Right, OK time for another new review on this blog and the subject up for review is the acclaimed superhero (or is anti-hero??) film, Deadpool, which got massive rave reviews on its release. But is it really that good???? Well, let's take a look....
Oh and the usual warning is coming....
SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!
STORY
So the story kicks off with its main character, Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) who is a former special forces operative now working as a mercenary, who meets an escort named Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) and they soon become involved in a relationship. A year later however just as Wade proposes to Vanessa, he discovers that he has lung, liver, prostate and brain cancer, which forces him to make the tough choice to leave Vanessa to spare her watch him waste away.
Wade however around the same time has a meeting with a recruiter for a covert organisation, who claims that they can cure Wade of his cancer and give him special abilities to which Wade agrees to undergo their treatments. Wade is then taken to a remote laboratory where he meets Ajax (Ed Skrein) and Angel Dust (Gina Carano) whom Wade takes an instant disliking to and Ajax soon subjects Wade to torture as he injects him with a mutation serum and uses torture methods to try and activate it.
When Ajax's methods fail to wok, he finally places Wade in an oxygen chamber to suffocate him, which finally unleashes the mutant gene in him as it causes Wade to gain the ability of accelerated healing but he also finds it has left him disfigured. Wade manages to escape the chamber and he fights with Ajax impales him with a bar, but thanks Wade's new healing ability he is able to remove the bar and escape.
Wade then returns back to his home ground where he attempts to approach Vanessa but stops himself from doing so as he is afraid to let her see him like the way he is. Wade then get's the help of his best friend, Weasel (T.J Miller) in order to track down Ajax in the hope that he can fix Wade's disfigurement. And its from here Wade decides to adopt a mask and become a vigilante named "Deadpool" as he takes to the streets and ruthlessly tracks down any lead he can to try and find Ajax.....
THOUGHTS
As a Marvel comic book film, Deadpool certainly is a real departure from the standard PG-13/12 rated content that are used to seeing as here things are far more gritty, sexual, violent and not mention profane. However at the same time, Deadpool also manages to be funnier than pretty much all the Marvel films put together and it does a great job at poking fun at the Marvel universe itself as the character of Deadpool himself breaks the fourth wall continually and makes plenty of fun quips at just about everything! So basically Deadpool is a great deal of fun (albeit pretty violent fun).
PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section contains spoilers and strong language!)
Moving onto the performances well they are pretty good all around it has to be said.
And to start off there is of course the film's star Ryan Reynolds, who is hilarious in his dual role as Wade Wilson/Deadpool, a former mercenary who turns into a superhero, or rather super antihero, who is out for revenge after he is left disfigured when he is given treatments that leave him with super regenerative powers.
Reynolds has numerous highlights in the film but I simply can't mention them all because this review would never end! So suffice to say I will restrict myself to only a few and for starters I will mention the scene where Deadpool shows up at the X-Men mansion to recruit the help of Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (yep cool name as Deadpool says himself!).
And in the scene Deadpool quips to Colossus "Yeah, it's me, Deadpool, and I got an offer that you can't refuse. I'm gonna wait out here, okay? It's a big house. It's funny that I only ever see two of you. It's almost like the studio couldn't afford another X-Man!".
Another good scene is when Deadpool is about to kill Ajax but he is stopped by Colossus who ends up nearly knocking him out and dragging him back to see Professor Xavier and Deadpool asks " McAvoy or Stewart? These timelines can get so confusing!". And in an effor to escape Colossus's clutches, Deadpool cuts off his own hand and drops into a passing truck below, leaving Colossus with Deadpool's severed hand, which has the middle finger pointed right at him!
Then there is the scene where Deadpool drives with Colossus and NTW (the teenage mutant girl's name for short!) in a taxi, which happens to be the driven by the same cab driver, who picked up Deadpool at the start of the film. And in the scene the driver tells Deadpool that he has kidnapped his ex-girlfriend's rival and new boyfriend to her.
