Deadpool stars Ryan Reynolds as the irreverent and titular superhero alongside Morena Baccarin, Ed Skrein, and T.J. Miller. In his directorial debut, Tim Miller expertly crafts a bitingly funny and throughly entertaining superhero flick that was shockingly good. The trailers leading up to this movie made it look unfunny, riddled with dated 90's references and just overall stilted chemistry. This was not the case during the actual film, as it was a hilarious and unique ride that while not necessarily important, still felt necessary.
Deadpool is the story of a hitman named Wade Wilson who, needless to say, is a complete and utter a**hole. This doesn't really change throughout the film, however Reynold's portrayal becomes more layered and personal once he meets his love interest Vanessa, played by Baccarin. Wade and Vanessa's relationship is fleshed out in detail, literally fleshed out, and is very endearing, in a way that would only really work in this movie. The two live happily for a while, that is until Wade is diagnosed with cancer. However, he is given the opportunity to revert the disease and be made into a "superhero". He reluctantly accepts, only to find out that he has signed up for a series of violent torturing and pain inducing "activities". Our villain, played very well by Skrein, is introduced here and turns Wilson into a hideous killing machine after releasing his mutation. What follows is a revenge film that is abrasive and callous affair that is whimsically satirical and fun. Deadpool shamelessly pokes fun at itself and the entire superhero genre, taunting the overload of franchises and expanded universes and boasting a confidence and self-awareness that is refreshing and appealing. Deadpool as a character is incredibly crass but also clever and quippy, and he is undoubtedly the driving force behind the comedy in this movie. He anchors its weird sense of humor but it also the emotional core, but the latter isn't a good thing. Deadpool is a lighthearted movie that meticulously walks the tightrope between clever and absurd, but unfortunately wasted its potential to be something more. This movie succeeded at what it wanted to be, which was an irreverent and funny satire, but it does leave a lot to be desired. Deadpool never really broke character, which in this case meant that it never let its guard down and connected with the audience, even as the fourth wall breaks tried to. Speaking of the fourth wall breaks, I don't really think that they worked, they only really took you out of the experience and kept reminding you that deadpool is a souless douche whose vanity is his only motivation. Deadpool was still an objectively solid movie for what it wanted to be, but it could have been great had it perhaps had more nuance and attention for detail. Deadpool would have greatly benefited from some subtlety and perceptive filmmaking, and maybe risen above being just a good movie. Then again, maybe taking itself seriously could have been detrimental to the experience, its very tough to tell.
The action in this movie was great. The acting all around was pretty good, namely from Reynolds and his sidekick Weasel, played by comedian T.J. Miller. The two of them have awesome chemistry and combine for some of the funniest bits in the entire movie. Ed Skrein played one of the more convincing Marvel villains in recent memory, and Baccarin was increcibly charming. The Negasonic teenage thing and the CGI metal dude were weird. Sort of jarring, but gradually grew on me. Marvel has successfully reflected themselves in the mirror in an entertaining fashion, but it doesn't really mean anything will change. Satires by definition are meant to critique and in the process, try to cause change, but we know good and well that by now, Marvel is waist deep in their cinematic universe that is so unbelievably sprawling and diluted that it feels like despite the success of Deadpool, their quality of films will steadily decline. There is no way I can imagine enjoying watching the next Avengers war-tie into future plots-set up the next franchise excuse for a movie. Upcoming Marvel films won't change their lazy CGI riddled messes that are only concerned with pumping out more action figures, which makes Deadpool feel like an outlier and an anomaly, one that won't change the game for super hero movies. It is essentially Marvel saying "hey our movies are becoming money-mongering sequel-breeding behemoths, so here's an intelligent movie that agknowledges that, but don't expect anything more like it." Deadpool already has a sequel scheduled so that is not what I mean, it's that the new Deadpool franchise might be the confined space where Marvel actually makes good movies. Deadpool is necessary in what it stands for, and as an individual movie it is very good, but its actual release sends a confusing message to Marvel's loyal fanbase. Analyzing the saturated super-hero spamming exercise of audience command that Marvel is performing is an article for another time, but for now, enjoy Deadpool, the breath of comedic and violent fresh air.
A-