Films > Film Reviews

Deadpool

13/02/16

For the uninitiated, Deadpool is a character ripped from the pages of 90s X-men comic books. Created in an era when it was OK not be able to draw feet (or anatomy in general, Rob Liefeld, I'm looking at you), Deadpool has had a curious genesis both on the page, and the big screen. Initially portrayed in the first Wolverine movie by Ryan Reynolds, it was clear that he was born to play the role of Wade Wilson, the ‘Merc. with the mouth’. What the creators of that first movie did with the character by the end of it, however, was inexcusable. Go watch it for yourself if you haven't already. You'll thank me, even if it’s just because you'll get some of the jokes in this new movie because of it. And it’s got a mutant douchebag Will. I.Am in it too.

Cue years of internet trolling, crusading, leaked test footage, and a very unabashed, smart, advertising campaign by fanboys, creators, and Reynolds himself, and we get what we have today. A true Deadpool work of art, which if I'm honest, would probably be a giant turd, curled up and haloed by unicorns riding on rainbows, with dildo shaped sprinkles on top.

From the moment the movie starts, you know this isn't quite your average superhero movie (the 15 certificate should be a dead giveaway) and a gag filled opening credit sequence leads to an origin story told in flashbacks, cut into an intense opening fight sequence, often with our lead character breaking the 4th (and sometimes 16th) wall to further the narrative and make sure us cock-gobblers know what the f*** is going on. It ties in nicely with the current X-Men mythos without getting bogged down in what has become an increasingly messy X-universe. Bryan Singer, please take note, this is how you make an entertaining movie about Marvel’s mutants, not the po-faced arse-drag you took to squirting out a couple of years ago.

Believe the hype. It is a naff Hollywood love story. With anal sex jokes. It is an average superhero origin story, replete with requisite bar-tender confidant, perfectly played by the ever abrasive but always enjoyable T.J. Miller. With fart gags. It is a cliched ‘boy saves girl’ from the bad guys story. With multiple gun-shot wounds to the head, torso, and butt. All to the tune of Careless Whisper (which, if I was being a total movie/music nerd, I would point out to all concerned was technically performed by George Michael, NOT Wham! even though it appeared on Wham!’s Make it Big album).Yes, we have the stereotypical, one dimensional, British-accented villain, with no real motivation other than being an ass-hat, involved in a standard, final, epic confrontation with our hero, whilst destruction reigns all around. Yes, the positive female lead has been reduced to wearing stockings and suspenders by this point and needing to be saved by our hero. But the hero has a face that looks like a scrotum, and has a tendency to leave most of his weaponry in a taxi just before the big face-off. And besides, at the same time, we do get Sinead O’Connor going nuclear to lend a hand. And Colossus getting punched in his shiny metal balls. 

Despite its crass dick joke humour (which is always funny, and never feels forced or inappropriate) and it’s ultra violence (which is consistently fun, well choreographed, and brutally disturbing at the same time), Deadpool may turn out to be one of the most immediate superhero movies to be made in recent years. Ironically, I wonder if Deadpool’s purposeful irreverence, profanity, and down-right cheekiness might actually make the superhero genre accessible to an even wider audience. In a year when lots of critics are talking superhero saturation, and, if, crucially, it is a financial success, I think we might expect a return to a more adult orientated superhero movie, though I’d love to see a purposeful, hilariously censored/edited, PG certificate version as an extra for the DVD release. Remember how good we thought the first Blade movie was? No? Because you’re too young to have seen it? Then do yourself a favor and start remembering by watching it in the first place... and then maybe Blade II too. (But make sure that those movies don’t influence the colour choice of your wardrobe to monochromatic only).

After Deadpool, I think a lot more people might be prepared to put up their tiny, regenerating hand and say ‘I like superhero movies’ after all. And that’s a good thing. Right?