Deadpool  (2016)

When the 'Deadpool' movie was announced, the comic fan world went nuts. He's a beloved character from the Marvel universe. He had a prior incarnation in the "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" movie that was reviled by fans, but Ryan Reynolds' love for the character made him keep trying to get a solo movie done and done right. The comic character is unique in that he's gratuitously violent, extremely vulgar, and constantly breaking the fourth wall. All those elements added up to create something that hadn't been seen before in any sort of comic book movie.

Wade Wilson is a former Special Ops agent turned mercenary. He comes down with terminal cancer, and is offered a mysterious shot at being healed and becoming something more than he was before. The healing process turns out to be a front for a group that just wants to create mutant slaves, but Wilson fights back and goes out for revenge against those who wronged him. If you strip away any part of "comic book" from that plot, it could be a pretty good movie on it's own. Deadpool's style is what turns it into something totally different.

Since this movie is rated R, they had the ability to go completely nuts. The violence is over-the-top, there's blood and gore and sex, the language is filthy. I'm comfortable with all of this, but the only thing that got to me were the jokes. Nonstop, incessant, never-ending jokes. Every line was a punchline, everything was a jab at another Marvel movie or pop culture reference or simple dirty joke. I was never offended by any of these, mind you, I laughed at most of them, but the sheer volume reached a level of tedium for me.

The thing is, without all the jokes and fourth-wall-breaking, you have a simple, straight-forward movie, whether or not it's comic book-related. This was supposed to become something new with the addition of the R-rating and the character acknowledging that he was in a movie. Since that aspect was what ended up wearing on me, I felt let down in the end.

Don't get me wrong, it was a fun ride. I'm good with violence, I'm good with absurdity, I'm good with breaking the fourth wall. I really like Ryan Reynolds, I liked the rest of the cast, the action was good, I laughed out loud a bunch of times. It's just that with the setup and the anticipation, my expectations weren't quite met. Not necessarily a bad movie, but not at good as I'd hoped.

 

 

On the [Celluloid Hero] scale, "Deadpool" gets a 6 out of 10.

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