Deadpool Review

(MINOR SPOILERS, I have to put this disclaimer up since I describe the main gist of the plot but I will not go into details about surprises and jokes utilized in this film, just how I felt about the delivery and writing went into making this film become a reality, skip paragraph 2 if you want to cut to my thoughts on the film all the way to my final thoughts)

It seems like irony, looking back on my childhood heroes that I looked up to the straightforward heroes like Spider-Man or even the X-Men.  Now in my older years, I look towards the more complex, shady characters that run amok in the world and one such character is the Merc With A Mouth himself, Deadpool.  Created as a villain that fought against the New Mutants team, he eventually got his own comic book series that planted the seed for his popularity as the wise cracking, mercilessly insane mutant with healing abilities more powerful than Wolverine and the mental capacity of an insane asylum mixed with idiot-savant to go with his skills as a Mercenary for hire.  With close to 25 years of comic books, numerous appearances in different comic series and TV shows/animated films, his own video game, and the fan’s call for a film adaptation, he has finally made it to the big screen with first time director Tim Miller spearheading this film along with Ryan Reynolds playing the self-titled character.  Does this adaptation rise above the status quo and give the sub-genre of superhero films that injection of freshness it needs to be relevant? Well, let’s get right into the neat and gritty of what makes this film work as well as the little faults that it misses the mark on.

This is the origin/revenge story of Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds), a very efficient yet drifting Mercenary that takes up the unusual odd jobs that helps out the little guy or girl depending on who pays the bill.  He finally finds his center with a stripper name Vanessa Carlysle (Morena Baccarin) and they truly fall in love with each other for years until an unexpected event occurs.  Wilson is diagnosis with an advanced stage of cancer that is inoperable and untreatable, forcing him to take up an offer to cure himself completely by unlocking his ability to be a “hero” by participating in an experimental project.  He abandons everyone he cares about to take part in this experiment that not only turns out to be worse than expected but brings out his mutation for the purpose of being a mindless mutant powered assassin for the highest bidder, run by Ajax (Ed Skrein) and Angel Dust (Gina Carano).  Eventually, he escapes and is left for dead by Ajax, forcing him to confront his new abilities and take out all his rage towards the one man who did this to him, Ajax with the hope that he can reverse his transformation. 

That’s just the main beats, the story is a very faithful, absolutely funny and engaging adaptation of Deadpool’s origins with a few references, comic book plot lines, and characters thrown in for good measure and surprisingly well thought out ways.  It is also exceptionally written with a very tight balance of action, drama, and crude yet sharp comedy that is just as 4th wall breaking, referential as you would expect from this rightfully popular anti-hero.  It moves briskly for its runtime, hitting all the major beats of the character without feeling like wasted time which is due in part to the writers Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese as well as the director Tim Miller maintain the consistence with the tone throughout the film.  It is brutal, crude, and juvenile that revels in it and uses it to really develop Deadpool as a fully realized character compared to his previous, misguided adaptation in another so called “origin” story.  For fans and new comers, this film hits the right buttons and comes out as a satisfying, entertainingly fun start to a promising series that has room for more stories to tell especially with the possibility of team ups with the X-Men/X-Force/New Mutants series.

The performances are absolutely great from everyone all around especially from the head line character as well as a cast of funny, amazing supporting characters that expand and set up the world Deadpool lives and operates in.  Everyone seems appropriately cast and game for their characters especially TJ Miller as one of Wilson’s buddies, Weasel along with numerous other characters from the comic book series that make a small appearance or cameo that was handled quite well and admittedly got me excited for what they could explore in the future installments.  Vanessa Carlysle played by Morena Baccarin actually plays the love interest quite well and the scenes she has with Reynolds brims with the right amount of chemistry to really make what could have been a very cheesy, routine romance plotline fit well into developing Deadpool as a character rather than detract from it.  As we all know, Colossus makes an appearance and without going into details, he is literally spot on from his comic book counterpart thanks to the great performance from the physical (Andre Tricoteux) to the voice over (Stefan Kapičić) as well as the fantastic satirical writing that really makes him a part of some really great jokes and visual gags.  The entire cast is great all around but the main one deserves some solo attention for he really is the heart and soul of this film and its existence.

