A superhero movie unlike any other.

Rating: 10/10 (15 March 2016)

When it comes to The Merc with a Mouth, I never read a single one of his comic when I was younger nor did I ever seen Deadpool's first cinematic outing in X-Men Origins: Wolverine so when I heard a Deadpool movie was being made, my interest was peaked so I went to my local theater in February of 2016, watched the movie and I absolutely loved it. From its great writing and humor and awesome action scenes to its brilliant casting, Deadpool is a truly awesome comic book movie that is never afraid to take advantage of its off-the-wall craziness and meta humor and use them to its advantage rather than go dark and gritty.
The film begins with an action scene with Deadpool in action and then cuts back to two years before where Wade Wilson, a mercenary for hire meets a prostitute named Vanessa and they soon become lovingly committed. One year later, Wilson pops the question to Vanessa and she says yes, but Wade abruptly collapses and is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Later on, a recruiter from a top-secret program approaches Wade and offers him a chance to cure his cancer, Wilson at first refuses, but decides to undergo the treatment. At a laboratory, he encounters Ajax and Angel Dust who inject him with a serum that will rouse any dormant mutant genes and expose him to weeks of torture and pain to trigger the genes but without any success. Afterward, Wilson mocks Ajax, resulting in him being put into an airtight chamber that puts Wade on the edge of suffocation. After Ajax reveals his true motives to him, Wade attacks Ajax and is subjugated, impaled and left to burn to death. Now, with a disfigured face and revenge on his mind, Wilson adopts the name Deadpool and must find and kill Ajax and save his girlfriend.
Tim Miller manages to pull off the impossible with Deadpool: a movie essentially built on fanservice that doesn't pander to or talk down to the fans in any way because Miller is shrewd enough to understand that Deadpool is so much more than just one-liners and gore and sure the story can come across as a bit shallow and unreal but much like Guardians of the Galaxy before it, the real heart of the movie lies in the emotional and character rhythms which are delivered in spades by Miller and the writers. The way the film tells it's story and roots itself in actual pain is compelling and Miller is never afraid to show it by lingering on the tangible and tear-jerking agony of Wade's cancer and the effect it has on his relationship with Vanessa as well as the multilayered torment he puts himself through in order to cure himself by a genetic mutation program which gives him his abilities and turns him into the man we know and love. Yet, underneath all the katanas and meta humor, the movie is really a love story that never seems to devise from that and unlike certain other comic book or even action movies where the token love interest always seems to be thrown in just for the hero to save, the romance between Wade and Vanessa feels natural and real rather than tacked on which is always wonderful to see not to mention the two have wonderful chemistry making the scenes they are in together feel all the more real. The storytelling here is creative by chucking us into an action scene then cuts back and forth in excellent and surprising ways to tell the story of this crazy but oddly likable antihero. Usually, flashbacks and fast-forwards can get tiresome, but then they're done right, they can help make a simple story feel new and thrilling. Given how beloved Deadpool is such a beloved Marvel character, making this movie was a massive risk much like Guardians of the Galaxy but with the right director, writers, cast and crew, the film works so perfectly that it's impossible to see the movie working any other way.
The humor in Deadpool is one of the reasons this film works so well with lots of in-humor, references to films like Taken and Robocop, visual jokes, and vulgar jokes that never come across as too raunchy, unlike other modern comedies. There also are some hilarious jabs at Reynolds' previous outing as Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine like when Ajax threatens to sew Wade's mouth shut or when Wilson says not to make the suit green or animated which is a nice jab at Green Lantern. One of my favorite jokes is when Colossus is taking Deadpool to meet with Professor X and he asks him if James McAvoy or Patrick Stewart is the most recent professor at the institution. Watching Deadpool as well as Wade Wilson cuss like there's no tomorrow, take jabs at other superhero movies among many other comical subjects as well as kill multiple henchmen is nothing short of exciting and always leaves the viewer with a high smile on their face. Every single joke in this movie works and not once did the humor not make me laugh my ass off. Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick knocked it out of the park when it comes to the humor and the writing. The music here is fantastic, ranging from Salt and Pepa to Chicago. It makes perfect sense that Deadpool's theme song is DMX or at least it feel like it should be his theme until Careless Whisper by George Michael kicks in which feels like the writers took a page from Guardians of the Galaxy in terms of using certain songs to fit whatever mode the director wants, something Suicide Squad could learn a thing or two from when it comes to using songs that don't fit the scene. When compared to most other big superhero movies when it comes to action setpieces, Deadpool doesn't have much to show for it due to it's tiny budget but that doesn't mean the action scenes aren't exciting plus seeing fight scenes be kept to a minimum is a stroke of luck in a movie like this, especially when so many action movies nowadays are being destroyed by awful shaky cam rather than use polished and balanced shots with one of the worst offenders being Taken 3 but thankfully, Deadpool doesn't suffer from that trend as the action shots always feel clean and smooth but we're never left hanging when it comes to the fight scenes as the action is quick, ultra-gory and extremely stylish with the opening scene of Deadpool slicing and dicing guys like sashimi and the counting down the bullets scene is joys to watch and the final fight between Deadpool and Ajax is outstanding in every possible way. Tim Miller and cinematographer Ke Seng do a fantastic job crafting efficient and great-looking action scenes that seem to evoke Tarantino's Kill Bill in terms of goriness and style.
As for the casting, it' all around fantastic to the point that it's impossible to see these actors play any other role in any other movie. Apart from Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Chris Pratt and Robert Downey Jr. and several others, Ryan Reynolds has proven himself to be one of the finest casting choices for a comic book superhero and Deadpool is the jewel in the crown as Reynolds' obsession for this character gives us a career-defining performance that is instilled with a talent of making even the most crass phrase shine with spirited charisma more so than most other comic book actors. Reynolds makes every single beat of madcap humor, furious rage and pain come so natural that there's an eerie feeling of his Deadpool being lifted straight out of a comic book, playing the role of Wade Wilson and Deadpool as a cross between Peter Vankman from Ghostbusters, James Bond and John McLane from Die Hard and nailing it every single time . Morena Baccarin is perfect as Vanessa, matching Reynolds in delightful crankiness, steering just shy of hot, fanatic-pixie-fantasy-sweetheart typecasting by maintaining just the perfect amount of insane, as well as being a lot better developed than other comic book love interests without being the clichéd damsel in distress or being a token love interest. T.J. Miller is reliably hilarious as Wade's friend, Weasel and steals every scene he's in. Ed Skerin brings plenty of arrogant, muscular cruelty to Ajax which makes him feel a lot less generic than most other action movie villains while Gina Carano works well as Angel Dust. Leslie Uggams is deliciously amusing as Blind Al. Stefan Kapicic and Brianna Hildebrand bring their A game as Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead, allowing for a ton of humorous banter and help keep the action bouncing all the way to the end.
Honestly, what else is there to say about Deadpool that other people haven't said already, It's just an all-out funny and action-packed movie that does something different from the traditional superhero movie formula and turns it on its head. Little word of advance, this film is not for kids or anyone who is easily offended, Deadpool is a hard R movie and wears it like a badge of honor so avoid showing this movie to little kids. Also, be sure to stick around for a post-credits stinger that just might get you feeling a little gritty. So go see this movie if you haven't already, you'll have a hell of a time watching it.