have Thanos wipe them out? And off screen? I know he only supposedly kills half of each race. Haven't the Asgardians lost enough already, though? It just felt like everything Thor did, in the end, didn't matter. Kind of a big blow when that was the previous movie. (Also off screen is the "decimation" of Xandar, the planet the Guardians saved in their first movie -- though this stings, it's not as much, since that movie is further in the past.)

Wait, you think I didn't like the movie? On the contrary, I loved it! My issues with the beginning aside, Avengers: Infinity War was excellent. With so many characters, it could have easily fallen apart, but I thought balancing them all was done wonderfully well. And Thanos. Wow, just wow. Now that's a well-rounded villain. You could totally see how he came to his conclusions and why he wanted to destroy half of the population of the universe. He thought he was doing the right thing -- it made complete sense to him, and he felt his actions would mean that he'd save life in the universe. The addition of seeing his deep love for Gamora rounded him out even more. This movie was Thanos's story, pure and simple. The Avengers? All the other characters? Just part of Thanos's tale, really secondary characters in this movie, which is probably why they felt so well-balanced.

But speaking of Gamora... Ack! She was one of those characters at the top of my list that I didn't want to die. I was so pissed when Thanos killed her. Again, I get why. Totally makes sense. That doesn't make me any less pissed. For her, though, I suspect she's not going to stay dead. I'll leave my theories until last, though.

The other kind of issue with Infinity War is the end. It's not really an end. It stops in the middle of the story arc. This is clearly a Part 1, and that might upset some people who expect a full story. The cliffhangers push the writer in me toward a brain aneurysm, just a little. You can betray a lot of readers if you end a novel on a cliffhanger. But again, for Infinity War, I get it. This is a huge story, and it needed two parts. Ending it with Thanos watching his sunset works and is fitting, if they needed to stop it in the middle. All is lost now, right? Many of the Avengers turned to ash. Hell, Rocket is the only Guardian left (unless you count Nebula)!

It's an emotional end. Now, I usually get pretty over-emotional about things, but I didn't at the end of Infinity War because I knew it was coming. I knew Thanos was going to snap his fingers, and we were going to lose many of our beloved characters. Not because I read spoilers, either (I didn't -- I don't, and made sure hubbie didn't this time). I expected it. Though my hubbie and I were pretty shocked that Cap and Stark were still standing at the end. There's always a chance they're fall in Part 2, though.

What else do I expect? For time to be turned back. Here come my suppositions for Part 2. All those characters who turned to ash will be back. They have to be. Can't have the next slated Spider-Man movie otherwise. And the next Guardian movie would be Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3: The Lone Raccoon (Rodent/Rabbit - hehe). At the end of Infinity War, Thanos's glove is melted, ruined, but the infinity stones are still in one piece, including the Time stone. Doctor Strange did mention that giving up the stone was the only way they'd come out of this -- the only way they'd win. Now that Thanos can't control all of the stones with the gauntlet, the remaining Avengers will find a way to get the Time stone back and use it to turn back the clock.

However, this turning back of the clock will be limited to those who turned to ash, those who died from Thanos's finger snap. Which means Vision, Loki, Heimdall, and Gamora will still be dead (crap). The Time stone isn't the only way to bring back the dead, though. My other guess and expectation is that Guardians Vol. 3 will be Quill and gang seeking a way to bring back Gamora. And they'll find a way! (They damned well better because if one of my fav kick ass female characters is permanently taken away, I will be beyond pissed -- her story isn't over, damn it.)

Of course, all of that is just my speculation. We definitely know that many of the fallen can't stay dead because of other movies that are already planned.

So, who do you think is going to make it to the end of Part 2? And how impatient are you for next year?