#crowingcommandos

Let me start this by saying I do not hate Deadpool, I do strongly dislike him. I feel that the reason is he is like a dirty Spider-man with the wisecracks, and as a jokster he is trying to steal Spidey’s schtick. Maybe it is because my hero does not like him and has biased me towards the character, or possibly I have just never read the “killer” book that makes me want to dive on in. Ignoring my personal feelings for the character I decided to see the film because what kind of commando would I be if I was not on the front lines of geekdom for you guys. So pop on your crocks, warm up a chimichanga, bust out the dish soap, and throw on the golden girls for background noise as we are going in!

Spoiler free I will say that I really enjoyed the film, it was funny, raunchy and most importantly embraced the crazy to make a fun film. The story was tight and well written, casting was fantastic and somehow they even made me like TJ Miller (on paper this film was rough to me on so many levels) Another perk this movie had is it clocks in at about 1 hour 47 minutes meaning it has to be quick to tell its story, and let me tell you the pacing is spot on. The film made excellent use of montages to advance the story (including one that really helps earn that R rating), couple that with the comedic timing of the cast and you are looking at a movie that really cooks. It also uses the great device of opening in the middle so we get our action appetite sated early and are willing to settle in for some exposition before really stepping on the gas to finish the film. To be honest with you I really do not have any problems with the script or story, I was able to sit in the theatre and really enjoy myself for about 2 hours.

Character wise Ryan Reynolds may be the living embodiment of Deadpool. His walk, talk, and mannerisms are what I would expect of the character and much like I felt 16 years ago when watching the first X-Men film I think another Canadian (Anti)Hero has stepped of the page. This is the movie Reynolds deserved, and the character he teased at the beginning of the Wolverine origins film (not the nightmare he became in it). You can see the fun Reynolds had in this film, his face during his not prosthetic scenes is joy and he really runs with the everything he has been given. Using Colossus (my second favorite mutant) as the straight man was genius and he looked damn good on screen, it is a shame that for some reason the screenwriters chose to keep him in metal form though as I think the armor plating moment would have been cool to see. He also sure as hell lived up to the name, towering over the rest of the cast. Add to that he is true to comics as mentor, always trying to help others reach their full potential as heros and I was sold on the big silver stud. Negasonic worked well as well, I would have picked Cannonball for the film but adding an angsty teen to the film is an actual stroke of genius, allowing for some fun banter that fits.

In light of the recent kickstarter I thought I would take a moment and review one of my favorite tabletop games Sentinels of the Multiverse from Greater than Games. This is the game that really brought me into the tabletop game hobby, I had randomly invited some people over to my place for a boardgame night and randomly discovered one of my co-workers was a a huge board gamer. He brought a few games over one of them being Sentinels, told me it was a superhero game so we decided to give it a shot. I played as Mr. Fixer a kung-fu mechanic, we fought Grand Warlord Voss and I can say that I truly fell in love with this quirky game by the end of my first turn. It consisted of original heroes but each was obviously a take on classic well established characters, Legacy is a Captain america/Superman hybrid, Bunker is Ironman, Wraith is Batman the list goes on and on. The art is a little goofy but in the best possible way, it reminds me of a caricature of comic book art, something that may not sound great but works really well for me. The game also features a huge cast of heroes and villains ensuring each playthrough is different. Basically Sentinels was created so that the creators could finally play the superhero game they wanted to, different heroes fighting a villain (or team of villains depending on the expansion) in one amazing co-op experience.

Gameplay is pretty simple your team of 3-5 heroes takes on a villain or team of villains in one of the various environments the game offers. The villain leads with the first turn playing a card from their deck, follow the cards instructions end the villain turn and do anything the needs to happen to end the villain turn. The heroes then get a chance to fight back play, power, draw in that order. Play a card from your hand, this can be attacks, equipment to buff powers, or something that will search the deck for bigger and badder cards to hit the baddie with. Use a power, each hero card has a base power or various cards allow the hero to use different powers with varying effects. Finally end the turn by drawing a card from the hero deck (or two cards if you decided to forgo your hero turn) End the round with the environment, which can range from downtown city blocks all the way to a mars base or different plane of existence.