Deadpool (2016)
By Scott M. Waldman
After months of gut-busting marketing and years of getting our (fans and newcomers/noobs alike) hopes up, Tim Miller’s take on the “Merc with a Mouth” has finally hit theaters as both an action comedy and romance/bromance. Starring Ryan Reynolds (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) as the type-casted anti-hero, Deadpool marks the first ever comic book film within a larger cinematic universe to be Rated-R, and rightfully so. The comedy and gore is nearly inhumane yet you can’t help but laugh at it. Reynolds is perfectly squeezed into the blood red suit and brings the comic panels to life with enough “fourth-wall breaks” to create a new genre of superhero dialogue. Listening to both Reynolds and T.J. Miller converse about the hideous nature of Wade Wilson’s appearance or Reynolds and Baccarin playing psycho could’ve made up a whole other movie entirely, but the movie as a whole is the perfect faithful adaptation of Marvel’s un-killable mercenary.
The opening sequence is a montage set around the stunt shown in the original leaked footage where usually the names of the actors/actresses would appear, but instead the wall is immediately broken revealing names written by Wade Wilson himself. The stage is instantly set and Wade’s psychotic character is brought to life. Once Deadpool begins to tear a new one in the ‘bad guys’ we are already cheering for him to get his deserved happy ending. The way that Wade gets to his ending though, isn’t the most normal of means. Introduced through a remote controlled series of flashbacks, Wade is shown as a mercenary-for-hire who falls in love (Baccarin) and is then diagnosed with cancer. Wade is given the opportunity to remove the cancer from evil scientist, Ajax/Francis (Skrein), which results in the incredible healing factor and immortality that DP is known for. After being subjected to torture by Ajax, in order to trigger the mutation, Wade’s cancer is extinguished, but his skin and body are horribly disfigured beyond repair. The rest of the plot is as simple as the villain kidnaps the hero’s girl, and the hero has to save her.
Although a lot of heroes are given the whole “origin story” treatment like in Man of Steel (2013) and Spiderman (2002), Deadpool tells the crew otherwise and forces the film to back out of it once and a while and only show the bits that he would enjoy. The film calls itself a superhero flick, but the truth of it is consistently told to be wrong by the Merc himself while he quickly kills off character after character while insulting the only two X-Men that Fox could afford to use (Colossus/ Negasonic Teenage Warhead). Colossus is faithfully adapted (CGI anyway) to the screen as the incredibly polite metal goliath who actually is physically sickened by Wade’s antics to the point of vomiting (even the other heroes realize that Wade isn’t for the hero business). Negasonic, on the other hand, grows to laugh at Wade’s antics although he still wants to trade names with her (as long as it ain’t ‘Captain Deadpool’). Deadpool can literally be called the perfect comic book adaptation for how much source material it brought in while still being its own isolated entry in Fox’s X-Men realm
The only issues with the flick would be weak villains who have a presence, but are easily undermined by the comedic nature of the film while trying to add some dramatic flair to the plot. Villains never really mattered in any of Deadpool’s comics anyway; the ways Wade pissed them off on the other hand, were comic gold. Sure, the plot is predictable, but with a Deadpool comic, story never really mattered; Deadpool’s actions do. He once killed the entire Marvel Universe because he wanted to rebel against the comic’s writers. This film isn’t made to have a great plot; it’s made to bring the character faithfully to the screen and deliver fans an amazing experience with Mr. Chimichanga himself. Just be warned; the film isn’t for everyone (mostly kids).
Deadpool (2016) deserves a 9 out of 10 for a faithful adaptation, a million laughs with extra cheese, a vulgar batch of psychopaths, gory action, and enough quick jokes to create what Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) did for MCU (a perfect recipe for a million pancakes; comic reference). Deadpool marks the beginning of the 2016 superhero year and it starts with a bang (easter-egg). This easily makes up for Fantastic Four (2015) and brings high hopes for Fox’s next flick, X-Men: Age of Apocalypse (2016) and a recently announced Deadpool 2 (????).
