It's no secret that if you've ever read any of my Marvel Cinematic Universe film reviews I've done over the years that I love the product Marvel (and now Disney) is putting out. This of course is "Deadpool" and it's being put out by the X-Men guys, 20th Century Fox. Now at times the X-Men franchise has been a complete mess. But, if you look at the overall product, X-Men, X2 and the First Class series onward, X-Men has been churning out enjoyable movies since the turn of the century. Deadpool is a more obscure character to the average comic book consumer and someone who doesn't know about comics probably won't recognize him at all. Over the past few decades he's gained the reputation of anti-hero that breaks the fourth wall constantly and is aware that he is in-fact a comic book superhero. He's irreverent, foul mouthed and doesn't really care what he does to anyone at a given moment. "Deadpool" is the filthy R-Rated Marvel movie that we've been waiting for for awhile now. Not only is it currently smashing everything at the box office, but it's receiving praise from just about everyone that sees it. Ryan Reynolds is brilliant and leads the way as the Merc with a Mouth comes to life for the first time on the big screen. I'm probably going to spoil comedic bits and one-liners throughout this, so read on at your own risk.
"Deadpool" follows the story of Wade Wilson (Reynolds), a mercenary, with a wicked sense of humor, who takes care of teenage girls who have stalkers. One night at Weasel's (TJ Miller) bar, a local bar where people of the underbelly converge, Wade meets an escort named Vanessa Carlysle (Morena Baccarin). After a game of ski ball, the two become entrenched in a romantic relationship for about a year. One day, though, after proposing to Vanessa, Wade collapses. It turns out that Wade has terminal cancer. Vanessa sticks with him, but he fears for her emotional well being. One night, at Weasel's bar, a man gives Wade a proposal that would take away his cancer, to which he refuses. After a few days he decides to take the man up on his offer and is taken to be experimented on by Francis Freeman aka Ajax (Ed Skrein). He is also tortured by Angel Dust (Gina Carano) until one day he is put in a airtight chamber and pushed to his limits. This permanently disfigures Wade, but brings out his superpowers (and takes away his cancer). After setting ablaze and then escaping Ajax's lair, he vows to become Captain Deadpool...just kidding, just Deadpool, track down Ajax, get the cure for his condition and win Vanessa back.
"Deadpool" isn't about the over top the CGI action. While it looks good at times and clunky at others, it gets the job done for the budget that they had. Most superhero films nowadays focus on mostly spectacle with a good dose of character interaction. "Deadpool" is not one of those films. You will be in the head of Deadpool and trying to keep up. The opening credits sequence credit the producers as "Asshats" and give you multiple CGI shots of Deadpool's ass and balls, for lack of better words. This is the type of fourth wall breaking, or perhaps 16th wall breaking if you prefer, is what Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool will bring throughout the film. Joke after joke and one liner after one liner will be fired at you relentlessly. They're weaved perfectly at times between the CGI violence and the gratuitous sex. Even when some of the humor falls flat, they're another joke right around the corner, so you're not dwelling on stuff that may not work for you. Our theater on Thursday night was ready for this film and there was a constant state of laughter throughout the entire film. This is what Reynolds fought for, the R-Rated Deadpool that would've needed to be seriously neutered to get a PG-13 rating. I really do think it would take away from the overall film. While most of it wasn't too shocking, there are moments in the dialogue that will have people doubled over, while at the same time grossing out someone else. That baby hand scene was hysterical.
The nods to Wolverine, Wolverine: Origins, Green Lantern and Hugh Jackman throughout the film were sidesplitting. Much of what I'm about to drone on about is thanks to the writers, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. They gave everyone a phenomenal script to work with. Each interaction with Blind Al (Leslie Uggams) in Deadpool's and her apartment was great. The comedic timing between Weasel (Miller) and Wade/Deadpool was spot on. The sexual montage between Wade and Vanessa (Baccarin) was better than anything "Fifty Shades of Grey" had to offer last year. It went to places you'd probably never thought you'd see on screen in a Marvel film in 2016. Finally, the interactions and fighting between Deadpool, Colossus (Stefan Kapičić), Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand), Ajax (Skrein) and Angel Dust (Carano) were the main catalyst of the action throughout. The exchanges between Wade and Francis were great. Colossus was portrayed better than he's ever been in an X-Men film so far. He's a great fatherly type figure who is the polar opposite of Deadpool's do and say anything style. Negasoinc Teenage Warhead, awesome name aside, had some great moments when paired with Deadpool. Not to mention her super powers are pretty awesome. Ajax is a great bad guy and Skrein played him with a cocky swagger that worked really well. The length is perfect at about an hour forty minutes, the music and score were fun and the acting (if you don't over-analyze it) was perfect for this type of film. Especially Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool who nails the performance on the head. The two post credit scenes are well worth waiting for too.
I've barely scratched the surface at all the humorous nods to real life, things and people that are called out in this film. "Deadpool" completely blurs the line between comic book, real life and Marvel film. All the different timelines really are confusing. It has its slow parts, it has it's dud jokes and at the end of the day it is another superhero origins story. But, Ryan Reynolds commits completely to everything that is Deadpool and delivers a Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man-like performnace. The jokes and humor are mostly hit throughout the entire run time. If you have a good sense of humor and a basic knowledge of all the different film companies Marvel is apart of, as well as the X-Men or MCU films, this will hit you directly in the funny bone. The CGI is alright, the story is surprisingly deep for a "Marvel origins" film and the love story twist kept it from being just another origins flick. Like I said above, this is the R-Rated Marvel superhero film that needed to be released. X-Men is great, Avengers is great, but this is the first we've seen straight foul-mouthed humor and action blended, and boy did it work out well. "Deadpool" is a must for any fan of comics, comic films and/or comedy. Thank you Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick and Ryan Reynolds. #Driveby
