BAM! BOOM! SWEAR WORDS! SEX! UNICORNS!
All these words covey the nature of this fantastic romp of a film. Deadpool, directed by Tim Miller and starring Ryan Reynolds, Ed Skeirn, Morena Baccarin, T.J. Miller, Brianna Hildebrand, and Stefan Kapicic, tells the tale of the infamous anti-hero with a twisted sense of humor.
Deadpool, a.k.a. Wade Wilson, is an ex-mercenary who is put through an experimental treatment to cure his terminal cancer.
Unfortunately, it turns out that the treatment was done in order to activate Wade Wilson’s hidden mutant potential through horrific torture. Now, Wade Wilson (under the guise of Deadpool) gets revenge on those who have wronged him through over-the-top violence and more scrotum innuendos than you can count.
Right off the bat, Deadpool hits you hard with its outrageous violence and humor. Deadpool’s signature disregard for the “fourth wall” is here in full force, as well as his not-so-subtle sexual remarks. Ryan Reynolds nails the role of Wade Wilson, completely encompassing the character that many comic book fans fell in love with.
He is nonsensical, insane, and cruel, but compassionate to those who are worth it. His friend Weasel (T.J. Miller) is also perfect, serving as the laid-back best friend who will tell Wade what he needs to hear. Suprisingly, the romance in this film was stronger than its central revenge plot.
The relationship between Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) and Wade is one of the best comic book-to-film relationships I have ever seen. It is clear to the audience how much Vanessa and Wade care for each other, but they never lose their cynical-yet-goofy ways of looking at the world.
That being said, the main villain Ajax (Ed Skeirn) is absolutely bland. Ajax is a cut-and-paste villain. It seems like the film is well aware of the fact that Ajax is so generic and lazy—he spends most of his screen time simply spewing exposition. Luckily, Deadpool’s unique style and personality was kept—after all, the hero is, by far, the most important character to nail in any comic book movie.
I was initially worried about the great amount of CGI in this film, but it perfectly fit the style of Deadpool by adding to its eccentric nature. In comic book films, CGI can easily make the movie look too sleek and generic, but in Deadpool it is used to improve and show details that cannot be displayed solely by real props and people.
The editing was fast and smooth, never leaving the audience with too much time to relax—exactly how a Deadpool film should play out.
I love Deadpool. He is my favorite comic book character of all time, and it was incredible to see that they treated the source material with respect and love.
I feel that my appreciation for the character has made me harsher on the film than most might be. The lack of a good villain and the uneven execution of jokes are noteworthy flaws, but this flick is just so much fun that I can forgive them easily.
This is one of the greatest Marvel films of all time, and I recommend it to anyone who wants to just have fun (with sex, drugs, and violence, and a little class sprinkled on top).
In the previous review and on reviews going forward, I will be adding a rating system. To me, rating systems are strange and arbitrary because everyone sees a film differently. My 8/10 is not your 8/10. That being said, I think a rating system will help give a little context as to where I stand on the film.
For perspective, a film that is a 10/10 is one that I believe has effort, love, creativity, and most importantly inspires filmmakers to rethink how they see film. A film that is 9/10 or 8/10 is one that I consider very worthwhile; it left a good impact on me.
A film that is a 6/10 or 5/10 is average or above average. A film that is below a 4 is mediocre or worse. With all of that said, Deadpool earns:
8/10
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