Review of Deadpool (2016) by Simon P — 19 Oct 2016

I don't care if you're busy, have plans with your sick grandmother, have a date with your girlfriend or boyfriend, recently lost a leg in a freak breakdancing accident... Stop whatever you're doing, and go and see Deadpool.

I could leave my review there, and be happy that I've provided sound, life changing advice, but seeing as though this is a review, I probably should say a bit more.

Deadpool was an utterly superb, F-Bomb laden, wide-cracking, bombastic, thrill-ride. I think even Deadpool knows Ryan Reynolds deserves his synonymity, such was his virtuoso brilliance in the titular role. This film took a well trodden genre, and rolled the dice in a gamble which could only be described as make or break. Superhero cliches? Deadpool kerb-stomps them and uses their remains as lawn fertiliser. Such was the integrity of the character, it was as though Wade Wilson and Deadpool co-wrote the screen play themselves. Movies such as this risk becoming excuses for gratuitous violence and expletive-fests just for the sake of it. Don't get me wrong, this IS expletive-laden, and full of gratuitous violence yet somehow it creates a perfect symbiosis. If such a paradox can exist, Deadpool was it. Each F-Bomb felt as genuine as an F-Bomb can be, each decapitated head, severed limb, or broken bone seemed wholly relevant - yes, this was a ballet of gore and dialogue.

The story has been well defined by the previews, being that of an ex-mercenary (Wade Wilson) who is diagnosed with late stage cancer riddled throughout his body soon after meeting his soul-mate - a prostitute "who's crazy matches his crazy". In order to spare his love the ordeal of his inevitable decline, Wade accepts an offer from a mysterious group to cure him, only to find out their sinister reasons for doing so, and becoming horribly disfigured during the process. Wade transforms into Deadpool, and goes on a one-man revenge-fueled demolition war-path, equipped with unrelenting hilarity, brutality, and psychopathy.

SimonnnsaysDeadpool is perhaps most famously known for "breaking the fourth wall" which in comic book terms means he knows he is in a comic book, often communicates with the audience, and recognises the ridiculousness of his situations - baffling the characters around him. The movie stays true to this rare attribute (there are a couple of other characters in comic-book worlds who can do the same) and we have some brilliant moments of self-awareness littered throughout the film - many of them serve as jabs towards Ryan Reynolds' two spectacular failures in superhero garb, a creepy obsession with Hugh Jackman, the real names of actors who have portrayed characters in the films previously, X-Men's often derided confusing timeline, and members of the team who made the film... just to name a few. They will keep you going back for more, just to hear and see them all.

I really could go on forever, such was the utter perfection of this film. If Iron Man started the course of modern superhero movies, and Guardian's of the Galaxy showed they could also be comedies, Deadpool is also a unique first in that it proves you can throw the safe parameters out of the window, break all the rules, and make one spectacular superhero movie truly for adults, and break new ground with audiences taking the genre beyond children and fans.