This could have gone so
horribly wrong. A superhero movie that features a lead character that
kills people, swears, has sex and talks to the audience? Man, that
could've backfired big time, but if you want to make a Deadpool movie
that honours the source material that's just what you have to do. So
here it is: the first big budget film based on a Marvel property
that's definitely not for kids, although kids are gonna love it,
trust me.
Wade Wilson is a
mercenary, dishonourably discharged from the forces, he now sells his
services to people who want him to deal with scumbags. This is made
clear: Wade Wilson is NOT a bad person, but he likes doing bad things
to bad people – he's good at it. Essentially, Wade falls in love
and gets cancer, so much cancer that he's basically fucked eight ways
to kingdom come. A shady guy says that his organisation can cure him
and also give him powers, so what's to lose, right? Long story
(filled with pain) short, Wade gets cured, gets mutilated, gets
powers, and becomes Deadpool to get both revenge and his movie star
looks back. That's your basic plot, now add swearing, violence,
sarcasm and rude jokes. Ta daaa – Deadpool the movie.
Amazingly, it's not
actually a bad plot. It;'s simple enough to follow, and has enough
detail to make you actually care. This is helped by uniformly good
performances, including the awesomely lovely Morena Baccarin as
Wade's girlfriend. The star is, of course, Ryan Reynolds, who you
would think was born to play this character. His previous disastrous
appearance as Deadpool in Wolverine: Origins is quite rightly mocked
a couple of times, as is Wolverine himself. The origin story is told
in flashbacks rather than in a linear fashion, and it does a good job
of spacing out the incredibly well shot violence as Deadpool tracks
down the man who cured/maimed him/made him immortal. This a film that
looks GOOD. We even get a couple of X-Men thrown in, with a totally
CGI Colossus and dwarf Sinead O'Connor called Negatonic Teenage
Warhead. At the X Mansion, Deadpool quips that it's almost as if the
producers couldn't afford any other X-Men.
Like many fans
(although not of all his comics) I was looking forward to this and
also dreading a massive clusterfuck as a frightened studio
backpedalled away from everything that makes Deadpool Deadpool. Let
me assure you that no such thing has happened, and it really is like
watching a live action version of the best of the comics. Deadpool
tells the audience that it's a love story, and at heart this is
totally true, but love really does hurt (mostly other people). It
will make you laugh out loud many times, and I can say with sincerity
that people who have never heard of Deadpool can still enjoy it for
the sheer amount of silliness packed in. Remember, though, they also
have to like violence and profanity so choose your date wisely.
Deadpool has quickly
inserted itself at the top of my favourite Marvel movies tree
(although it is made by Fox). It's up there with Guardians Of The
Galaxy for action packed fun, and a real shot in the arm for the
genre after the limp cumrag that was Fantastic Four. It's juvenile
for the most part, and over the top throughout, but there's going to
be a sizeable audience out there for it, I'm sure. Oh, and don't
forget to stay for the post credits scenes, y'hear?
