What's playing at Showcase Cinemas this week

WARWICK SHOWCASE

Deadpool & Wolverine
* * *
(Action Heroes Unite)

Action movies were much simpler when I was growing up.

I had Batman and Superman as my movie heroes.

They were relatively well adjusted, and never used foul language or unnecessary violence.

Today we have foul-mouthed, maladjusted Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) and psychologically challenged Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) wisecracking and slashing their way through hundreds of enemies to save the multiverse from perverse rivals.

Marvel movies require a devoted following, educated in the past shenanigans of their heroes and familiar with all their adventures. If only they remembered their true-life historical facts so well.

Deadpool wants desperately to be an Avenger. Wolverine wants to rest in peace. The rivals join to save the world and the worlds beyond, taking on one of the meanest female enemies ever.

If you are not a devoted fan of these characters, you’ll have trouble keeping up with their references to past escapades and enemies. Their constant chatter caused snickering among the sold-out young Saturday matinee crowd, while I sat wondering what I was missing.

Flashbacks galore, violence galore. There is one scene where an enemy’s fingers protrude from faces and eyes that is about the creepiest scene I’ve seen in a movie.

The special effects, as usual in this genre, are over the top.

It probably is unfair of me to review a genre I have grown tired of, when its fans rush to see it more than once, joining a cult that ensures the success of its future.

If you like this sort of stuff, “Deadpool and Wolverine” will surely satisfy you and leave you eagerly waiting for the next one.

Of course, fans sat through the endless credits for a sign of what’s to come.