The Superhero Movie That Will Shake Thing Things Up, As A Fan I Couldn't Have Asked For More

Rating: 9/10 (14 February 2016)

I have been following this movie intently since the test footage. I loved the video game and I've read a decent percentage of the comics. I knew ahead of time that this movie would be for me. So I can't give a completely unbiased opinion. I can say though, as a fan of the character, this movie was everything I wanted it to be. It was just short of perfect but it is by far one of the most faithful adaptations of a comic book I have ever seen.
*Minor Spoilers Ahead* Our hero Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) is picked up in a cab by Dopinder (Karan Soni). It's Christmas Day for Deadpool and he's more than a little excited to dole out the presents (death and destruction). After fiddling around in the back seat, he climbs through the glass barrier and sits up front. He tells Dopinder that he's going to deal with someone on his naughty list. He sees the picture of a beautiful girl on the dash and Dopinder tells him about her, saying he cannot steal her away from another suitor. Deadpool gives him some advice and requests to be let out on a bridge. Instead of paying, Deadpool gives Dopinder a high five and sits on the bridge guard rail. It is here where we launch into the famous test footage of Deadpool describing the plot, launching into a monologue about him having his own movie and the events leading up to this.
I'm going to keep the plot description short and I'll start with the plot. One of the criticisms of this movie is that it still sticks with the same old super hero plot. I will admit that in the big picture sense, the plot isn't as revolutionary as the rest of the movie. It's still about a guy getting revenge on his adversary while he chases the love that he lost. But that criticism isn't accurate. A lot of this movie is flashing back and forth between the present and the past and it's not done in a way that's been seen before. It keeps the movie from getting stale at any point (not that it does) and it keeps Deadpool moving along at a quick pace. It never really slows down and that's a compliment considering Wade's origin as a character is pretty dark at points. Another aspect that makes this movie special is that there's actually a decent romantic angle in a comic book movie. I'll talk more about the characters later but the movie spends enough time with Wade and Vanessa that you actually care about them staying together. I was pretty wrapped up in it and it's a credit to the creative team and the actors for making that possible. This story that this movie has to tell is far from boring or being a retread even if it doesn't completely break the mold.
When it comes to the acting, I'm going to have to echo what a lot of people have already said. This is the role Ryan Reynolds was meant to play. He's definitely had a scatter-shot career with comic book movies but if you check out his more indie geared movies, he shows that he's a great actor. He has the dramatic chops (Buried and Chaos Theory) and he's always had the comedic touch (Waiting.. and Just Friends), he's never really got his due. Deadpool is perfect for him and he deserves all the credit he's been getting for his success. I really liked Morena Baccarin as Vanessa. She worked really well with Ryan, she was very funny in her own right and she made you care what happened to her character. Even though the villains weren't the most in-depth characters, I thought Ed Skrein did a pretty good job. He was a lot better in this than he was in The Transporter Refueled. I really liked Stefan Kapicic vocal performance as Colossus and Briana Hildebrand gave a good debut performance as Negasonic Teenage Warhead. Of the main cast, I felt bad for Gina Carano as Angel Dust. Her screen presence is pretty intimidating and her fight with Colossus was pretty intense too. But she's in another role where she gets almost no dialogue, I get she's not classically trained as an actress but she's got a unique skill set (she's good looking too) and I would like to see her get a chance to expand her range. I though Jed Rees and Karan Soni did good jobs in small parts too.
You can't talk about Deadpool the movie without going into it's harder aspects. The movie features some well filmed, dirty action scenes that were pretty impressive for Tim Miller as a first time director. You also get some pretty filthy jokes which were hilarious. It doesn't go to any extremes but it wasn't child friendly material. It could be considered too crude for some people but it's truly faithful to Deadpool's roots. You can't fault an adaptation for sticking to the source material and I was killing myself laughing. It's one of the funniest comedies I have seen in years bar none. They also show Deadpool the character for what he is, an @$$&^%!. This is bold because we're used to boy scouts waging war against evil. They made the correct one staying faithful to the comics, Deadpool even says in the movie "I'm the bad guy you get to hunt the worse guys."
Deadpool is a riot and a quality action movie wrapped in one. I loved it from start to finish. It wasn't perfect, the jokes don't land 100% (more like 80-90) and I wouldn't be able to recommend it to everyone. I would describe it as this year's Kingsman: The Secret Service. It has good action scenes, interesting characters, truly funny jokes and an involving plot. I left extremely happy as a Deadpool fan and I'll start counting the days till the next one.