Director: Tim Miller
Stars: Ryan Reynold, Ed Skrein, Morena Baccarin, T. J. Miller, Gina Carano, Stefan Kapicic, Brianna Hildebrand
Wade Wilson (Reynolds) is a mercenary who is diagnosed with cancer. To try and protect his girlfriend Vanessa (Baccarin) from losing him, he undergoes a dangerous operation to be activate latent mutant genes, only to discover that the procedure is not what he thought. Taking on the moniker Deadpool, and wearing a mask to hide his disfigured face, he tries to track down the man who did this to him.
Deadpool has been subject to much anticipation since the test footage leaked, and after a long marketing campaign that stretched back prior to Christmas the first superhero film of the year is upon us, and although it has garnered a lot of attention it is still a risk since it is far more violent and adult-oriented than other popular comic book properties, and it’s also buried in between all the awards-nominated films. But I think this will actually be to its benefit because, aside from Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, there’s not really anything out like it at the moment and the word of mouth for this film is going to be huge because Deadpool is supremely fun and I don’t think there was anyone that left the cinema unsatisfied.
I’ve already heard chatter online claiming that this is the best comic book movie ever (the typical exuberance of a recently released film). I do not agree with that at all, but it is a superhero movie that feels fresh compared with its brethren. There’s a lot of talk of the superhero bubble and how comic books are taking over Hollywood (which I don’t believe for a second, but that’s a discussion for another time) yet many of the films have followed similar plot beats and a lot of the climaxes to the movies have felt similar (a criticism that has been leveled at Marvel in particular. But from the opening credits it’s clear that Deadpool is not going to be like any other recent comic book film, and that is all down to the humor. It’s a mixture of witty, juvenile, broad, and slapstick. Reynolds completely owns the role and the passion he showed in the build-up to release comes through in the final product. There are so many little touches that bring out howls of laughter and there’s such a sense of fun about it that is infectious.
Colossus plays the straight man, and Negasonic Teenage Warhead makes up the other X-Men contingent (having only two of them is made fun of in the film itself). Breaking the fourth wall works naturally and I loved all the references to the other movies and how Deadpool pokes fun at them. The action is good too, quite bloody and violent in comparison with the Marvel movies.
The main criticism I have is that the actual origin part of the movie takes a little too long and slows the pace down, but other than that it is supremely fun and I can say for sure that it lives up to the hype. There are a couple of end-credits scenes buried at the end of the film, so wait for those if you’re interested. I think that this film is going to be more popular than people initially predicted and I hope that Fox actually learns from its own lessons. The way to make a successful adaptation is to stay true to the spirit of the character, SO DO THE SAME WITH FANTASTIC FOUR!
