Directed by: Tim Miller
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, TJ Miller, Ed Skrein
If nothing else, Deadpool is the first movie I've ever seen in which the opening credits labels the producers as "asshats" and its star as "God's Perfect Idiot." This is extreme self-deprecation which I hope does not become a trend in movies. I have heard of movies poking fun at themselves, but not beating you to the punch to tell you they're bad. I'm reminded of the 2014 Lifetime Grumpy Cat Christmas movie which all but pleaded with the viewer to change the channel and watch something more worthwhile. I know, I know, it's ironic and snarky and we're supposed to laugh, but if the filmmakers think so little of their film, what are we to think?
Deadpool is not awful. It has its moments of humor which work and Ryan Reynolds does a competent job as the forever wisecracking hero. But, the self-deprecating humor and the bludgeoning violence becomes tiresome. Deadpool tells us it is a different type of superhero movie, but still feels like one, and not necessarily the good kind. Many comic book hero movies these days have become mind-numbing. They assault the viewer with so much action, fighting, and chases that we just don't care anymore. They overpopulate the movies with so many characters that there isn't enough screen time to fit them all. The exceptions are the Captain America series and Ant-Man, which actually had stories to care about. Deadpool falls in the former category and no amount of Deadpool breaking the fourth wall can save it.
I do not see the appeal in seeing a bullet blow three baddies' brains out in succession, or cars flipping over, or bone crunching fistfights. How many sickening thuds can we hear when one guy is punching another one in the face? Blood flies everywhere. This is where Deadpool doesn't feel like a unique action film, despite its desperate attempts to make you think otherwise, but follows in lockstep with the recent trends.
Reynolds plays Wade Wilson, an ethically-challenged mercenary who falls in love with a tattooed hottie named Vanessa (Baccarin), only to have his romantic bliss interrupted by news that he has terminal cancer. He is soon approached by a government agent type who offers to help him get rid of his cancer and develop superpowers. If it sounds too good to be true, well, that's because it is. Wade agrees to the treatment, but soon finds he is injected with a mutant gene that will cure his cancer and give him superpowers, with the caveat that his body and face will be hideously scarred. Why exactly the lab rats are doing what they're doing is murky. They say they are not creating superheroes, but "super slaves" who I suppose will carry out the orders of the powers that be (whoever they are). But is torturing subjects and making them look like burn victims the best way to earn loyalty?
After the lab explodes and Wilson escapes, he goes on a mission to find the sufficiently evil head lab rat named Francis (Skrein). He designs a superhero costume that looks like Spider-Man's (if Spidey forgot to take it to the cleaners for the past year) and knocks off one baddie at a time until he finds Francis. He also wants desperately to tell Vanessa that he is alive and still loves her, but with such a hideous face, he is afraid she will reject him. This is the one time where Wilson/Deadpool stops wisecracking enough to be human. Their relationship is poignant and presents some interesting moments.
Deadpool swears more than your average superhero (although he says he is not a hero at all). That and the violence earned it an R rating, which is unusual for comic book films. Usually, movies like the Avengers like to show bad guys getting maimed and killed but in a PG-13, acceptable way. Deadpool shows brains flying out of people's heads and bad guys skewered on swords. It's gratuitously bloody. Deadpool wants to be DIFFERENT. It tells you it is. But is it really?
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