Deadpool (2016) - Theatrical Review

Director: Tim Miller

Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Morenna Baccarin, Ed Skrein, Gina Carano, T.J. Miller

Country: United States

Rating: R

Run Time: 104 min

It's been a long time coming for Deadpool, the 20th Century Fox film based off of the Marvel Comics character of the same name. The character previously appeared in 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine, although in a butchered and not true to comics manner. Producer and star Ryan Reynolds, who also portrayed the character in 09, has been pushing for a hard R adaptation ever since. It seems that all of that hard work of his has finally paid off, as Reynolds finally got the adaptation he wanted. In today's day and age of super clean and child friendly superhero films, it's nice to finally have an ultra violent and excessively vulgar superhero film remind everyone that comic books, as well as the films adapted from them, are not just for the kiddies.

Deadpool is a meta-comedy / action packed superhero film of a rare kind. At first, I feared that the film would be fourth wall breaking jokes left and right and entirely joke based. For those not in the know, the Deadpool character is completely self aware of his existence as a comic book character, as well as who plays him, Ryan Reynolds. Fortunately, the film is also surprisingly dark, dramatic, and dare I say, romantic, although of course the ridiculous fourth wall breaking jokes are there as well. To be honest, I found myself more in love with the dark and dramatic side of Deadpool, not its meta comedy, which is what most fans adore the character for in the first place. Therefore, your love and admiration for the wacky film will most likely rely upon your age, maturity level, and familiarity with the character. While I believe that Deadpool is exactly the breath of fresh air that the superhero genre needed in its most over exposed hour, around 80% of the jokes failed to conjure a chuckle from me, although that is entirely reliant upon my sense of humor and subjectivity to the character.

The Merc With a Mouth is finally here. And with a glorious R rating.

Deadpool is both a superhero origin story and a revenge film tied to its hero's origin. Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds), a former mercenary, is in love with Vanessa (Morenna Baccarin), another human being who shares his twisted sense of humor. While the two's romance seems eternal, their happiness is ruined when Wade succumbs to cancer throughout his entire body. When he signs up for an experimental treatment that will "cure" him of his cancer, it turns out that the facility is a torture center primed for unlocking mutant powers dormant within people. After undergoing excruciating torture, which results in scarring Wade's skin for life, he discovers that he has healing powers. Wade eventually escapes the facility and sets out to kill Ajax (Ed Skrein), the sadistic experimenter who ruined his body and put him through hell. He also struggles to reconnect with his girlfriend who believes him to be dead now.

If all of this sounds dark and dramatic, believe it. Deadpool's origin story is particularly dark, especially during the experimental sequences of the film when Wade is subjected to horrific torture that one would find in a horror film. However, director Tim Miller does a fantastic job of balancing both the gleeful aspects of the film with the undeniably torturous and dark elements to the point where no one element is given an emphasis over the other. You'll definitely find the laughs within Deadpool, but also a very tragic and engaging origin story of a man who put his life on the line for the woman he loved, and paid dearly.

This leads into Deadpool's greatest surprise, its immensely charming and adorable romance. Wade and Vanessa are a match made in heaven for each other with their dark pasts, absurdist humor, and kinky sex antics. I personally adored their raw and dirty romance because edgy sex antics are needed in today's cinema of boring sexual relationships, especially in superhero cinema, a nearly non-sexual genre. Therefore, I found myself giving into Deadpool's charm not because of its joke a minute comedy, but its engaging origin story and believable love story that pulled me into a film that easily could have been a complete farce from start to finish given the character's history.

Can I please emphasize how much I love them? So hot too.

But let's be honest, this is Deadpool, and most people are here for the ridiculous humor and vulgarity that the character is well known for. However, your opinion of the film may waver based upon your maturity level and age group, as most of Deadpool's humor is aimed towards the young and inane. I personally found about 20% of the jokes to be legitimately funny, as evident by my laugh out loud responses. The gags that got a huge laugh out of me included Deadpool's tiny baby hand and a kill where he uses a zamboni to murder a man. Unfortunately, the other 80% of the jokes failed to make me chuckle, and instead proved to be simply charming from a character aspect. That's not to say that you won't laugh, as my theater was filled with roars and clapping, it's just that I have never been a big fan of Deadpool's humor, and am not going to lie that every joke got a laugh out of me.

