Deadpool 2

Silly sequel manages the impossible, resurrecting and raising the ridiculousness of the former film without stepping over the coke-line that the former had nearly fully snorted. Invincible franchise flick pratfalls into a series of alarmingly serious moments and yet never lets the irreverent tone drown in the pool of death.

Ready Player One

Spielberg’s excessively non-self-referential spectacle races to the starting line then struggles to maintain the virtual velocity of its opening antics. Loaded with loving movie and pop-culture references the shining Oasis is effectively Imaginationland re-animated and vastly more satisfying than the grainy real-world parallels, including mustache-twirling Mendelsohn and Inceptionally illogical finale.

Deadpool

Ex-man movie dives into depths of its self-referential gimmick and comes up feeling fresh and new. Reynolds is resurrected from his history of comic failures, while Miller’s comedy gets lost amidst an entire movie of the same.  Unlike it’s hero, this film has a fantastic surface but tragically little beneath.

How to Train Your Dragon 2

Hiccup grows up and his world grows out, expanding to include contrived backstory, overly complex dragon rules and countless questions about how everyone knows where they’re going.  Teen friends flirt until frozen reunion leads to most tedious dragon fight ever. Despite stilted pacing and awkward arcs, still an entertaining flight.

Big Hero 6

If Ghostbusters had imagined Stay Puft in an Iron Man suit… Fun fighting for kids, tragically exempt from Marvel-verse.  Many plot points and character evolutions appear out of nowhere, perhaps plucked through the Stargate.  Comedy?  Scott ads it.  Incredible microbots and sprawling San Fransokyo mark the film’s most original concept.