Deadpool (2016)

  Yes, yes, I know it's been out forever and everyone loved it. So why am I only reviewing it now? Well, I don't get to the movie theaters that often these days with only rare exceptions being made like Superman v Batman. Deadpool was something I meant to go see but various events kept me from seeing the Merc with a Mouth.

    Deadpool and I have something of a mixed relationship comic book-wise as I've always enjoyed him but never as a primary protagonist. Deadpool is awesome when he's paired up with Wolverine, Cable, or some other straight men but is tedious otherwise. I enjoyed Deadpool the video game but it was also something that highlighted the problems of the character: 1. Deadpool has no rogues gallery. 2. Deadpool doesn't really have much in the way of a supporting cast (Bob aside). 3. Deadpool is a character whose cartoonish looney-toons antics don't really allow much of an actual emotional core.

  Deadpool makes a good choice by choosing to dial back the crazy and actually provide our protagonist with an emotional core. At one point, the titular character refers to the movie as a love story and he's not wrong. The central core of the story is the relationship between Wade Wilson and Vanessa Carlysle (a.k.a Copycat in the book).

    The strange thing? This works extremely well. Deadpool gets some much badly needed depth with his relationship being the most mature adult romantic relationship in comic book movies. Seriously, the only one that comes close is Tony and Pepper--which is just sad given the dozens of heroes currently onscreen.

  Ryan Reynolds and Morena Baccarin have great chemistry with the two of them managing to be sexually appealing to the viewer while also entertaining. There's an extended "sex montage" which manages to be hilarious, build character, as well as show off two very pretty people enjoying themselves. Indeed, it's rare enough even in R-rated movies for sex to be seen as something protagonists have fun doing.

    The first thing I have to say to this is a lot of fans are calling this the first R-rated comic book movie and I'm like, "Have we forgotten Blade? Watchmen? Kick-Ass?" Deadpool really does a great job in establishing itself as an R-rated superhero movie, though. The violence, language, sex, and juvenile humor make Deadpool the character we love. Well, not the sex, that's actually a welcome addition to the story.

 The premise of the film is Wade Wilson is a dishonorably discharged Special Forces soldier who has turned into a professional leg-breaker. Meeting a beautiful prostitute and stripper, they fall in love before he's diagnosed with inoperable cancer. Approached by a mysterious organization, apparently not Weapon X, Wade is tortured by Ajax (Ed Skrein) and his assistant Angel (Gina Carano) to activate his mutant gene.

    Gaining a healing factor at the cost of his good looks as well as a large portion of his sanity, Wade takes the name Deadpool after the group that abused him. Eventually, because that's how these movies go, Ajax kidnaps Wade's girlfriend which convinces Deadpool to recruit a pair of X-men to help. The movie is actually much better than it sounds.

 Really, from the beginning where we have a massive gunfight on the highway with Deadpool in full costume to the extended flashback to the arrival of Colossus (Stefan Kapičić) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand), I had one big stupid grin on my face. There were a few bumps between that period of the movie and the equally excellent finale but not many.

    If I had to choose a favorite character it would be Colossus because, my God, this is the big huggable Russian dork from the Eighties Chris Claremont comics. All of the movie heroes attempt to make their characters more "cool" when it's more fun to have a lovable dork talking about heroism. I also love how the movie isn't afraid to have Negasonic Teenage Warhead, a character who lasted a couple of issues, take the piss out of Wade whenever possible.

    One flaw with the movie is also its strength which is the fact the film only has a 50 million dollar budget and it shows. There are a lot of low-key gunfights and small scenes between the big epic comic book ones from other films. It's a strength because this forces the movie to do those low-key scenes rather than mindless background noise. For example, they might have used Cyclops instead of Colossus and that would be a shame. Deadpool works as a somewhat more low-key character with guns instead of energy blasts and mercs as his opponents versus superhumans.

    I give credit to Ed Skrein and Gina Carano for their roles in the movie as both do an amazing job with characters few comic book fans would have heard of. Ed Skrein is creepily awesome as the sadistic emotionless Ajax while Gina Carano is the first female bruiser onscreen. The fact I consider her gorgeous and think she should be in many more movies helps matters tremendously. The big climax between them and our antiheroes feels earned both emotionally as well as storytelling-wise.

    In conclusion, I really really enjoyed this film and recommend it to anyone who wants a fun R-rated comedic superhero film.