Deadpool: Movie Review
Second time’s the charm for Ryan Reynolds portrayal of the merc-with-a-mouth, Wade Wilson aka Deadpool. Back in 2009 the beloved comic book character was handled poorly in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”. Between that and Reynolds streak of terrible comic book adaptations (“Blade: Trinity”, “Green Lantern”), I figured the actor would never get another chance to play a superhero, much less the same one over again. Lucky for him (and us), Reynolds love for “Deadpool” and his determination helped not only get us a “Deadpool” movie, but an “R” rated one. More importantly, the character is handled just right and the movie is just as fun as it should be.
“Deadpool” begins with an absolutely hilarious opening credits, which leads into an impressive action/car chase sequence. Unlike other Marvel characters, “Deadpool” seems to be aware that he is a comic book character and much of the film’s humor comes from that. He makes quite a few quips involving other superheroes. He is also quite comfortable talking directly to the audience.
Ignoring the events in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”, “Deadpool” reboots his origin story. However, instead of subjecting us to a standard paint-by-numbers comic-book origin, we learn what transformed Wade through a series of flashbacks. This works perfectly. Fans of the character already knew that Wilson was a former Special Forces operative turned mercenary, and that experiments transformed him. Even though the film might not be completely faithful to the source material, there is no doubt that fans will go bonkers for how well the character is treated here. Reynolds absolutely owns it.
The story is pretty simple. Wilson is struck with cancer. He signs up for a medical experiment with a shady organization that promises to cure him, however they torture him and transform him into a disfigured mutant. Sure he can heal himself and is incredibly strong, but he is left with a pretty unflattering complexion. To make matters worse, the organization planed to make Wade a super-slave. After the facility goes up in flames, the bad guys think Wilson is dead, but clearly he is not and he is out to find the man who can fix his appearance.
When Ajax (Ed Skrin) and Angel Dust (Gina Carano), learn that Wilson is still alive, they decide to take his girlfriend Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) hostage . Realizing he will need some help, he calls on X-Men Colossus (Stefan Kapicic) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand). In exchange for their assistance, he agrees to consider joining the X-Men (yeah, that will never happen).
Tim Miller makes his feature film directorial debut and he does a bang-up job. I was surprised that Fox handed the film over to someone with little experience behind the camera, but they obviously made the right choice. “Deadpool”, is fun, funny, and has tons of action. It also sets itself apart from all other Marvel films. If this is a hit, hopefully we will get more “R” rated comic book films in the future, though I doubt Disney would be willing to do that.
By: Marc Ferman