And in the scene the driver, Dopinder says "My romantic rival, Bandhu. He's tied up in the trunk. I'm doing as you said, DP. I plan to gut him like a polluted fish, then dump his carcass on Gita's doorstep!". And Deadpool feigns outrage and shouts "I did not tell him to do that! Absolutely not! It got lost in translation. Dopinder this is No way to win Gita's heart back!" but then he whispers to Dopinder "I'm so proud of you". And Deadpool says loudly "Drop Bandhu off, safe and gentle-like!" and he whispers to Dopinder "Kill him" and he says again loudly "And then win Gita back the old-fashioned way with your boyish charm!" and he whispers to Dopinder "Kidnap her".
Oh, and just as a warning: the next two scenes I will mention are the last and contain SPOILERS!
First up, there is the scene Deadpool where fights with Ajax ontop of a building but as it collapses he pushes the oxygen chamber that Vanessa was trapped in off the edge of the roof (sealing her in to keep her safe) and he shouts "MAXIMUM EFFORT!". And later as Deadpool finds an injured Ajax he forces him to tell him how he can be cured but Ajax reveals there is no treatment for Deadpool's disfigurement. And as Deadpool is about to kill Ajax, Colossus pleads with him not to and gives a passionate speech but it goes on too long for Deadpool who shoots Ajax dead, causing Colossus to vomit. And Colossus shouts "Really?! Was that necessary??!!" and Deadpool says "You were droning on!".
And last of all there is the film's final post credit scene where Deadpool does a piss-take of the last scene of "Ferrie Bueller's Day Off" as he says to camera "You're still here? It's over. Go home! Oh, you're expecting a teaser for Deadpool 2. Well, we don't have that kind of money. What are you expecting, Sam Jackson show up with an eyepatch and a saucy little leather number? Go, go!".
And as he is about to leave, he comes back and says to the audience "Oh, but I can tell you one thing and it's a bit of a secret. In the sequel, we're gonna have Cable. Amazing character. Bionic arm, time travel. We have no idea who we're gonna cast yet but it could be anybody. We just need a big guy with a flat top. Could be Mel Gibson, Dolph Lundgren, Keira Knightley, she's got range, who knows? Anyway, big secret, ssshhhh. Oh and don't leave your garbage all lying around. It's a total dick move. Go!".
As for the other performances:
Morena Baccarin is pretty good (and mighty pretty too!) as Vanessa, Wade/Deadpool's girlfriend, who he is trying to win back after his disfigurement.
And Morena has quite a few good scenes but to save this post from being much longer than it should be I will mention just one scene for her and its the one near the end where Vanessa is reuinted with Deadpool/Wade and she removes his mask. And Vanessa looks a bit surprised as Deadpool's disfigured face but she smiles and says "After a brief adjustment period and a bunch of drinks, it's a face... I'd be happy to sit on!".
Ed Skrein is also very good in his role as the villainous, Ajax, who tortures Wade and unleashes his mutation but eventually sees Wade become Deadpool, who is hellbent on getting revenge.
And Skrein also has some good scenes but I will only mention a couple, the first being when Ajax places Wade in the oxygen chamber. And Ajax says to him "You know the funniest part of this? You still think we're making you a superhero. You. A dishonorable discharge. Hip-deep in hookers. You're nothing. Little secret, Wade. This workshop doesn't make superheroes, we make super-slaves. We're gonna fit you with a control collar and auction you off to the highest bidder. Who know what they'll have you doing? Terrorizing citizens, putting down freedom fighters. Maybe just now the occasional lawn!".
And lastly there is the scene where Ajax and Deadpool fight near the end of the film and Deadpool says to him "I hope they blocked pain to your every last nerve 'cause I'ma go lookin'!" and Ajax says to him "You grow back body parts now, Wade? When I'm finished, parts will have to grow back you!".
T.J. Miller also has some funny moments as Wade's best friend, Weasel, who runs the bar Wade hangs out in where the regulars all fight each other and places bets as they put on a "deadpool" to see who might get killed as a result.
And I will mention only one of Miller's scenes, which is the one where Wade comes back to see Weasel after he has been disfigured, much to Weasel's shock. And Weasel says to Wade re: Ajax "That douchebag thinks you're dead right?" and Wade says "Yeah" and Weasel says "Good, you should keep it that way". And Wade suggests "What, like, wear a mask?" and Weasel says "Yes. A very thick mask. All the time. I am sorry... you are haunting. Your face is the stuff of nightmares!" and Wade offers "Like a testicle with teeth!".
