I suppose it was inevitable that Deadpool would get his own movie. This character is the 2000s version of Wolverine in its popularity. Personally, I had never read a Deadpool story before this, so I had no expectations going in. That may have been a good thing because, frankly, this was one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. From the opening seconds of the opening credits to the final cut scene, this movie is one big ADULT hoot.
For those who don't know, Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds, playing the merc with a mouth) is a bad guy, as in he is a horrible person. He plays a low-level assassin who falls in love with a hooker, Vanessa (Morena Baccarin). He finds out he has incurable cancer, so he volunteers for an experimental treatment by a guy named Ajax (played with British super villain menace by Ed Skrein). While his cancer is cured, after several scenes of intense brutal torture, he is left horribly scarred and a mutant ability to heal from any wound (hmm, sounds familiar, huh?). Ajax has made him to be a slave killer, but Deadpool has other ideas and escapes. For the rest of the movie, Deadpool is joking and killing his way though the criminal underworld to find Ajax to cure him. There is also a subplot that deals with some X-men which seems tacked on, but still a lot of fun.
This is essentially an origin story, so you don't need a lot of background going in. For me, that was a good thing as I had no pre knowledge of what would happen and what to expect, so I could take everything at face value. The story is a teenage boy's wet dream, to be an invincible killer while getting a beautiful girl to bang, all while spurting wisecracking one-liners. Deadpool is a murderous, psycho Spider-Man, and he is a joy to watch if you take it in the spirit which it's intended. Particularly fun is that Deadpool breaks the fourth wall (he speaks directly to you) as he does in the comic, giving the whole film a very meta feel. This is pure escapist entertainment. Nothing but stupid, disposable trash, but it is fun.
That doesn't mean it's perfect. One of the biggest issues I had was that it was too long. All good things must come to an end, and this went way too long. The scenes with Ajax seemed to drag. There are also several scenes with a super villainess, Angel, which were totally unnecessary. For the life of me, I saw no reason for her to be in the movie other than give the X-Men something to do and to add a grrl power moment to the film. There are also way too many scenes in the seedy bar that Deadpool frequents and the bartender whose a sort of middle management for all the killers in the bar. The humor between him and Deadpool feel forced, and again, fairly unnecessary as he also doesn't really add anything to any scene he's in.
The biggest problem with the film is that now in a post-Crow, post-Blade, post-Underworld time, an R-rated superhero film has proven to be wildly popular, I am just bracing for the million other crappy and inferior copies that will inevitably follow. I have already heard the brain-dead fanboys either hate the film or they want more like this. I don't have a problem with good old bloody and naked fun, but Hollywood has a very bad habit of remaking the wheel and it always is worse. I'm already hearing rumors the next Wolverine movie will be rated-R, so we will see what happens. In any case, if you want a rip roaring time where you can turn your brain off and go, Deadpool is the movie for you, but for God's sake, leave the kids at home. I saw this film three times in 24 hours, and in each one, there were parents who brought in kids as young as 5. If you are one of these people, you are a horrible parent and it will be little wonder when your kid stabs you to death in your sleep when he turns 13. Even the movie company is telling parents not to bring their kids, so please, take some responsibility and stop breeding the future psychos of America and have your kid go to Kung Fu Panda 3 instead, please.
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