The Mule Review (No Spoilers)

Shame on you for reading my review on your phone or laptop instead of socializing with other people, is something Clint Eastwood’s elderly character, Earl Stone, would say to us. Based on a true story, The Mule, written and directed by Clint Eastwood, is about an estranged grandfather who, initially, unwittingly does drugs runs for the cartel for economic reasons but eventually has to find a way to continue on this new path or fix his relationship with his family.

Positives – Clint Eastwood is currently 88 years old, but the man’s still got it in him. He is as charismatic as ever, and delivers a great performance. The story is quite fascinating and there are many great character interaction moments (particularly the one with Bradley Cooper and Eastwood in a waffle shop), which makes this a solid flick. Speaking of Cooper whose previous collaboration with effort was American Sniper, he brings his A-game despite being underused in the movie. Michael Peña, Lawrence Fishburne and Andy Garcia are also in this movie and they all do a good job. Again, the performances are solid all around, but this is Eastwood’s show.

Negatives – The Mule is quite difficult to watch, at times, because Earl Stone is constantly making plenty of derogatory remarks at non-white people in the movie. Examples – calling black people as “Negroes” or a group of women as “Dykes” etc. This would not have been a big problem if the movie didn’t try to portray Stone as this wise, old man in a shitty world. The women in the movie are either pissed off at Stone or used as sex objects, with an extended party sequence where the camera focuses on their bodies. While the emotional core of the movie revolves around his complicated relationship with the women in his life (wife, daughter and grand-daughter) and there are some fantastic moments between them, the end result is not earned and feels rushed. Even the storyline with the cartel is, ultimately, not resolved, which makes that portion of the movie unnecessary. This movie clocks in at 1:56, but could have done without at least 20-25 minutes. Lastly, why didn’t Stone, himself, or any of the cartel characters ask him to change cars for every run? If the DEA was after them, which they knew about, it would have been wise to use a new car. Just saying…

I better end this review quick before Stone lambasts me for being on my laptop a bit too much. The Mule is a good movie with great performances and a terrific ensemble cast, but falls short in areas that Eastwood generally excels at.

Rating – 3.2/5.

 

Once Upon a Deadpool Review (No Spoilers)

If you’re one of the few kids / teenagers that didn’t surreptitiously watch Deadpool 2 (either by movie-hopping or torrenting) without your parents knowing about it, but you really want to see the movie, Once upon a Deadpool (OPAD) is for you. The newest Deadpool 2 cut has a PG-13 rating with the framing device of Deadpool narrating the story of Deadpool 2 to a “kidnapped” Fred Savage, who is in his ‘Princess Bride’ attire and childhood setting. If you don’t remember who Fred Savage is or why this movie uses a framing device, Fred Savage plays the Grandson in the Princess Bride, whose grandfather narrates the story of the Princess Bride to. OPAD will only be playing for 12 days in the theatre and Fox will donate $1 of every ticket sold to “Fudge Cancer,” a clever play-on “F*ck Cancer.”

Positives – Once upon a Deadpool cleverly uses the framing device to make fun of itself and address many of the criticisms, both self-referential and ones the viewers saw. For example, Fred Savage comments on Wade’s remark “that’s just lazy writing” with “actually write a better script!” or Cable’s, frankly, convoluted comic-book backstory, or lack thereof in the movie. Comments like these exist to remind the viewers that the film-makers knew their movie’s shortcomings but decided to ignore it anyways, which made for some excellent comedy in this particular movie. The interaction between DP and Savage are absolutely hilarious and if Fox (about to become a part of Disney’s empire as Deadpool himself points out) decides to make a feature-length film starring just Deadpool and Savage doing anything, I will gladly give my money.

Negatives – That being said, make no mistake about it – Once upon a Deadpool is 80% Deadpool 2 (without the gore, nudity, violence), and arguably the weakest of the Deadpool 2 cuts. While the 20 mins of new footage with DP and Savage are funny and worth the price of admission, majority of the jokes (which were funny in the original cut) are not as funny. On top of that, the movie does suffer from poor editing and scenes, that did flesh-out the characters in the original cut, end up on the cutting room floor. Lastly, OPAD once again proves why the Deadpool flicks need to be R-rated. They better serve the character and their uniqueness brings a dose of freshness to the comic-book genre.

Overall, Once upon a Deadpool is finally the Deadpool movie that parents can bring their children to see in the theatre. It is definitely an entertaining ride, with great jokes, character moments, action etc. While this cut is an inferior cut to the rated R Deadpool 2 cuts, it is a great watch nonetheless. Stay through the whole credits – it’s worth it!

Rating – 3.5/5