directed by Tim Miller
written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick
When Wade Wilson made his first ever on-screen appearance in X-Men Origins: Wolverine back in 2009, people saw promise; he had the character's one-liners down pat, and was brilliant with swordplay, as the character was supposed to be. It all went south, however, when the character reappeared in the film's climax with his mouth having been sewn shut and a pair of adamantium swords emerging from his hands.
For over six years after that, Ryan Reynolds, who portrayed him in that film, fought an uphill battle with the studio executives to give the character a second crack at big screen stardom, and this weekend, he finally gets his wish as the Deadpool feature film opens around the world.
Deadpool is the story of Wade Wilson (Reynolds) which, in this film, is told almost completely out of sequence as the film opens with a freeze-frame of an SUV in mid-tumble along a freeway, with the title character in mid-action pose, punching one of the armed man in the SUV, kicking another, sitting on yet another, and pulling on the pants of a motorcycle rider (also in mid-air). In incremental flashback sequences, Wade narrates how he has gone from being an ex-Special Forces operative to a small-time enforcer, terrorizing teen stalkers and other lowlifes (for a fee), in between hanging out and feeling melancholy at a bar for ex-Special Forces people just like him, to finding the girl of his dreams in Vanessa, a similarly disillusioned hooker (Morena Baccarin), to finding out he has terminal cancer, to volunteering for an experimental treatment at the hands of the shady Francis (Ed Skrein) that has left him disfigured and ultimately wanting revenge and a cure. Two of the X-Men, Colossus (a CGI character voiced by Stefan Kapicic) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand), keep tabs on Deadpool to prevent him from completely destroying downtown, but in the end he may end up recruiting them if he is to take on Francis and his deadly henchwoman, the superstrong Angel Dust (Gina Carano).
Of course, the summary makes this sound like another generic comic-book based revenge flick, but to be fair to this film, it is anything but that.
It's almost been a whole day since I watched this with my wife, and I still can't help but marvel (pun intended) at the massive cojones that the executives at Fox, infamous for mangling known comic-book properties beyond all recognition (Exhibit "A" being the previous screen incarnation of Deadpool) in the name of playing it safe, have shown in making this film.
This is a film that goes against every instinct of anyone looking to sell a blockbuster: the leading man looks like a hamburger, he's kind of a bastard, and the family market is virtually completely excluded by virtue of all the sex, violence, profanity and drug references. In short, by rights, considering the market superhero movies are usually aimed at, this movie shouldn't have been made at all. When the similarly uber-violent, horror-history mashup Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter tanked four years ago I was pretty sure that Deadpool, which was still very much in development hell back then, would never be made. I was really happy to be proven wrong. To be honest, I'll even go one further, even though I never ever thought I'd be saying this: for all their massive chutzpah in launching their unified cinematic universe, I don't think Marvel has the balls to make a movie like this, at least not yet. And no, their hard-hitting Netflix series don't count.
This movie is to superhero movies was Kingsman: The Secret Service was to spy movies and what Shrek was to fairy tales: a send-up of truly epic proportions. Like those two it throws in a barrage of good-natured pop-culture jabs all throughout as well, including a Ferris-Bueller parody in the post-credits sequence.
It does feel a little smug here and there, but overall, most of its endless barrage of jokes hit their mark, the action, while ridiculous at times, still looks good onscreen, and the actors have good comedic chemistry. And the filmmakers remember never to take themselves too seriously. Yes, the filmmakers know Colossus looks like he stepped out of a video game, yes, they know the constant bloodletting looks ludicrous and basically makes Kingsman's "hate church" scene look absolutely demure, and yes, they know that their movie is as much a product as the films it's lampooning. For all of that, somehow, Reese, Wernick, Miller and their cast, most especially Reynolds, still manage to hit the sweet spot (most of the time), in this extremely unwieldy mix of sex, violence and comedy. The thing is, this was a movie that was so over-the-top that it could very easily have fallen off the cliff, so kudos to the cast and crew for keeping it all together.
Special mention, however, must go to the man who has relentlessly been championing this character's journey to the screen for the last decade or so with whatever remnants of clout he had left after Green Lantern tanked: Ryan Reynolds.
Thanks for never giving up on this character, Ryan.
7.8/10
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