Deadpool : Review
I went to see Deadpool last night. Yes. I actually left the home comforts of dotvpn charged up Netflix, binge watching The Walking Dead for the first time in a month to check out a film in the cinema. And Jesus, I’m glad I chose this film. Made with a paltry $50 million budget compared to it’s other superhero movie peers, Deadpool took record earnings upon release over Valentine’s Day weekend. The Valentine’s Day release is a cute move as this is, at the core, a love story. A really fucked up love story but a love story all the same. There are possibly a few spoilers so don’t read until you see it or if you like ruining things, knock yourself out.
So, to break down why I think this weirdo off shoot worked so well, I must first talk about the main dude, Ryan Reynolds. He fucking slays as this character. And thankfully I missed out on his first outing in some shitter of a Wolverine movie and that supposedly awful Green Lantern movie. I simply wasn’t interested and it’ll stay that way. I don’t want to taint how awesome this piece of acting was for him. If you haven’t seen “Two Guys and a Girl (and A Pizza Place)” go and check it out. It came out around 2000 and was a seminal role for Reynolds that saw him in his natural element. A decade later, Reynolds starred in “Buried”, a film that sees him spend 95 minutes buried alive in a coffin. It’s a stellar performance and shows depth and diversity that you couldn’t have seen him explore a decade earlier.
So, take those two roles, moosh them together, throw in a shit tonne of profanity, ultra violence, a couple of X-Men, turn it up to 11 and like a glorious dump after a night out, you get Deadpool. Hopefully that analogy makes sense. I can’t express enough how great Reynolds was in this. The role most likely has a tonne of dudes wishing they could casually emulate the brash quips, get the girl and kick serious fucking ass in the process. It’s a joy to watch. What didn’t work too well, for me, was that X-Men connection. Deadpool obviously makes a joke out of it but to be fair, he was right, it just seemed like they couldn’t afford another top tier character. I just don’t think they needed it.
Obviously the studio wants to knit Wade Wilson’s story into this current universe timeline for future movies, but it made for a weak attempt. Couple that with the fact Colossus looked like a chromey hunk of shit and in general, an annoying addition, it just didn’t work. I did however like that the goody-two-shoes tone was completely suppressed by Deadpool, at the expense of making Colossus a joke character. Anyway, fuck him. Negasonic Teenage Warhead was a bit of fun but there was no real development in her character to even bother chatting about her. Before checking out the movie, I read on IMDB that Morena Baccarin was playing Copycat. The only shapeshifting you saw in the film was the montage of her and Deadpool hilariously boning in various guises. I guess they didn’t really have the time or want to develop her super power this time round but the dialogue and rapport between her and the lead made up for it.
The action here is superb. The freeway massacre is so pleasing. Not something I thought I’d ever type but the clever violence, choreography and humour throughout is tremendous. Unfortunately, this sequence occurs within the first 30 minutes so I reckon most viewers were left wanting for the rest of the film for that level of execution. Perhaps, budget limitations birthed that result. Maybe, the green-lit sequel will see a bit more money thrown at the action next time round. It’s also noteworthy that the soundtrack provided some great moments. The major element that makes this film ultimately more endearing, breaking the 4th wall. If you know the character from the comics, you’ll know that he is terribly self aware. He knows he’s in a comic and at this point, he knows he’s part of a Fox studio production. He talks to the audience the whole way through and for those who don’t know the character, this was handled really well from the jump, with the hilarious credit sequence. The marketing campaign equally enhanced this aspect in the run up.
In summation, Deadpool is definitely worth catching at the cinema if you haven't already. Here’s hoping future movies don’t dilute his character. I could see him making an appearance here and there but it feels like he needs his own R-Rated platform to really function wholly in the way he should. Then again, perhaps in a few movie’s time, it could get exhausting and the studio might see the X-Force route as an option. Who knows? Regardless, this gets a both adult and foetal sized thumbs up from me. On a sidenote, I FINALLY enjoyed one of Stan Lee’s gratuitous cameos. A 93 year old disc jockey in a strip club. Inspired. Cheers for reading and check the trailer below if you haven’t seen it.
