Five Word Review: Massively Enjoyable, Hilarious, Subversive, Disjointed

Rating: 7/10 (28 February 2016)

Even since before the character was mercilessly ruined in 2009's forgettable 'X- Men Origins: Wolverine', Ryan Reynolds (Buried, The Voices) has been passionate about bringing cult comic-book character Deadpool to the big screen, with all his profanity, violence, political incorrectness, fourth-wall breaking, and generally un-superhero-like behaviour. So here we finally are, with unknown director Tim Miller and the writers of Zombieland leading Reynolds along with Morena Baccarin (Firefly), Ed Skrein (Game of Thrones), TJ Miller (Cloverfield) and Gina Carano (Haywire) on his honourable quest to inject some variation into the superhero film market.
Deadpool is a film that knows exactly what it is, which is evidence by the funny, tone-setting opening credits. It's far funnier than most comedies, more exciting than many superhero films, and just more plain enjoyable than most of today's cinema. Reynolds could not be more perfectly cast (other than, perhaps, H. Jon Benjamin, of Archer) in this role. Under the iconic mask his snarky, insulting tone mocks and swears, whilst his action-film-star look is highly appropriate. He even manages to lend some drama to the role. The writers - as acknowledged by the opening credits, the true heroes - have written a tight, quotable script that is bursting with one-lines that will be seen across a thousand internet comment chains for years to come. Alongside exciting action with some good violence - refreshing in increasingly kid-friendly superhero films - and glorious profanity, Deadpool is a welcome change and hopefully a gateway to more adult action films on the general market.
It's obviously not perfect: it often feels disjointed due to its (admittedly admirable) desire to showcase all its talents at once, and not all of the jokes fully land. Nevertheless, Deadpool is one of the best superhero films I've seen in a while; remarkably enjoyable and a very good watch indeed. 80/100.