Producer: 20th Century Fox
Writer: Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick
Director: Tim Miller
Featuring: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, Gina Canaro, Ed Skrein, Stefan Kapicic, Brianna Hildebrand
Release Date: OUT NOW!
20th Century Fox
Surprisingly, shockingly, Deadpool is the best-written X-Men movie (or Fox superhero movie for that matter) to date. It is internally consistent, lacks major plot holes and is not overly complicated. What it is though, is instantly accessible to superhero fan and non-superhero fan alike. And funny. So very funny. Deadpool is a vehicle to set up punch lines for the Merc with a Mouth to nail. And Deadpool does and it’s glorious to watch.
Deadpool is dishonorably discharged special force soldier Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) has cancer. When a shadowy organization offers to cure his ills by awaking latent mutant genes he’s given super-healing power, strength and agility. But Deadpool is also tortured by the sadistic Ajax (Ed Skrein) who tells Wade he’s going to be a super-slave. And Wade’s skin gets covered with nasty-looking legions, much to the simultaneous repulsion and delight of Wade’s friend bar-owner Weasel (T.J. Miller).
From there Deadpool a simple revenge story, which is a refreshing change of pace from the often too-crowded plots which seem to infect many superhero movies (we’re looking at you, Batman versus Superman…). Deadpool enlists the help of the X-Men, in this case the patient CGI Colossus (voiced by Stefan Kapicic) and millennial Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand), who has to finish typing a text before attacking a bad guy. And we’ve all been there.
Deadpool doesn’t just break the fourth wall, it dismantles it brick by brick. Ryan Reynolds appears to have been born for the role. Reynolds has just the right mix of sarcasm, stupidity and charm to make the character work. His chemistry with love interest Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) is sweet in a way only Deadpool can make it. Ed Skrein’s Ajax is the right mix of charming and creepy.
Fox wisely gave Deadpool an “R” rating in the USA, (15 UK), the language and violencee is not for the faint-hearted or timid. Deadpool is a super-hero movie for adults and about time too. A good metric for a movie is if you want to see it again. The answer for Deadpool is: Hell, yes!!!!!!!
Reviewer: Joe Lovece
Reviews Editor: Steve Hooker