A level-headed review

Rating: 4/10 (23 February 2016)

While the whole world is seemingly loosing their minds in a Marvel-based mass hysteria I will try to review this completely average movie with a logical perspective.
In summer 2012 I swore off superhero and comic-book movies after the double disappointing punches of Amazing Spider-Man and The Dark Knight Rises. Since there was a hurricane of hype surrounding Deadpool I decided to break that rule (JUST ONCE!) and see what all the fuss was about. I need not have bothered.
Believe me, I am grateful that this film shakes up the comic-book/superhero genre, which, at this point, is becoming extremely stale and boring. We are all suffering from superhero fatigue as these indistinguishable films all look and feel the same and all end with a big, blue laser shooting up into the sky. This tiring onslaught has to stop, and Deadpool seems to be the game-changer.
However, the actual movie is not very good on a technical level and has a juvenile, immature sense of humor that just won't let up. Don't get me wrong, I love crude jokes, I mean Caddyshack is my favorite comedy of all time, but if the barrage of dirty humor and pop culture references were fewer and bit smarter it would have upped the quality of the film. The physics are just as impossible as any other superhero movie, with Deadpool able to pull of feats no human (super or otherwise) is capable of. And if he healing powers then why does he heal back to disfigured instead of natural?
Visually, the film is very drab and ugly to look at with lots of greys and dull colors. Half of it seems to be set on an inner city freeway overpass, and many other scenes feature lots of cold, wet concrete, alleyways, junkyards, and empty lots. It almost has the sleazy feel of an early 80s exploitation film, which is not welcome and unsuitable for a film of this nature.
The plot is smaller and easier to grasp than typical comic-book fare. There's no need for Deadpool to be expansive so focusing on personal problems and lower-rung villains was just fine. It also liked how it incorporated other X-Men characters, particularly Colossus, who was really quite sweet. It's in a different continuity from the Disney shared universe (which is a model I don't think works at all), but if Deadpool can share with some of the more identifiable X-Men in future movies I'd be cool with that.
Just remember we've had R-rated Marvel movie before. Blade was a success, and I enjoyed Thomas Jane's version of The Punisher, but none of them were able to change the rules as much as Deadpool. Perhaps now the studios will invest in taking risks and stop grinding out safe PG-13 heroes who are too afraid to kill. Just dial down the in- jokes, the raunchy humor, and aim a little higher.