A good start with room to improve

Rating: 7/10 (24 February 2016)

Marvel has earned the right to take some chances when it comes to it's cinematic universe, and while Deadpool does not fall into that just being able to put a marvel logo in front of your movie goes a long way. Deadpool is more related to the X-Men universe, a universe that seems less fit for the merc with a mouth but none the less it is where his story resides. Deadpool brings some adult comic relief to comic book movies that is not necessarily the first of its kind, but definitely the first to take it this far.
First the good things, right off the bat I will mention that this movie has earned its R rating which for a Deadpool movie is almost necessarily a must. This was the right choice for so many reasons namely the violence and the dirty words laden through this movie. It's nice to see what may actually happen to an unlucky civilian if they were toy get into the crossfire with one of these superheros. Ryan Reynolds is perfect for this role and we all knew it since X-Men Origins. His comedic style fits the role perfectly and it's always nice when an actor really throws himself fully behind a character the way Reynolds has done here. The story is surprisingly well paces mixing back story with action sequences in a creative way. Unlike most if not all other comic book movies the humor in Deadpool has no cheese ball factor. Not every joke is a home run but most of it fits the characters. Another problem comic book movies have is too much back story/personal stories interfering with the main plot of the story. They may add some light to these characters but ultimately bog down these movies. Deadpool pays its service and gives him a reason to go on his quest, without spending more time than needed.
I do have some problems with the movie, none of which ruin the movie, but if some were not there it would have been a much better movie. While Ryan Reynolds is perfect in his role, I thought he was almost underutilized. The character was without a doubt written with him in mind, but I think the writers tried too hard to make the Deadpool fit Ryan Reynolds rather than letting him fit into Deadpool. The movie also sort of teases us at the beginning. The opening is so different than anything in any comic book movie to date and gives hope that not only will the comic book movie genre get lampooned a bit, but also that Deadpool will be different than all of these movies. As the movie goes on though that seems to fall away and we almost get left with a basic comic book movie plot in the end. This genre has been so flooded in the last few years, it can feel like I am watching the same story unfold over and over again and I had hopes that Deadpool would avoid this structure.
Overall Deadpool is a great deal of fun for anyone who is a fan of the genre but has been getting bored with the same 7 characters being re booted and re made. Deadpool took some of what Guardians of the Galaxy had going for it, new characters, solid well thought out comedy and a sheer passion to make the movie happen. You can tell that even while there seems to have been some slight interference from the studio, Deadpool seems to be almost a passion project for some people involved and that always shows through. A truly enjoyable movie for any comic book fan of legal age that is.