DARK FANTASY ADVENTURE. “Borderlands.” / “The Toxic Avenger.” / “The Green Knight.” / “Deadpool 2.”

“Borderlands” (2024, Fandango) science fiction action comedy. Cate Blanchett stars as Lillith, an outlaw who forms an alliance with a team of misfits to find the missing daughter of the most powerful man in the universe. 


       One critic called this cartoonish din, “generic gaming adaptation.” Sure, it is just one of countless video game movie adaptations, and this is one of the worst. The production budget is $115 million; the box-office take is $31 million. Imagine the money wasted! Worse than “Supergirl,” I guess.

        To add to the pain, Kevin Hart and Jack Black are here. But thank God, Jack was actually just the voice of the robot Claptrap (but still annoying). The only good thing here is Cate Blanchett. Enough said. 🎥💻📽


“The Toxic Avenger” (2023, Amazon Prime) superhero black comedy. A bullied, downtrodden janitor falls into toxic waste and transforms into a deformed, super-powered vigilante. Stars Peter Dinklage. 



       Gory in a yucky way, silly in a playful manner. Yet enjoyable to those who dig the genre. This is actually a lot milder than the usual splatter of blood and mutilated entails of a primetime zombiefest. And the overlying premise is acceptable.

       Peter Dinklage as the title character (and as the non-prosthetics Winston Gooze) is a fine watch. But not Kevin Bacon as the cliche villain, Bob Garbinger. 🎥💻📽


“The Green Knight” (2021, Fandango) dark fantasy adventure. An adaptation from the 14th-century poem “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.” Gawain sets out on a journey to test his courage and face the Green Knight. 



       This is an A24 production so, more or less, I knew what I'm gonna get. Not ordinary, not linear, not what we usually expect. As expected, this is a reimagining of the source material, which I haven't read, so I don't know the degree of the reimagination.

       David Lowery did almost all of the significant tasks in this project: Director, writer, producer, and editor. But the movie felt self-contained, too poetic for my viewing pleasure. Dev Patel gave an inspired performance as Gawain, but sorry, there's swordplay here. But there's a fox. 🎥💻📽


“Deadpool 2” (2018, Amazon Prime) superhero film. Sequel to 2016's “Deadpool.” Deadpool forms the X-Force to protect a young mutant from the time-traveling soldier Cable. Stars Ryan Reynolds. 



       Deadpool is all ultra silliness and cartoonish gags, never mind the gleeful whambam action. Ryan Reynolds keeps us wildly entertained, irrelevant of the stereotypical mutant shenanigans. We need a little bit of this high-octane nonsense as a break from Facebook drama and mainstream media doomsday feeds. 🎥💻📽


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