Deadpool (2016) Gets A Crisp High Five

I finally got a chance to see Deadpool the other night. To say I enjoyed it would be a slight understatement. It was awesome. I’m not going to suggest I’m a Deadpool fan. I’m not. In fact, I’ve probably only read a handful of his comics ever. I was sort of, kind of familiar with the character and went into the movie essentially blind to the character and to the plot of the movie other than the incredible buzz I’d been hearing from my geek friends.

Spoiler Alert: I may speak openly about some plot points of the film. If you want to go in totally spoiler free skip this until you’ve seen it… but don’t forget to come back 😉

Deadpool is directed by Tim Miller and stars Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, Ed Skrein, T. J. Miller, Gina Carano, Brianna Hildebrand, and Stefan Kapičić. Wade Wilson (Reynolds) hunts the man who gave him an accelerated healing factor (think Wolverine but better), but who also in the process totally messed up his physical appearance. This is essentially the Weapon X program but they go out of their way to not call it that in the film. Perhaps a rights issue? I don’t know.

Let’s get this out of the way first. While Deadpool is a comic book movie based on a comic book character this is 100% NOT a movie for kids. It’s violent. It’s bloody. It’s gory. It’s sexual. It’s inappropriate. And dammit… it’s brilliant. There are going to be some people that are completely turned off by this sort of humor but for me it was spot on. I found myself laughing throughout the entire flick and even when a joke missed there was another coming in such rapid fire succession that I was quickly able to move on.

Speaking of quickly moving on. This film starts from the opening credits and quite literally never stops. Its only 108 minutes and before you know it the end credits are rolling. Make sure you stick around for a post-credits scene that Marvel has become known for. The one here is in the same tone of the movie and it’s done to perfection.

The Cast

Ryan Reynolds is Deadpool / Wade Wilson. I mean… he IS Deadpool. This is the best casting since Robert Downey Jr. stepped into the Iron Man costume. Dude is playing himself and you can tell he’s comfortable in the role. He quick, witty, funny and good looking and he knows it. Deadpool breaks the fourth wall throughout the movie and you really get a sense that it’s Reynolds, not Deadpool or Wade Wilson talking to you. For as bad as Green Lantern was for Reynolds’ career this is just as good.

Morena Baccarin. Wow. This gal is hot. I knew her best from her portrayal as Anna on the 2009 TV series V. Here she’s playing a hooker who falls for Wade. She’s able to keep up with his wit and banter and has a sexuality (duh) that matches his as well. She reminds me a lot of Marisa Tomei who also happens to be on my hottest gals list. Yowsa.

Ed Skrein plays generic bad guy #347. He’s good for what he does here. Nothing to write home about but doesn’t ruin the movie either.
T. J. Miller is here for comedic relief in a film that doesn’t really need any. That said, he more than holds up his end of the scenes he’s in.
Gina Carano, Brianna Hildebrand, and Stefan Kapičić play Angel Dust, Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Colossus respectively. They’re all mutants and they serve to tie Deadpool to the X-Men universe.

The Plot

If there’s one place where Deadpool can be dinged, it’s in the plot area. There’s really not much here. Wade Wilson is a former Special Forces guy working as a mercenary. He meets Vanessa Carlysle and they fall in love. He’s diagnosed with cancer, gets recruited by a shadow organization that says they can heal him. They do but fuck him up in the process. From there it’s a revenge film where Wade (as Deadpool) tries to get back at the folks who screwed him and to get back to Vanessa whom he loves but thinks she won’t accept him now that he’s ugly.

Yep. That’s it. I will say this. There really IS a love story woven throughout this film. It can easily be overshadowed by the action and raunchy humor but it’s absolutely there and believe it or not its really touching. I’m actually really interested to see where the Wade / Vanessa story line goes in the sequel. What can I say… I’m a romantic at heart.

Recommendation

Go see Deadpool. If you’re a regular reader of my blog or follow me on Twitter you know the sort of sense of humor I have. If I offend you, this movie will offend you. If you laugh at my shit then you’ll be rolling. This was a REALLY refreshing take on the super hero landscape we currently find ourselves in. For the last several years comic movies have been falling all over themselves to see how many dark and angsty movies they can put out in the shortest time frame. We’ve got an over saturation of super hero movies that makes we want to puke. Deadpool is the stark opposite to those films. It’s light, funny, full of action and crude jokes that will make your mom blush. Strong recommend.