Ever since the test footage leaked about a year and a half ago, people have been clamoring for a live-action, hardcore, R-rated Deadpool film. I wasn't as desperate, mostly because I really can't stand the Deadpool character from the comic. It's mainly because I find him to be annoying and obnoxious when he's around for too long, so a two-hour long movie had me a bit concerned. I was fully prepared for it to be terrible, and fall apart after disappearing so far up its own rectum that it wouldn't appeal to anyone but hardcore Deadpool fans.
After the overwhelmingly positive reception, I expected it to be at least good, but it actually turned out to be great. My expectations were met in many ways, and they were surpassed in many, many more.
The real MVP of this movie is Ryan Reynolds, a true Canadian icon. He's been involved in some pretty crappy projects over the past few years, and as someone who thinks that he's a very talented guy, I'm happy to see that he's had such a huge success with Deadpool. Especially since he's been trying to get a Deadpool movie made for a while, and the last on-screen attempt was such a horrific tragedy.
Ryan Reynolds really gives it his all throughout the entire movie. Even though his face is covered for most of it, you can just feel the joy from him. When the Deadpool mask is off, he has a huge smile on his face most of the time, and I really do believe that he's never been happier or more excited to be in a movie. This is probably the best performance he's ever given, and I think that all comes from the passion he has for the project.
The whole cast was pretty great, especially Reynolds and Morena Baccarin. I expected the love story to be fine, maybe a little generic, but I actually loved these characters. I really connected to their romance, and I was surprised that it got me invested at all. Maybe it's that latent fanboy gene in me, which always makes me want movie couples to work out.
Well, most movie couples. Not Twilight, or Fifty Shades of Grey, or Spectre.
I was also surprised by the amount of heart in this movie overall, because I expected it to be more focused on the humour and references. But I was rooting for Deadpool the whole time, and really felt for him for some of the stuff he went through.
But this movie wasn't all light-hearted. There were some moments that got really dark, sometimes in a comedic way, and sometimes in a way that was just plain unpleasant. The scene where Wade's skin gets mutated was horrifying, and a good example that the movie could be serious when it wanted to be.
The R-rating is really what makes this movie work, and I can't imagine a possible way that this movie could function as PG-13. Most of my enjoyment of this movie came from the over-the-top violence, gore, and cursing. Is it because that's what I find funny? No, not at all, actually. It was just so great because there hasn't really been a movie that does humour and violence like this movie. It was refreshing, because it was so unique and different. From the opening credits, the tone of the humour was set perfectly, and there are so many memorable moments because of it.
I think that, ironically, the fourth-wall breaking was the least funny part. There were a couple of moments where it worked, but for the most part they just fell flat. I was kind of disappointed that a lot of the jokes didn't hit me as hard as they were meant to. I also feel like some of the jokes being too topical will make this movie age poorly, but it's general enough most of the time to be accessible for a while. There were some really funny moments though, mainly involving Colossus.
Speaking of Colossus, can we just take a moment to appreciate that this movie finally did him right? All of his past appearances have felt like the producers saying "Um...yeah, just make one of the guys metal so the nerds won't complain". But in Deadpool, he looks perfect, he sounds perfect, he was just perfect. And the comic foil his heroic personality gave to Deadpool was the funniest relationship in the movie, and never failed to make me laugh.
Also, it was awesome to see Negasonic Teenage Warhead wearing a yellow X-Men suit in an action scene. Especially since I walked by a standee for X-Men: Apocalypse on my way into the theatre, which shows off even more black suits. Negasonic Teenage Warhead was just plain awesome. I would love to see more of her in the sequel.
For a first-time director of a film on this scale, Tim Miller did a great job. You can tell that he comes from an animation background, because this movie was very cartoonish in a lot of ways. And Miller's knowledge of how to make that work with the Deadpool character gave this movie a really unique style, especially with the action scenes. I thought the action was fantastically well-done, especially with how they incorporated jokes.
I think the only element of this film that I was disappointed with is how everyone is saying what a game-changer it is. Don't get me wrong, I loved it, but not enough to think that it's going to have a huge influence on all other movies. I have no doubt that other films will be forcibly and unnecessarily made to be "more like Deadpool", because the film's enormous success has really opened the door for R-rated superhero films. I think it's good that we'll get more variety, but I don't think that this movie is mind-blowing and revolutionary. It's funny, but not unbelievably so.
In the end, Deadpool may not be the perfect movie, but it's a pretty perfect Deadpool movie. The plot is very simple (which I think was also done intentionally, without drawing attention to it), the characters are a lot of fun, the action was awesome and comical in the best ways, and the humour was, for the most part, spot-on. I'm very much looking forward to a Deadpool sequel, and what the creative team will do with it. I know that they want to include Cable, which is amazing, and as long as the same writers and director stay on board, it should be great.
