Deadpool

***Deadpool*** is a 2016 superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Distributed by 20th Century Fox, it is the eighth film in the X-Men film series. Directed by Tim Miller from a screenplay by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, it stars Ryan Reynolds in the title role alongside Morena Baccarin, Ed Skrein, T.J. Miller, Gina Carano, and Brianna Hildebrand.

## Plot

Former Special Forces operative turned mercenary Wade Wilson, met and fell in love with a stripper named Vanessa. Shortly after he proposes marriage to her he's diagnosed with terminal cancer. One day while at his friend Weasel's bar, an agent offers Wade a cure for his cancer and the opportunity to become a superhero similar to the X-Men. Wade is dismissive at first but eventually agrees after thinking about how Vanessa would take his death.

Wade goes to an underground organization requests that when he becomes a hero that his costume won't be green and that they don't saw his mouth shut. He quickly finds out from the leader Ajax that the organization takes terminally ill people, forcibly turns them into mutants, then sells them as slaves. Wade undergoes weeks of intense torture until he mutates, giving him regenerative healing powers but also becomes horribly scarred and ugly. One night Wade gets the chance to escape by lighting the building on fire and tries to kill Ajax, whose real name is revealed to be Francis, but he's defeated, mortally impaled, and left to die in the fire but not before Francis teases him that he can fix Wade's face. However, next Morning Wade finds out that his Healing powers are so fast and effective that he's basically immortal.

Despite escaping captivity, Wade can't bring himself to return to Vanessa due to this ugly look and has gone missing for weeks. After talking to Weasel at the bar, he decides to become a vigilante and find Francis for revenge and to repair his looks, using the nickname "Captain Deadpool" though he quickly settles with just "Deadpool". Weasel suggests that Wade wears a mask to hide his ugliness. For the next two years, Deadpool hunts down Francis' henchmen to find his location murdering any goons that stand on his way. During that time his vigilante activities call the X-Men's attention, who become interested in recruiting Deadpool, but whenever they try Deadpool tells them to ***\*BLEEP\**** off.

Eventually, Deadpool finds Francis and plans to attack him in the middle of a highway. Wade corners Francis but before he can get his revenge, he's interrupted by Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead. Their distraction allows Francis to escape much to Deadpool's fury. Deadpool tries to attack Colossus but breaks lots of his own bones and then chops off his own hand to escape the X-Men yet again. Ajax, now knowing that Deadpool is Wade Wilson, plans to kidnap Wade's girlfriend to lure him because that totally isn't the most generic evil plan of all time.

Weasel informs Deadpool that Vanessa was captured. Wade decides to ask Colossus and Negasonic to help him in the mission; he offers to "join" the X-Men after all in exchange. At an aeroplane graveyard, Francis reveals that he put Vanessa in a suffocation torture chamber that Wade was subjected to before. Deadpool fights Ajax at the top of the rubber while Colossus and Negasonic fight Angel. Negasonic defeats Angel with a massive explosion, but that also causes the rubble to collapse over her, with Deadpool, Ajax, and Vanessa falling down as well. All three survive while Colossus rescues Negasonic and Angel.

Francis is left powerless against Deadpool but he mockingly states that he was bluffing about fixing Wade's face. Enraged, Deadpool puts a gun at Francis' head when suddenly Colossus gives a speech about doing the right thing as a hero and sparing the enemy's life, but Deadpool shrugs it off and kills Francis anyways. Vanessa confronts Wade about the last two years he's been gone; Colossus leaves with Angel and Negasonic but also reminds Wade that he still has an interview with Professor Xavier pending.

Deadpool reluctantly shows Vanessa his ugly face and admits that the reason he was gone was so he could fix his face for her. Vanessa is startled at first but soon accepts Wade's apology, and the two reconcile.

In the post-credits scene, Deadpool (dressed up like *Ferris Bueller*) tells the audience that there are no spoilers to watch but assures them that Cable will show up in the sequel.

