Reynolds was meant to play Deadpool, and Deadpool was meant to have his own film this good.
Comic books coming to the big screen are nothing new. In fact, they’re just about as common as any other genre these days, with Marvel being at the forefront. And while you probably won’t see him joining the Avengers in an expanded universe any time soon, the important thing for fans of the “Merc with a Mouth” is that he finally got the film he deserved. And it is nearly perfect.
The marketing for Deadpool has been hilarious, so much so that we would not doubt if Ryan Reynolds was in charge of it all himself, as he seems to know exactly what he is doing with this movie and the titular character. If you haven’t seen any of the great marketing ads, you really are missing out, since they are so spectacular and hilarious.
Created by Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza, Deadpool’s first appeared in The New Mutants in 1991. The character evolved over time from villain to antihero, to sort of kind of being a hero in his own right, depending on your own definition of what it means to be a hero, per se.
Since his debut in comics, Deadpool has become a fan favorite for his absurd antics, random shenanigans, and constantly breaking the fourth wall (meaning he recognizes he is in a comic book and a fictional character) in multiple animated series, video game appearances, and Wolverine Origins (ugh).
Perhaps his most recognizable trait, his lack of sanity, stems from his origins whereas Wade Wilson, later known as Deadpool, was subject to human experimentation leaving Wade horribly disfigured (described as Freddy Krueger f*cked a topographical map of Utah), and thus losing his mind through the experiments. His powers are not unlike Wolverine, in that Wade has an incredibly fast-acting healing factor and unparalleled combat skills. In fact, Deadpool’s healing factor is so intense, it has even been demonstrated to re-attach and heal Wade after decapitation.
Of course, Wade Wilson appeared in the 2009 X-Men Origins film, much to wide critical backlash, specifically for the Deadpool character, among many other cinematic blunders. In that film, Wade Wilson was subject to experimentation where multiple mutant powers were combined into Wade’s body, even including Adamantium blades in each arm. For whatever reason, the writers and or producers thought it necessary to literally sew his mouth shut and remove the “Merc with a Mouth” phrase from the character entirely. We all saw the movie, we were all disappointed. Let’s move on.
We try not to remember anything about this movie after this scene.
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This time around, we get a far more accurate origin story featuring Wade Wilson, a mercenary for hire who is diagnosed with a terminally ill disease leading Wade to no other option other than volunteering for a program that promises him a cure to his disease, and super soldier-like powers. In the process, Wade is betrayed and horribly disfigured and sets out for revenge against those who wronged him, particularly the mutants known as Ajax (Ed Skrein) and his partner Angel Dust (Gina Carano).
Along the way, Wade, now Deadpool, is constantly followed and pressured into joining the X-Men by Colossus (Stefan Kapičić), much to Deadpool’s dismay and frequent irritation. Along side Colossus is Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) an angsty teenager with incredible mutant power. The three of them are constantly bickering and bantering with one another, most often during heated gun battles, with Deadpool irritating Colossus with his “language” and desire to kill everyone and everything in his way to obtaining vengeance.
You don’t want to be the guy that pressures her into prom sex.
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Now, this is a spoiler-free review, so there will be little in the ways of specifics regarding plot or cameos, but what I can tell you as a huge Deadpool fan (I am wearing a Deadpool t-shirt as I write this), Deadpool is damn near perfect. If Hugh Jackman was born to play Wolverine, Ryan Reynolds was born to play Deadpool. In my humble opinion, there is no other actor to date that could have pulled off the role of Wade Wilson/Deadpool like Ryan Reynolds. The quick-witted one-liners, the snappy, clever expressions, the timing of the jokes, were all so well done, it would be hard for me to find a single issue with the delivery, even watching the movie and trying to find something I did not like. And I liked– loved it all. Every minute.
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From the breaking of the fourth wall, the nods to X-Men, Spider-Man, DC comics, Hello Kitty, and that “snikt” guy, writers Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese could not have captured the character more perfectly. I may even go so far as to say that this is quite possibly the best comic book character adaptation I have ever seen. It was as if they literally ripped the character from the comic book pages, and let him run amok on the streets blowing things up and cutting bad guys in half. I laughed until I cried, I was on the edge of my seat with excitement of what would happen next, and I was thoroughly pleased with the origin story and the small tidbits of romance here and there. I would have liked to see a little more of Negasonic, but since this movie is about Deadpool, you won’t mind seeing her pop in and pop out every once in a while.
Betty White was born 94 years ago today. Some time later, this movie got made. Coincidence? #deadpool pic.twitter.com/K0btUKOQbW
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) January 17, 2016
https://twitter.com/VancityReynolds/status/688504017949974528
#deadpool – shameless Bachelor-bating tv spot. pic.twitter.com/ZCOIq1haJH
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) January 5, 2016
When Deadpool comes out on Friday, Feb 12 you better believe I will be in the theater opening night, through closing box office weekend. Fan of comic books or not, there is plenty of humor, gore, and gratuitous violence to make this your most refreshing experience at the movies for quite some time.
Directed by Tim Miller, starring Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, Ed Skrein, T. J. Miller, Gina Caranom, and Brianna Hildebrand.
Big thanks to our internet brethren over at SoCalThrills for the invite to the screening. Expect to see more collaborative efforts between our two sites in the future!
