Deadpool (2016) (Movie Review)

  Up until 2016, the X-Men films were arranged in three distinct groups, the original X-Men trilogy, the “First Class” series, and the stand alone Wolverine films. With so many different characters and arguably the largest super hero universe ever created, why not branch out and give other select X-Men characters, or closely related X-Men characters their own stand alone films? Storm, Gambit, Rouge, the list goes on, and any one of them can easily hold their own in a film. Well, ask and you will receive, because it’s time for a select character from the X-Men universe to get his own film, but it still takes place within the X-Men film series. Our star for the day is none other than Deadpool, who was already taking on a life of his own as one of the great Marvel comic-book characters.  

  When this film premiered, it was a monster hit, received critical praise, is currently the highest grossing film in the series, and one of the highest grossing R ratted movie ever made. Time for a Hot Take ... I've always viewed the character of Deadpool as just okay. While even before the movie, I've always seen the unique appeal of the character, and even enjoyed him to an extent, I've just never called myself that big a fan. I've just never been one for relentlessly dirty, violent, or sexual based hummer, which are staples of the character. As such, a film adaption of Deadpool, even when done correctly, is still mainly going to register as just okay to me. That's basically how I feel about the film, as it's a real win for fans of the character who've been craving for a film, but for me, it admittedly gave me a little more then I expected ... but it's still just a serviceable comic-book offering for my liking. 

  Wade Wilson is a small time mercenary, usually hired by adolescent teens having problems with really jerky people. One night, completely out of the blue, he comes across a woman named Vanessa, who quickly wins his heart, and a relationship blooms between the two. Everything is fun and games until Wade is diagnosed with terminal cancer, and it’s kind of hard to have a long and happy relationship when you’re either dead or dying. 

Desperate for help, he goes to some back ally doctors who claim they can cure his cancer, as well as give him the added bonus of having super powers. As it turns out, these doctors are a splinter group from the Weapon X division, who's goal is to experiment and torture people in order to unlock their mutant powers, and us them as mind controlled super agents. Through a series of abuse and experiments, Wade’s mutant power of self regeneration comes to surface, curing his cancer, but the experiments left a rather damaging effect on his good looks. After he escapes, he takes the name Deadpool, vows to track down and kill every doctor that was involved in the experiments, leading up to their boss named Ajex. Bloody action ensues, his girl friend gets kidnapped, and the X-Men eventually find themselves roped into the situation when they fail to recruit Deadpool onto the team.

  I’ll say this, the film can be quiet funny at times, as well as cleaver, stylish, and very self aware of what kind of movie it is. There's a general self awareness that we “the audience” see superhero movies all the time now day’s, so it cleverly parodies all the common tropes, while making them awesome again. There's certainly a unique personality to the film, but it still fits very well within the X-Men universe. The movie is directed by Tim Miller, who was also involved in films like “Scott Pilgrim vs the World”, so he was the perfect chose to direct an outrageous action comedy of this nature. The movie also begins with one of the funniest opening credit sense ever, which certainly hooked me in at the start. The action in general is highly entertaining, with the opening freeway fight being a bright spot in the series. The cartoony, R rated violence also works very well in a film of this sort, even though it again isn't always for me. Of course, it also has those sexual innuendos and dirty references that I personally just don’t care for, and it's what keeps me from really loving this film. 

  Aside from that, while the movie has style, and some high entertainment quality, I find the plot itself to be as boring and “been done” as they get. Agree or disagree, but this unfortunately applies to the character of Deadpool himself. Whenever he’s in his costume, cracking jokes and kicking butt, it’s a real joy to watch. However, when the film cuts back to the actual origin story of Deadpool, or his love story, I just felt disinterested, and wanted more out of the film. Ryan Reynolds at least shines in the role, and it's great to see him really let loose as Deadpool, after he was so underutilized back in 2009's “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”. The girl friend Venessa is also a generic love interest, and for whatever reason, I just never felt the chemistry between she and Wade. Most of the movie hinges on their romance, and while I know it works for most fans, it just never clicked with me. It was still nice to see actress Morena Baccarin of “Firefly” fame in the role, and the performance in general is fine. I'll say this, even though the romance never grabbed me, it at least tried to convey something of substance between them.  

