My Review of Deadpool (2016)

 

Written by Rhett Reese And Paul Wernick

Directed by Tim Miller

Deadpool: "I didn't ask to be super, and I'm no hero. But when you find out your worst enemy is after your best girl, the time has come to be a fucking superhero."

Ah yes, the most irreverent of characters from Marvel. The guy who would likely fuck you as well as kill you but before assaulting your eardrums with a barrage of puns. Yup, it's that guy. Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds), otherwise known as Deadpool and this was his origin story.

It's a story being told out of order. In the present day, Deadpool was out for revenge against the man responsible for his healing/mutated face/powers aka Ajax (Ed Skrein). He's also known as Francis Freeman and he's very much the British villain of the piece, backed up by Angel Dust (Gina Carano), who doesn't say much but can pack a punch.

Deadpool's grievance also included the fact that Francis only went and kidnapped Wilson's estranged girlfriend, Vanessa Carlysle (Morena Baccarin). In the comics, Vanessa's a mutant named Copycat. Here she's mostly the wise cracking love interest/escort with Baccarin making the most out of the role.

On a serious note, the actual love story between Wade and Vanessa was actually done really well. There's a playful chemistry between Ryan Reynolds and Morena Baccarin that made it easy to root for Wade and Vanessa to make it as a couple. Of course Wade did let her down by bailing but after the events of this movie, they did get back together.

Going back to the villain of the piece. Ajax was trying to make his own mutants to use for his own nefarious reasons. He's immune to pain and like Angel Dust, he's not too easy to kill off. Saying that though, he still doesn't make it out of the movie alive, so there's that.

As for the rest of the supporting cast, it's a strong bunch of characters. For the human connection you have Wade's best friend/batender Weasel (T.J. Miller), cab driver Dopinder (Karan Soni) and Blind Al (Leslie Uggams). I enjoyed those characters but Deadpool's team up with Colossus (Stefan Kapičić) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) was the best rapport he had in the movie. Yes, the X-Men jokes were heavy handed but highly enjoyable.

- The post credit sequence laid it on thick about Cable being the main draw for the sequel.

- Ryan Reynolds previously played a mouth sewn Wade Wilson in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Ajax threatened to sew Wade's mouth shut before having him gagged during a certain scene. 

- The opening credits had fun with the placeholder names and giving the plot away.

- Stan Lee and Rob Liefield both had cameo appearances in this movie, along with Nathan Fillion. The latter's scene was cut from the theatrical release.

- Standout music: Juice Newton's Angel In The Morning, Salt-N-Pepa's Shoop and George Michael's Careless Whisper.

- Chronology: There's definitely a fair chunk of time going over the events of the movie and the lead into the present confrontation between Deadpool and Ajax.

Deadpool's a movie that while it lays it thick with the jokes, visual gags, general gore and potty mouth antics, it does have a lot going im it's favour. The breezy storytelling certainly made sure the movie didn't outstay it's welcome and after failing with Hal Jordan, at least Ryan Reynolds can say he made Wade Wilson into his own.

Rating: 8 out of 10