Deadpool is the movie we were desperately asking for

Rating: 8/10 (12 February 2016)

Ryan Reynolds is back in the one role he was meant to play all this time. I cannot state enough the positive impression he made in the otherwise awful Origins movie, despite his extremely limited screen time. He was just perfect for it, unbelievably perfect for it.
I never imagined there would be any semblance of a meaningful romance or emotion, and yet here it is. Somehow through Wade and Vanessa's sex scene montage through the year's holidays, you get a real sense of two people loving each other. Even at it's most gratuitous, the sex in Deadpool is more soulful than the vast majority of other movies, even if it's not particularly romantic sex. When they find out about Wade's illness as well, there is a little exchange that genuinely broke my heart (by exchange, I mean he narrates over it, but it's hugely telling).
Unconventional storytelling, surprisingly relatable romance, check and check. Two things I never expected to find in a Deadpool movie. But what about what I did expect? Humour. I expected a lot of humour. You know what I got? I got a lot of humour. I don't watch a huge amount of trailers, and rarely ever more than one per movie, but while many studios like to parade the best jokes in the trailers, Deadpool managed to get away with just teasing the worst ones. There's a whole lot more in the movie, and they're a whole lot better too. Yes, it's very crude. Very, very crude. And yet it's more than just laughing at dicks because dicks are funny hurr hurr hurr. There's some genuine wit and thought put into these jokes. It's far from the only source of laughs as well. Some of the biggest laughs it got out of me were from it's self-awareness. The movie knows what it is, knows what it's a part of, and pokes a lot of fun at it. There's a number of jokes poking fun at the Origins movie, the X-Men, Wolverine himself, but also Hugh Jackman, the fact Xavier has been played by two actors, Reynold's stint as Green Lantern. It's hugely aware not only of the universe Deadpool resides in, but also the universe in which the movie resides. It's inescapable with Deadpool's trademark of breaking the fourth wall and addressing the audience directly ("Breaking the fourth wall inside a fourth wall? That's like...sixteen walls!").
The other thing you expect from Deadpool is gore. Completely over-the-top, gratuitous gore. Deadpool certainly does not shy away from blood and gruesomeness. It's the blood-splatting R- rated affair everyone hoped and dreamed of for all this time. And yet, I can understand why, on the gore front at least, it didn't get a full-blown 18 on this side of the pond. It's definitely no Tarantino flick. There's beheadings, broken bones, headshots, as well as Wade's own gruesome transformation, but there's no spraying of blood, or guts hanging over the floor, or any of that kind of gore you'd expect in a Saw movie. In fact, when it does get bad, Deadpool tells the camera to look away, leaving only the power of suggestion to fill in the blanks. Is it a gory movie? Yes. Is it gratuitous? I wouldn't say so, no.
Finally I'll just touch on the acting a moment. Mainly to lay unbridled praise upon Ryan Reynolds shoulders. He has been completely dedicated to making sure this movie happens, and that he remains in the role. His small appearance in Origins as Wade Wilson was probably his best performance, and he's managed to tap into it again effortlessly for Deadpool. He's just an effortlessly funny guy. The jokes come tumbling from his mouth as if he's spitting them out, one after the other. He never stutters or stumbles. The only downside to Deadpool is that he has a mask over his face, so his facial expressions get lost, but let's be honest, that was never Reynold's strong point. The supporting cast are pretty great as well, especially Morena Baccarin as Wade's girlfriend Vanessa. They share perfect chemistry together, and she never drifts into damsel in distress mode.
So there we go. After all these years, Deadpool finally got his own movie, and he was actually done justice. It's gory, it's crude, and it's completely hilarious. I am so glad that I was wrong about this movie (although, no matter how bad the previews made it look, I would still have watched it either way). I would definitely recommend this to anyone who likes dark or crude humour, or superhero flicks, but I would definitely not recommend it to anyone under the age of fifteen. Blood, crude language, and full nudity are commonplace. I mean like seriously, why do I feel I have to write that? If it's a 15, you shouldn't have to ask whether it's appropriate for a twelve year old, the answer is obviously no, otherwise it wouldn't be a 15. Anyway, I give Deadpool a very good 8/10. Bring on the sequel.