In many ways it is the piece de resistance of the Marvel Universe

Rating: 9/10 (7 March 2016)

What did Deadpool do right? Very nearly everything. This might be the only "Superhero" film since the genre exploded that is a true 100% labour of love. Ryan Reynolds and Tim Miller fought tooth and nail to make this film happen and make it happen the way they wanted it to and the way the fans wanted it to. Deadpool is insanely entertaining. It is ridiculously gratuitous in all the best ways you'd expect, it crosses into the X-Men World so it's a nice break from the whole "Avengers" world although it gets mentioned as well. It is dark, twisted, hilarious, gory, unique, insane...every time I didn't think it could impress me more, it does! I was worried Reynolds' sarcastic humour would be overused and it isn't, I was worried it would have a weak story and it is anything but. Every expectation was met and no glowing review was wrong. This was quite simply a great time at the movies. It also has so much to it and the script is so fast and clever and with the pop culture references and Easter eggs I am certain I could watch this several times over and walk away with something different each time. It might have given gas to a genre (described by Steven Spielberg so accurately as the Western of this generation) that is slowly losing steam I think. Best of all they did it on a very moderate budget and yet the special effects, stunts and CGI are some of the best I have ever seen period. Nothing is held back.
I have always liked Ryan Reynolds. I know he's a good solid actor because he's proved he can be versatile. However, he was born and bred to play Deadpool. It was like Deadpool was written with him in mind 20+ years ago. Hugh Jackman single-handedly made Wolverine come to life and now Reynolds does the same for DeadPool. But this isn't just a super-hero who kicks the crap out of people though he does plenty of that. There is an actual story here, Wade Wilson has some serious depth to his character and Reynolds is clearly very passionate about this character. In order to be this amazing character he needs a near perfect villain and they find that in Ed Skrein who is fantastic as Ajax. The two of them have a deep rivalry that works on a terrific level and unlike some villains who are out for world domination, this rivalry is personal. Morena Baccarin is decent as Wade Wilson's love interest. She wouldn't have been my first choice but I never cared for her on Homeland as a character so maybe I'm biased. She is still decent and their chemistry is solid. The supporting cast also truly shines in this film without characters you just want to see more of. Karan Soni, Stefan Kapicic, T.J. Miller and the excruciatingly underused but fascinating addition of Negasonic Teenage Warhead played perfectly by Brianna Hildebrand. This is also the first time I've seen Gina Carano who is just awful awful awful at "acting" be tolerable in a role but mostly because she is reduced fortunately to a thug whose purpose is to fight with Colossus. Still Carano needs to stop getting cast in anything ever.
Director Tim Miller really knocks this out of the park. Sometimes a new director proves themselves in such a way that they can set themselves for life and I think will be Miller's home-run. His style, the depth of story he's created here, the incredible special effects and the way he uses the characters and actors and he's just made something so incredibly deeply entertaining. This is one film that lives up to the hype and is a must see but is such a far cry from other Marvel films out there and definitely not for the youngsters. 9/10