Ryan Reynolds as the Merc With The Mouth absolutely embodies the crazy, wacked out sociopathic genius of a killer that is Deadpool throughout out the entire film from start to finish.  He not only understands the personal ticks of the character but his own persona embodies this through his performance along with being game for breaking the 4th wall in really clever, inventive ways from addressing the audience to making throwaway lines that refers other Marvel Universes in exceptionally surprising ways.  This is a once in a while creative choice that really showcases how one actor can truly fit the role magnificently like a glove with little to no doubt that this actor truly is the character he is playing.  That’s why Reynolds needed this section to himself because he drives the film forward and makes it memorable and exciting to watch with the direction and writing allowing him to bring the character to life for fans of the comic books as well as new comers being introduced to him for the first time.

Let’s finally get to the technical aspects of the film from the action set pieces with the visual effects to the overall look and design of the settings in this film as well as the use of music both original and licensed.  The action is absolutely inventive in its brutality and wackiness that not only fits the character like a glove but also, creates some of the most exciting action set pieces in the genre.  Despite clearly having to scale back due to a budget that got cut by a quarter, it looks great through the way it was shot and choreographed in showcasing each characters abilities and efficiency in making bad guys dead.  It’s fast, stylized, and thoroughly entertaining to see the how varied each of the set pieces are and how it encapsulates the brutal yet wacky dark humor of the action set pieces in this film.

The look of the film embodies both a grounded yet gritty and dirty sensibility to the art direction as well as the look of the characters.  The standouts in sets being the apartments Wade Wilson lives in both before and as Deadpool with the blind roommate Sweet Al (Leslie Uggams) with both exhibiting such great level of attention to the little details throughout each apartment.  The same could be said about the use of licensed music throughout at such opportune times to maximum comedic effect.  It was also amazing to see the costumes of the prominent hero characters donning the classic looks of the comic series especially the iconic look of Deadpool.  This film nails it in all the areas that matter and then some.

There are only some minor gripes with the film from some narrative choices as well as changes to the characters that were annoying but could be rectified later on.  The film does feel like a proof of concept at times meaning it doesn’t go too far from the traditional formula you expect from a comic book film.  They also made changes to both Weasel and Vanessa themselves with TJ Miller being himself as well as Vanessa not exhibiting any of her character traits or personality from the series which is a shame since it could have set up a plotline regarding the romance storyline (which is done quite well in this film but this is just a minor gripe with the film).  The climax is a bit meh as well and it could have been more inventive with the set pieces in that sequence but it’s understandable when you learn about the budget cut to keep this film rated R and at reasonable lengths.  As it was stated, these are just minor gripes that did not detract from how fun and entertaining this film is overall.

On a side note, the marketing for this film has been absolutely brilliant in parodying and absolutely making sharp satire on all things pop culture or real life afflictions.  This team needs to be given props for really embodying the character through these ads and making it irresistible to watch. Here is a video link of such genius at work in utilizing advertising to your advantage in a fun, endearing way!

To cap this off, Deadpool breathes some vibrant creative energy into a sub-genre of films that have felt a bit stagnant for some time now especially from Disney’s offering of Marvel films since Iron Man 3.  The brutal, darkly funny action sequences as well as writing really hit the mark where it counts and truly develop this wise cracking anti-hero into a fully realized character without compromising the important elements that make him endearing to fans of the comic book series.  Ryan Reynolds and Tim Miller really brought their A game on this project as well as their love for this character and the X-Men/Deadpool universe making the future of this series burn extremely bright and help ease the eventual departure of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine with this smart ass of a Merc bringing us into a newly revamped film universe for Mutants.

Score ***** out of *****
Deadpool is a film made by fans, for fans of the character as well as being a generally well made film with a tightly structured screenplay and sharp, inspired direction from Tim Miller who makes this outlandishly, 4th wall breaking anti-hero fit work in live action as well as making him a part of the new X-Men film universe that will be established this summer.  The performances are great from everyone especially from Ryan Reynolds as well as the film truly living up to the rating with inventively brutal violence and juvinelle humor to really set this apart from the pack.  This is one “Date” film who should definitely see in the theaters.  Until then, check it out and be on the lookout for Deadpool 2: Deadpool Harder!