Stefan Kapicic and Brianna Hildebrand are also good in their role as Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead and they make a good duo and its even highlighted by Deadpool rather amusingly that they are the only two X-Men (or X-Man and X-Girl) that he could recruit out of the whole Xavier mansion!
And the two of them share a good scene where Colossus groans about how he has repeatedly tried to recruit Deadpool as an X-Man. And Colossus says to NTW "I've given Deadpool every chance to join us but he'd rather act like a child. A heavily armed child. When will he grow up and see benefits of becoming an X-Man?!". And NTW says "Which benefits? The matching unitards? The house that blows up every few years?!" and Colossus says " Please. House blowing up builds character!".
Gina Carano also does well with the role she is given as Angel Dust, Ajax's rather firey and moody partner. Carano also has one funny scene where Angel fights with Colossus but her chest pops out at one moment and Colossus stops the fight and looks away telling her, and she suddenly says "Oh, that's so sweet of you!" before she pops herself back "in" and they resume fighting!
And last of all Leslie Uggams is great in her role as Al, the blind woman, whom Deadpool shares an apartment with although I was almost certain that it was Nichelle Nichols that was playing the role as the woman looks the dead spit of her!
DIRECTOR AND MUSIC
As for the director, or rather as the credits would have it "an over-paid tool!" Tim Miller does a great job here and he proves to be more than capable of directing the film's action and keeping the pacing of the film tight throughout so the film never really lags at any time. The film also has plenty of eye catching visuals and its comic book intro title sequence is also pretty good. This was also Miller's directorial debut so this makes his efforts here that bit even more impressive as its one heck of a way to start your filmmaking career.
And as for the music score by Tom Holkenborg....well to my embarrassment I would have to say I really can't remember much of it(!) so I can't really quite comment and say if it was great or not but I'm fairly sure it would fit the film's tone and purpose pretty well. (Sorry Tom!).
FLAWS
As for the film's flaws....well yeah, Deadpool has only minor flaws if any at all as its actually one of those clever self-aware superhero films that knows just what to poke fun at and it hits its mark in doing just that and by doing that it manages to cancel most of its own flaws out!
However perhaps if there are any flaws with the film perhaps it boils down to Deadpool himself and that as a character he really treads a fine line between being likeable but also a bit loathsome aswell. And there is only one scene that bugged me about Deadpool and that was the scene where he secretly instructed the taxi driver to kidnap his ex-lover's boyfriend and kill him.
And this is where Deadpool crosses the line a bit here from being a badass anti-hero back into being a bit of a cold mercenary. Sure the scene is played for laughs and it is funny but its just about the only scene that left me a bit uncomfortable about Deadpool's motives.
Any other things that might be worth niggling might include the fight scene near the start where Deadpool has only two guns with six bullets each left to use to kill Ajax's men yet there are plenty of machine guns lying around from the men Deadpool has already killed that he easily could have picked up and used instead!
And lastly there is also the scene where Deadpool shows up to rescue Vanessa but he forgets to bring the shitload of guns with him that Weasel helped him put together. Now that really is pretty daft and rather absent minded for a superhero (or antihero!) don't you think??? I mean the guy is going out to take down his nemesis and his army of henchmen, yet he forgets to pick up his cache of guns?!! What a douche!
Anyway that's it for the flaws.
SUM UP
So to sum up, Deadpool is a highly entertaining superhero action film, which even despite its more violent and foul-mouthed tone than what we are used to seeing from the Marvel films, its still great fun. And it even manages to feature an antihero figure in Deadpool, which despite all his moral greyness and somewhat annoying cocky self-awareness, he is still somewhat strangely likeable and his character is brilliantly brought to life by Ryan Reynolds who is great in the role.
And even though Deadpool is a pretty violent film (and it sure is at that!) at least its a film that is fun and isn't mean spirited and disturbing to watch like Kick-Ass was, which was a film that left me very cold. But here Deadpool is all about having a fun time watching a film that is filled with witty characters dishing out plenty of witty lines and banter, not to mention alot of shooting bad guys in the process!
And if you like superhero films and you haven't seen Deadpool yet, I definitely would recommend giving it a go.
Right! So that's it for now and I'll be back soon with another post quite soon (possibly another revisited one).
So till then its bye fer now!
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