Better than expected

Rating: 6/10 (5 March 2018)

I was in two minds about watching DEADPOOL. On the one hand, I generally enjoy modern-day superhero movies, which are very much all of a kind but have decent special effects and lots of action to see them through. They're easy viewing. On the other hand, I'm no fan of crude humour and bad language, and I knew what to expect with this one. I don't think much of Ryan Reynolds, either. I was pleased to find, then, that I enjoyed DEADPOOL quite a bit. It's not one of my favourite superhero films but as an origin story it does the job nicely and there are lots of memorable quirky moments and characters to enjoy. As a comedy, it's also a lot wittier than I was expected, and I enjoyed picking up all of the pop culture references. The crudeness did nothing for me but most of it was in the form of throaway lines so didn't matter too much. The strong supporting cast features an on-form Ed Skrein and a typically hulking Gina Carano, but Colossus was my favourite 'star' here. The CGI-augmented action scenes are well staged and the action has a nicely brutal edge. To me, this feels like a natural successor to the CRANK films, albeit better made.