But let's face it, the most exciting part of a sequel is more marketing. The marketing for Deadpool was the most interesting part of it, and if they do something along the same lines for the sequel. then it should also be pretty great.
All that we can really hope for is that idiot parents won't bring their kids to Deadpool 2. I thought that clueless parents bringing their kids to Deadpool was just something that people made up for a joke, but it actually happened in my theatre. Somehow, they made it through the sex montage near the beginning. I guess actual nudity is the breaking point. Not Ryan Reynolds being pegged with a strap-on to celebrate International Women's Day. That's totally kid-friendly.
The real MVP of this movie is Ryan Reynolds, a true Canadian icon. He's been involved in some pretty crappy projects over the past few years, and as someone who thinks that he's a very talented guy, I'm happy to see that he's had such a huge success with Deadpool. Especially since he's been trying to get a Deadpool movie made for a while, and the last on-screen attempt was such a horrific tragedy.
Ryan Reynolds really gives it his all throughout the entire movie. Even though his face is covered for most of it, you can just feel the joy from him. When the Deadpool mask is off, he has a huge smile on his face most of the time, and I really do believe that he's never been happier or more excited to be in a movie. This is probably the best performance he's ever given, and I think that all comes from the passion he has for the project.
The whole cast was pretty great, especially Reynolds and Morena Baccarin. I expected the love story to be fine, maybe a little generic, but I actually loved these characters. I really connected to their romance, and I was surprised that it got me invested at all. Maybe it's that latent fanboy gene in me, which always makes me want movie couples to work out.
Well, most movie couples. Not Twilight, or Fifty Shades of Grey, or Spectre.
I was also surprised by the amount of heart in this movie overall, because I expected it to be more focused on the humour and references. But I was rooting for Deadpool the whole time, and really felt for him for some of the stuff he went through.
But this movie wasn't all light-hearted. There were some moments that got really dark, sometimes in a comedic way, and sometimes in a way that was just plain unpleasant. The scene where Wade's skin gets mutated was horrifying, and a good example that the movie could be serious when it wanted to be.
The R-rating is really what makes this movie work, and I can't imagine a possible way that this movie could function as PG-13. Most of my enjoyment of this movie came from the over-the-top violence, gore, and cursing. Is it because that's what I find funny? No, not at all, actually. It was just so great because there hasn't really been a movie that does humour and violence like this movie. It was refreshing, because it was so unique and different. From the opening credits, the tone of the humour was set perfectly, and there are so many memorable moments because of it.
I think that, ironically, the fourth-wall breaking was the least funny part. There were a couple of moments where it worked, but for the most part they just fell flat. I was kind of disappointed that a lot of the jokes didn't hit me as hard as they were meant to. I also feel like some of the jokes being too topical will make this movie age poorly, but it's general enough most of the time to be accessible for a while. There were some really funny moments though, mainly involving Colossus.
Speaking of Colossus, can we just take a moment to appreciate that this movie finally did him right? All of his past appearances have felt like the producers saying "Um...yeah, just make one of the guys metal so the nerds won't complain". But in Deadpool, he looks perfect, he sounds perfect, he was just perfect. And the comic foil his heroic personality gave to Deadpool was the funniest relationship in the movie, and never failed to make me laugh.
Also, it was awesome to see Negasonic Teenage Warhead wearing a yellow X-Men suit in an action scene. Especially since I walked by a standee for X-Men: Apocalypse on my way into the theatre, which shows off even more black suits. Negasonic Teenage Warhead was just plain awesome. I would love to see more of her in the sequel.
For a first-time director of a film on this scale, Tim Miller did a great job. You can tell that he comes from an animation background, because this movie was very cartoonish in a lot of ways. And Miller's knowledge of how to make that work with the Deadpool character gave this movie a really unique style, especially with the action scenes. I thought the action was fantastically well-done, especially with how they incorporated jokes.
I think the only element of this film that I was disappointed with is how everyone is saying what a game-changer it is. Don't get me wrong, I loved it, but not enough to think that it's going to have a huge influence on all other movies. I have no doubt that other films will be forcibly and unnecessarily made to be "more like Deadpool", because the film's enormous success has really opened the door for R-rated superhero films. I think it's good that we'll get more variety, but I don't think that this movie is mind-blowing and revolutionary. It's funny, but not unbelievably so.
But let's face it, the most exciting part of a sequel is more marketing. The marketing for Deadpool was the most interesting part of it, and if they do something along the same lines for the sequel. then it should also be pretty great.
All that we can really hope for is that idiot parents won't bring their kids to Deadpool 2. I thought that clueless parents bringing their kids to Deadpool was just something that people made up for a joke, but it actually happened in my theatre. Somehow, they made it through the sex montage near the beginning. I guess actual nudity is the breaking point. Not Ryan Reynolds being pegged with a strap-on to celebrate International Women's Day. That's totally kid-friendly.
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