Deadpool is 100% a fan made film, filled with fan pleasing cameos and meta-references that only the most die hard will pick up on. Deadpool himself specifically references the confused timelines of the X-Men films, Ryan Reynolds' acting ability himself, Hugh Jackman, and the terrible X-Men Origins: Wolverine debacle. I especially loved his intertextual references as well, such as referring to Nega-Sonic Teenage Warhead as, "Ripley from Alien 3," and yelling at Gina Carano's character, "Enjoy your Blade II screening!" You have to love the screenwriters' choice to represent some deep cuts of 90s and 2000s cinema. In all honesty, Deadpool's success may rely entirely upon your reaction to jokes like these. It is about as subjective as a filmic experience can get.

Deadpool's insane antics and fairly witty script is bolstered by its performances, especially by leading man Reynolds who more or less gives the performance he was born to play. Reynolds goes 110% with this one, diving head first into a character and a script that shows no shame in its vulgarity and absurdity. Supporting performances are all solid too, with T.J. Miller and Morenna Baccarin serving as standouts. The film also features a solid lead villain in Ajax (Ed Skrein), a sadistic mutant who doesn't feel pain and goes headfirst against Deadpool in a battle to the death. Skrein, who previously starred in last year's abysmal Transporter: Refueled, is especially malicious here and finally proves himself to be a formidable actor. Deadpool also features two minor cameos by other X-Men, Collussus and Nega-Sonic Teenage Warhead, who don't particularly add to the plot but strengthen the film's connection to the rest of the X-Men cinematic universe.

"Hey, it's Ripley, from Alien 3!"

Surprisingly, the one front that the film feels lackluster on is its action, which is a shame considering how gleefully violent the Deadpool character typically can be. The film features only two true action set pieces, with all other forms of violence appearing within montages of Deadpool's murder spree. The opening action set piece set upon a highway more or less dominates the first third of the film because the narrative continually flashes back during the sequence. Even the finale, while also equally fun and mildly bloody, commits this exact same atrocity and constantly cuts away from Deadpool himself. It's a shame that the editors and storytellers felt the need to cut away to other things, as I hope the same creative team realizes how much more fun and exciting an action scene can be when shown from beginning to end in one go, especially within the soon to be confirmed sequel.

Another issue I had with the film's action was its immense incorporation of computer generated effects. Despite Deadpool's R rating, all of its violence is made all the more cartoonish and less effective due to the excessive presence of digital stuntmen and flipping cars. I would have much preferred a more grounded and gritty Deadpool film that relied less upon blockbuster-centric action and more upon humorously laden close quarters fights. All complaints aside, Deadpool's final fight with Ajax is uniformly solid because of its exciting choreography and commendable cinematography.

The final saving grace of Deadpool is its thankfully short and brief run time. In today's day and age of overlong superhero films (i.e. The Avengers, Man of Steel, The Dark Knight Rises, etc), Deadpool clocks in at a brief hour and forty minutes. I was honestly surprised by the time the film ended, as I have become so accustomed to superhero films overstaying their welcome on the big screen. This is a rare instance in which all of the fat was trimmed in order to deliver audience members exactly the juicy meat that they paid to come see. Kudos to producer Reynolds, studio 20th Century Fox, and director Miller for achieving this grand feat.

A gleefully violent and exciting fight to the finish.

Even though I have never been a huge fan of the Deadpool character, I can definitely confirm that I respect his character now more than ever before. I finally understand that his character jokes around so much in order to cope with twisted and disturbed life (although the fourth wall breaking makes no sense from a storytelling or character stand point).

For his first feature film outing, Deadpool shines in a violent and fairly humorous debut whose jokes will most likely land depending on the viewer's age and maturity level (note: teenagers and high schoolers will eat this stuff up). This truly is the ultimate fan film, made specifically for those who bleed for Deadpool and dress up like him at Comic Con. While this may not be the film for me, Deadpool fans will find everything they want here.

As for the film itself, Deadpool is fairly well made for what it is. It could have been better, based purely upon its average digital effects, hit or miss humor, and lopsided action. However, I can't help but admire Reynolds for finally accomplishing his dream and sweeping up the box office in the process. You also have to give newcomer Miller credit for perfectly balancing the tone of the picture, thereby never letting either the humor or drama overshadow one another. Both Miller and Reynolds wear their badge of absurdity with no shame and invite the audience to join in on the fun as well, which is more than you can say for most superhero films. Therefore, based purely upon its sheer audacity, Deadpool scores a recommendation from me, someone who was never a fan of the character in the first place.

Rating: 7/10 - The unabashed blend of gleeful violence and engaging romance makes Deadpool a fun superhero film, especially the kind of one that we need in today's day and age of stale superhero dominance.