  The Villains are also rather boring, not just by comic book movie standards, but action movies in general. The main bad guy called Ajax is probably the most disposable villain of the entire X-Men film series. His supper power is that he can take a beating ... yeah, he doesn’t have healing powers like Deadpool or Wolverine do, and he still gets injured ... he just won’t feel the pain. That’s the big threat to challenge our hero’s, someone who can’t say “OW!” when he gets punched. He also has a very basic design and appearance, which makes him even harder to remember. He’s played by Ed Skrein, and he at least does a decent job in ... wait a second, wasn’t he in “Game of Thrones” too? Boy, these current X-Men movies just can’t go without roping in an actor from that show can they. Anyway, the secondary villain is a woman called Angle Dust, played by Gina Carano, who's a little cooler, and serves as more of a threat, with strength enough to match Colossus.    

  On that note, I love how this movie took place within the X-Men film universe. There’s a great scene when our hero’s are just sitting down, watching TV while eating breakfast, then breaking news comes on screen, they drop what they’re doing, and take off in the X-Jet, and all while exchanging some witty quips. That little moment alone just captured the spirit of the X-Men perfectly. 

It's also nice to just have these mini-adventures with select team members in between all the mega films like “Days of Future Past” and “Apocalypse”. This is the fourth X-Men movie to feature the supper strong, metal skinned team member called Colossus, but this time he's recast, with the voice supplied by Stefan Kapicic. This is the best portrayal of Colossus by far, and honestly, it’s one of the five best on screen portrayals of any of the X-Men yet. He finally had a Russian accent, I liked that he was in his metal skin form the whole time, and I absolutely loved his personality. He’s just a nice big lovable guy, and a great contrast to Deadpool’s trashy attitude. The second X-Men featured in the film is a young trainee called Negasonic Teenage Warhead, played by Brianna Hildebrand. With a colorful name like that, angst teenage character traits, and super power to create her own explosions, she’s another bright spot in the film. 

       

  At last, while I find the film okay at best ... the climax is one of my favorite battles of the whole series. Usually these final showdowns start with the X-Men taking off in the X-Jet, but this time their all squeezing in a little cab, which is hilarious, and a fun way to kick things off. We get the money shot of the team walking in a straight line, which is both awesome and funny, especially with Deadpool looking at the camera and saying “cue the awesome music”. The fight takes place in junked-up ship-yard, which is an awesome location, allowing the characters to cover a lot of ground, and destroy a lot of objects. It’s also really refreshing to have an epic final battle with simplistic stakes, and only a hand full of team members brawling. It all concludes with a one on one duel between Deadpool and Ajex, which is actually a pretty darn cool fight. Even though Ajex dose nothing for me as a character, he sure puts up a fight, and it's great stuff. Deadpool fights with his swords, Ajex fights with axes, the choreography is swift, quick, and it was a treat to see such a classy, old school fight in a superhero film.  

 

     

  This certainly isn’t a film for everyone, because if you’re not a fan of really rude, needlessly sexual, overly violent, and relentless meta humor, you should probably skip this film entirely. However, if you like extremely clever, forth wall breaking comic book satire, interjected with lots of style and charismatic performances, then "Deadpool" will entertain the living crap out of you! As for me personally ... I'm caught somewhere between the two extremes. It had its moments that both disgusted and annoyed me, plus it had a plot that was very standard. Never the less, the film can be extremely entertaining at times, it worked as an extension of the X-Men universe, and the main character can be a lot of fun, at least when he’s in costume. If you’re one of the many fans of this character, you’ll love this film, as it certainly does Deadpool justice. It’s not a film I’ll be watching again anytime soon, but for all the stuff I liked in the movie, I certainly don’t regret seeing it, and may even watch it again someday.

Thanks for reading my review of the 2016 comic-Book movie "Deadpool" ... and continue to enjoy the movies you Love!