DEADPOOL
By: Gary Departed Pond Murray
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin and T.J. Miller
Written by: Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick
Directed by: Tim Miller
Running time: 105 min
MPAA Rating: R
Selig Film Rating—a fan boy FULL PRICE
Comic book films tend to follow a similar storyline and tone. It is of a stoic loner who takes on the cape after some tragic event. This recluse fights super bad guys using super skills or strengths that were given to them by birth, consequence or luck. It eventually becomes a giant expanse of explosions. The hero destroys the villain in a few hours and is rewarded with adulations by the masses.
Although a different element of this formula get changed here and there, it is still basically the same concept. With Dead Pool, this formula stays the same while twisting just about every single element to a different degree.
Deadpool, the movie, starts in the middle of things where our hero Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) has to take a cab to fight the bad guys. He has no ability to fly and no super car, just a cabdriver as his temporary sidekick.
Along the way, we get a running commentary. It is equally dark and funny, with wisecracks about his situation. Eventually, he gets to his intended target and dives stories downward and onto the fast moving heavy SUV. Then what follows in a melee of blood and bullets with Dead Pool dismissing a large horde of henchmen. Just when the audience thinks they have a handle on the proceedings, something shocking and unexpected happens. Then we go back to the beginning.
Wade (Ryan Reynolds) is not a nice guy but a man with a strong moral code. When we first meet him, he seems to be taking on a drug dealer. But that is not his intended target. After dispensing his intended, he goes back to the wronged to let them know the outcome. In the end, it feels more like a modern retelling of a knight’s tale. He may be a badass but he’s an ethical badass.
Back at his local hangout, he meets local (and super hot) assumed streetwalker Vanessa (Morena Baccarin). She almost instantly shows that she is a take-no-prisoners kind of gal and they have gigantic spark. Very soon the two are an item and they fall into a super-charged sexual relationship. The hazard of this is that they also fall madly, passionately in love.
Then life gives Wade a sucker-punch with the name cancer. He decides to leave her and take on an experimental treatment. This is conjunction with the X-Men. But, things are not as they seem and not everyone is on the up-and-up. It is all a part of the origins of the newest and toughest of superheroes.
The rest of the film is of Deadpool discovering his powers and using them to exact revenge on those who wronged him. He also wants to know if Vanessa is okay. It is a heart-pounding, flippant-spewing ending that gives the audience what it wants. That is loads of coolness and tons of mayhem that wears its distain on red sleeves.
Deadpool is the film that every chop-socking loving fan boy dreams of late at night. It is super cool and self-reflexive at the same time. Not only is the most exciting adventure flick of 2016, it is also the funniest film of this year. By the end of the last flickering image, the film knows that it is both part of the genre and separating from it.
The film follows the formula of joke-joke-joke then action-action-action then it twists the formula to joke-action-joke-action-joke-action with some of the different beats happening at the same time. But at the same time, it flows with a flawless ease. This is one of the strongest films that are put together with a painstakingly solid base.
Director Tim Miller is so sure of his material that he never falters with neither part of his film. From the first moment to the last flickering image, he pulls no stops with cool comic images and self-deprecating humor. Even the titles are humorous and silly. He studied his comics before getting behind the director’s chair.
Ryan Reynolds proves that he can totally carry a heavy action flick. He is perfect from the first beat and never keeps from wailing on that drum. He makes fun of all the superheroes including him in his last tight-boy role. It is everything that the fans wanted from Green Lantern but didn’t get. This should prove one and for all that Ryan can be part of the X-Men.
Morena Baccarin is a show-stopping beauty. Best known from the TV show V, the actress has been making inroads into major motion pictures lately. Even when she is sad (which she often is), she still comes across as striking. She is given not a lot to do within the parameters of the boy overload of toys and gadgets but still comes across as a perfect woman.
Now, I know that some will be taken aback by all the violence blended with all the comedy moments. But, the big geek in me found it all charming much like one finds The Rocky Horror Picture Show a bit of perverse fun. But, men will love this film more than women will love it.
If one goes in with an open mind and realizes that this in no way, shape or form is a regular Marvel action flick but the twisted younger brother—they should find the film enjoyable. This is the first film of 2016 that I will buy on DVD. In a time of year where a great flick is just about as rare as a summer day, Deadpool is the kind of movie to shake away those winter blues.