## Why It's a Badass, a Smartass and Has a Great Ass

1. Excellent and funny humor, along with breaking the fourth walls just like the original Deadpool.
2. The movie doesn't take itself seriously, is fully aware of its dumb premise and generic villains and knows it's only meant to be comedic entertainment.
3. Intentional cliches and tropes that work in the movie's favor and actually become funny. Even the opening credits mock the movie.
4. Ryan Reynolds's performance as Deadpool is fantastic. Arguably, this might be his best role.
5. Deadpool's iconic 4th wall breaks are done brilliantly.
	* In addition, the film's self-awareness is just as good, with lines such as "And make sure my suit isn't green. Or animated!" which is a nod to the infamous 2011 *Green Lantern* movie, which Ryan Reynolds also starred in.
6. The movie mocks Reynolds' previous superhero performances. In particular, his first appearance as Deadpool in *mh:awfulmovies:X-Men Origins: Wolverine*, in which the character's mouth was ***sewn shut*** (***You know, The Merc With a Mouth!***). There are also several jabs at Reynolds's portrayal of Hal Jordan in *Green Lantern*.
7. Awesome special-effects, including a fully-CGI Colossus.
8. Negasonic Teenage Warhead is one of the toughest characters ever.
9. Colossus's "do goody" personality contrasts Deadpool's irresponsibility very well and makes for some very funny interactions.
10. Deadpool makes fun of the fact that Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead are the only X-Men that appear in the movie.
11. Awesome music by Tom Holkenborg.
12. So much focus on the source material. Deadpool's adaptation from the comics was near perfect.
13. A well-timed and well-choreographed battle between Deadpool against Ajax.
14. Well-known X-Men characters like Deadpool, Colossus, Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Ajax.
15. When Deadpool cuts his hand off, he gives the Middle Finger, which is hilarious.
16. It was the first successful R-rated superhero movie outside of the first two *Blade* movies, paving the way for Logan, a more serious and acclaimed R-rated superhero movie.
17. Deadpool makes a hilarious teaser to *Deadpool 2* in the style of *Ferris Bueller's Day Off*.
18. The marketing campaign shows a lot of original footage of Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool.
19. This movie essentially saved Ryan Reynolds' career; since before *Green Lantern*, he had only starred in average comedies like *The Proposal, The Change Up, Just Friends* or *Definitely Maybe*; and after the aforementioned, his career began to decline even more starring in rather forgettable movies like *Turbo, Safe House, Fireflies in the Garden, The Woman in Gold* to downright terrible movies like *Self/Less* and *R.I.P.D.* Because of *Deadpool*, Reynolds resurfaced as an actor and now has become the blockbuster star he deserves to be starring in memorable movies like *The Adam Project, Pokemón Detective Pikachu*, and especially *Free Guy.*

## Bad Qualities

1. Somewhat poor grasp of the source material. For example, Copycat's portrayal in this film is not accurate to her comic book counterpart since she has no superpowers in this movie.
	* Negasonic Teenage Warhead's portrayal in this movie is not accurate to her comic book counterpart since in the comics she had another appearance and had different powers.
2. A shot of the Blackbird was lazily reused from X-Men: The Last Stand, probably due to the low budget.
3. Even though the film intentionally pokes fun of this, Francis Freeman/Ajax is still a very one-note villain.

## Reception

*Deadpool* received praised Reynolds' performance, the film's style and faithfulness to the comics, and its action sequences, though some criticized the plot as formulaic. It was also divided on the film's adult humour. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 85% based on 336 reviews, with an average rating of 7.03/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Fast, funny, and gleefully profane, the fourth-wall-busting *Deadpool* subverts superhero film formula with wildly entertaining—and decidedly non-family-friendly—results.". On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 65 out of 100, based on 49 critics, indicating "generally favourable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. PostTrak reported an average positive score of 97%, with 45% of filmgoers saying the film exceeded their expectations.

## External Links

* Template:IMDb
* Template:Rotten Tomatoes