As Meta As Meta Can Meta

Rating: 7/10 (19 February 2016)

Do you love taking the younger nerds in your life to see each new superhero movie? Of course you do! But for the love of God, do NOT take any kids to Deadpool, the most recent entry to the "X-Men" cinematic cosmos. Ryan Reynold's affectionate take on this C-level Marvel anti-hero fills a massive hole in the ubiquitous world of superhero films: fanboy fiction for proudly immature adults. A no-holds-barred, Guardians of the Galaxy-esque romp, it's gleefully violent and unabashedly debauched. Deadpool serves as proof that true passion projects are sometimes worth backing. Unfamiliar with the Deadpool character? No problem. The film catches us up to speed with some unique origin story-telling, jumping back and forth between his present crime-fighting life and his past normal life. It's a gloriously messy way to breathe some life into a clichéd story form. All the while, meta-references and in-jokes burst from every blood-splattered shot, starting with a wonderful opening credit sequence that features self-mutilating gags (i.e. referring to Ryan Reynolds as "God's Perfect Idiot"). Reynolds, a guy often overly interested frat-boy shenanigans, revels and shines in a role he was clearly born to play. And hopefully this won't be his last time donning the red-tights and foul-mouth. If done correctly, the sequels have the strong possibility of only being better than this first one, as the setup of the character can be lost to more frivolous fun. How will this strongly R-rated character get tied into the larger X-Men story without losing his bite? Not sure; for now let's just enjoy this one-shot action-comedy as a one-of-a-kind superhero experience that you've likely never experienced before.