Wild, irreverently funny and unique. Don't miss "Deadpool"!

Rating: 10/10 (14 February 2016)

Sometimes a movie's very first scene perfectly sets the tone – and serves notice that you're about to have a unique cinematic experience. Allow me to illustrate by describing the opening sequence to the big-screen adaptation of Marvel Comics' "Deadpool" (R, 1:48). We see a single moment frozen in time – the inside of an SUV as it flips over on a busy highway. In slow motion, the camera travels through the vehicle documenting the precarious (and humorous) positions of various bad guys who have gone airborne because of the crash. As we journey through this increasingly bizarre montage, the only sound we hear is Juice Newton's 1981 hit song "Angel of the Morning". We also see the movie's opening credits – not names, but tongue-in-cheek references to the actors and filmmakers, employing phrases like "The British Villain", "The Comic Relief" and "Overpaid Hack". Wild. Irreverently funny. Unique.
Before he was the violent, wise-cracking anti-superhero Deadpool, Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) was just a violent, wise-cracking neighborhood tough guy for hire. (He's the kind of person you'd go to if you wanted to intimidate someone else into doing something for you – or just leave you alone.) Wade seems to have only one friend, a bartender called Weasel (T.J. Miller) until Wade meets hooker/waitress Vanessa (Morena Baccarin). They each have an acerbic wit, an irreverent personality and a messy life. In other words, they're perfect together. They fall in love, start living together and even discuss marriage. It seems like they're each as happy as they've ever been before until the other shoe drops. Wade suddenly falls ill and is diagnosed with cancer, which has taken hold in different parts of his body.
A mysterious "recruiter" meets Wade at Weasel's bar and tells Wade that he can cure that cancer – and make him better than he was before. With no other options, Wade enters a secretive and ominous-looking facility where he is subjected to torturous pseudo-medical treatments designed to force his body to mutate. Wade emerges cancer-free, and with impressive strength and athletic abilities, as well as the ability to rapidly self-heal, but also with a face which Weasel says looks like "a topographical map of Utah" among other things. To hide his disfigurement, Wade makes himself a red and black suit and mask and adopts the name Deadpool, after the dead pool that Weasel runs for the patrons at his bar.
Deadpool may look and move like a superhero, but the man behind the mask rejects that label. He's an anti-hero on a mission. Deadpool is out to find Ajax (Ed Skrein), the man who, along with his assistant, Angel Dust (Gina Carano), ruined Wade's good looks – and force Ajax to fix what he messed up. With a decidedly anti-superhero attitude, Deadpool (gruesomely) kills anyone who comes after him and tries to stop him. Two other mutants (a large metallic man and a teenager who can release powerful bursts of energy from her body) try to get Deadpool to join them and their fellow X-Men. No dice. Deadpool is a solo act – only interested in getting his complexion fixed so he can reunite with Vanessa and (besides Weasel) only associating with his old lady roommate, Blind Al (Leslie Uggams).
"Deadpool" is not your father's superhero movie (or your son's, for that matter). As much as we all enjoy a good superhero flick, the whole R-rated anti-hero/superhero thing is a refreshing change of pace. The script (by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick) is witty, hilariously self-referential, and the conceit of Deadpool breaking the fourth wall works surprisingly well. Under the guidance of visual effects guy – turned director (FIRST TIME feature director - !) Tim Miller, we get some great action sequences and visuals (despite the production's incredible shrinking budget), a story that's fairly simple and easy to follow (despite its non-linear presentation) and a main character that's faithful to the source material.
Although you may have your doubts just reading through the list of actors in this film, it's actually perfectly cast. Skrein and Carano make a great villain and henchman (henchwoman), respectively, Miller is a terrific weasley friend, it's wonderful to see Uggams back on screen (especially since I kinda thought she had died) and Brianna Hildebrand (as Negasonic Teenage Warhead) as well as Stefan Kapičić / Andre Tricoteux / Greg LaSalle (who, respectively, provided the voice, body motion-capture performance and facial motion-capture performance for Colossus) brought a lot to their mutant roles and left me wanting more. Maybe most surprising of all, Baccarin made me forget her many famous well-dressed small-screen characters, like the stressed-out former POW's wife in "Homeland" and the devious otherworldly leader, Anna, in "V". Then, of course, there's our star. Reynolds plays his character like a combination of Bill Murray (in "Ghostbusters" or "Groundhog Day"), Daniel Craig (in "Casino Royale") and Bruce Willis (not as the incredulous superhero in "Unbreakable", but more like his heroic but mortal somewhat heroic anti-heroes in "Die Hard" and "Hudson Hawk"). That all may sound like kind of a mess, but the sensibilities of those characters joined with Reynold's natural charm make for a winning combination.
But don't just take my word for it. Let the data be your guide. This film started breaking box office records (albeit very specific and obscure records) as early as its Thursday night previews and Friday opening day. Still not convinced? Here's an idea – see the movie! Even if you don't like it, at least you'll know what everyone else is talking about. You'll also be ready if you get dragged to the sequel, which Reynolds/Deadpool announces in a post-credits scene. Of course, no one can guarantee you'll like "Deadpool". After all, it's "only" a superhero flick and it isn't exactly Oscar material, but I, for one, can't remember the last time I had so much fun at a movie. And, after all, isn't that the point? "A+"