Great fun

Rating: 7/10 (20 May 2018)

The main triumph of Deadpool is its capability of making its title character sympathetic yet wildly outrageous with his inappropriate sense of humor. Ryan Reynolds certainly deserves much of the credit for this because of his unequivocal commitment to the role; any hesitation or lack of conviction in Deadpool's lines would significantly lessen his character's appeal. Reynolds manages to make Deadpool seem lovable in his most irreverent moments as well as his most vulnerable. However, Deadpool is mostly allowed to get away with his heinous crimes because he is trying to save the "perfect" girl against an undeniably evil villain. The writers go all in with both of these overused elements. In any other superhero movie, his romance and revenge quest would be trite, but the enthusiastically delivered snarky jokes overshadow this.
The humor in Deadpool is for the immature at heart, and isn't nearly as clever as it would like to think. Attempts to poke fun at the superhero genre aren't necessary and seem forced at times. Luckily, the movie is funny enough in its own right to cover for these missteps. The main laughs come from Deadpool's interactions with colorful characters such as his girlfriend, a confused taxi driver, a blind African American woman, and two superhumans. The secondary characters complement Reynolds well despite their limited development and screen time.
The movie is a joyride until the third act, where unfortunately the requisite action takes precedence over both humor and narrative. The drawn-out battle sequence is bearable for a while because Deadpool is a sympathetic character, but it eventually overplays its welcome. Two characters are present for seemingly no reason at all except for comedic relief (and perhaps sequel material).When the action finally does come to an end, it is abrupt and the movie makes no concluding message. Thus, Deadpool certainly deserves the praise it gets for tapping into a creative use of the superhero genre, but it should not be lauded as groundbreaking. It's pure fun; nothing more, nothing less.