Photo: 20th Century Fox
Hilarious and unapologetically dumb, Deadpool is 100 minutes of superhero dick and fart jokes with a side of real heart
When you have a marketing campaign as extensive as the one Fox mounted for Deadpool, there’s a general fear that the quality of the film might be a bit suspect.
While the campaign was certainly meant to acclimate audiences to a character that’s largely unknown outside of geek circles, it’s clear this was also an opportunity for Ryan Reynolds to sell a more faithful portrayal of a character he already played in 2009’s awful X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
Luckily for him, and for us, Deadpool is exactly the film it should be, and while the finished product feels cheap and at times uneven, it’s fun enough to forgive even it’s most egregious flaws, which to be honest, really don’t matter, because this is not a film that aspires to be anything more than what it is, which is simply a good time.
Because of the smaller scope, Deadpool rises and falls on the shoulders of Reynolds, as he is the only fully fleshed out character, so if he wasn’t believable, the entire production would crumble under his feet, which is something Reynolds is clearly aware of.
It’s this awareness that makes Reynolds into something he hasn’t been in recent films, totally likable.
The affinity and passion that brought Deadpool to screens in the first place shows up in Reynolds’ performance, and so no matter what is or isn’t happening with the plot, it doesn’t matter because we’re having enough fun with Deadpool to care about things such as stock villains or a slightly schizophrenic storyline.
As much as Reynolds clearly loves Deadpool, the success of the film is truly a collaborative effort, with first time director Tim Miller embracing the crazy by not taking the character and shaping him into something different to accommodate studio whims.
(Photo) 20th Century Fox
The Deadpool you see in this film is pretty much what exists in comic form, and for a character largely unknown, that’s a pretty significant achievement in the midst of comic book characters being watered down to “be more believable”.
The trade off in making the film you want to make is a reduced budget, and with the limited sets, it’s easy to see where the money was spent, and where it wasn’t.
While some might nitpick the fact that the two major fight scenes take place on a bridge and in a junkyard, it’s not so bad once you accept that Reynolds is the reason Deadpool matters, and his performance makes up for the forced frugality.
Now just because Reynolds is the focal point, it doesn’t mean there aren’t other performances worth noting.
So much of Deadpool is rooted in comedy, and outside of Reynolds cracking wise at every opportunity, his interaction with his best friend and bartender Weasel (TJ Miller) is exactly what it needs to be, and the way the two bounce off one another helps to round out the comedy, even giving Reynolds the opportunity to play straight man in a film where he is the Joker.
Beyond all the bullets, bloodshed and wisecracking, Deadpool sports a very big…heart. The chemistry between Reynolds and Morena Baccarin (Homeland) as his whore-with-a-heart-of-gold girlfriend Vanessa is undeniable, and while every hero has a girl pining for him back home, Vanessa is presented more as a partner-in-crime than a damsel in distress (something referred to in the movie, which is chockfull of self-referential snark).
Everything about their relationship makes sense, and gives viewers a plausible path between Wade Wilson and Deadpool.
But with the good does come some bad. Leslie Uggams is a little wasted as Deadpool’s roommate/hostage Blind Al. What scenes she does have are enjoyable, but if a little more time was spent on the establishment of that relationship amongst the many flashbacks, it would’ve been a huge positive.
Also slightly wasted are the X-Men who appear in the film, Colossus (Stefan Kapičić) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) who appear in the film largely to tie Deadpool to the larger X-Men universe, but little else beyond that. Hildebrand does deliver a couple decent lines, but she’s largely in the film to show off her powers in the climactic set piece.
As for Colossus, he pretty much exists for a series of sight gags, but both of those gags are pretty hilarious, even if it presents him as a dorky boy scout who ends up the butt of pretty much every joke he’s featured in.
The villains of the film don’t fare much better. Ed Skrein (The Transporter Refueled) plays the two-dimensional villain Ajax/Francis as well as the material allows him to without constantly twirling a mustache, but the reality is that he could’ve been anyone and the effect would’ve been the same.
He spends the film as a virtual pincushion for Deadpool, and since his mutant power is not being able to feel any pain, there’s zero stakes involved.
Gina Carano (Haywire) has been appearing in films since 2009, and she still can’t act her way out of a paper bag. The filmmakers were smart to have her speak as little as possible, but even her expressions end up one-note so often, save for a huge payoff scene between her and Colossus that is both hilarious and makes her seem like a human being for five seconds, which I won’t spoil here.
For all the good and bad performance wise, Deadpool sports what is hands down the best Stan Lee cameo to date. It’s almost worth the price of admission alone.
If there’s something that could’ve been handled a bit differently in Deadpool, it would have to be the transition from Wade Wilson to Deadpool. So much of the film is meta and breaks the fourth wall, which is a trademark of the character and his insanity, but the thing that’s missing is showing us how Wilson’s torture and disfigurement leads him to the level of crazy where he can actually ‘see’ the audience who’s watching him.
Instead we get the idea that Wilson has always been crazy, and his torture didn’t provide a psychotic break, but rather a simple thirst for revenge. I would’ve liked more psycho, personally.
That said, Deadpool is every bit the ‘Little Engine That Could’ that it should be. This is a film that you want to cheer for, because it successfully breaks the mold of what a Superhero movie should be. It’s more self-assured and fantastical than the Kick-Ass movies that had to be grounded in reality, but takes itself far less seriously than any of the Marvel movies from Fox have to this point.
It’s because of that fact that I can say, without hesitation, that while Deadpool may not be the best X-Men film to come down the pike, it’s by far the most enjoyable. If Fox wants to truly compete with Marvel Studios, control of the X-Men franchise should be taken away from Bryan Singer and given to Tim Miller and writers Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese (Zombieland).
In the end, the real winner, outside of the audience, is Ryan Reynolds. For an actor never taken too seriously, he’s found his Wolverine. After nearly 13 years of trying to get Deadpool in theaters, this labor of love makes up for his previous mistakes in the genre, and gives him a platform to skewer himself while absolving himself of those cinematic sins in front of the same audiences who threw him so much shade for Blade Trinity, X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Green Lantern.
Let’s just hope audiences forgive him enough at the box office enough that we get more Deadpool and soon. He’s earned it.
Hashim R. Hathaway (Uncle Shimbo) is the host of the Never Daunted Radio Network, and proud father to NeverDaunted.Net. You can reach him on Twitter @NeverDauntedNet