Sunday, February 14, 2016

Deadpool (2016) review


When it comes to the vast array of characters within the equally vast expanse of the Marvel universe, one major fan favorite has been the character of Deadpool. Created by Rob Liefeld in 1991, mercenary Wade Wilson, better known as the ‘Merc with a Mouth’, has been one of the most popular Marvel characters amongst comic book fans, primarily due to his comedic nature and frequent instances of breaking the fourth wall. However, when it comes to Deadpool’s appearances in live-action films, he didn’t start off on the best of notes. He first appeared in 2009’s ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ played by Ryan Reynolds, who was actually referenced by Deadpool himself once in the comics, prior to the film’s release, when describing his appearance. But while Reynolds was certainly a good choice in the role, the character was ultimately screwed over big time in that film as the writers did away with pretty much everything that made the character who he is in the comics. After appearing briefly in the opening action sequence, Wilson is then revealed to have been experimented on by Colonel William Stryker and turned into ‘Weapon XI’, a mutant possessing the abilities of other mutants that the character obviously didn’t have in the comics. And to make matters worse, the ‘Merc with a Mouth’… had his mouth sewn shut. So in short, the writers completely butchered one of Marvel’s most popular characters in his big-screen debut, becoming one of the many problems of that ill-fated X-Men spinoff. And for a while after that, despite rumors of a Deadpool spin-off film, it didn’t seem like the ‘Merc with a Mouth’ would get a chance to redeem himself on the big-screen.

But then in July of 2014, everything changed when a clip of VFX test footage for the film was leaked online. Developed in 2012 by VFX artist Tim Miller, who Fox had hired a year earlier to direct the film, this turned out to be one of the rare cases in the film industry of a leaked product actually having a positive outcome, as the footage proved to be a big hit with fans. That enthusiastic response was what finally convinced Fox to go ahead with a ‘Deadpool’ film, with Reynolds once again returning to the role that he was pretty much born to play. Now obviously, ‘Deadpool’ is a much different kind of superhero film compared to A.) its fellow Fox-produced Marvel films and B.) the films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While those films are always rated PG-13 and are intended for a wider audience, ‘Deadpool’ is decidedly a much more violent and crude entry in the superhero genre. So obviously, it’s an R-rated superhero film that revels in its violence, sex, and crude humor. And while some may have originally viewed this as a ‘risky venture’ for that exact reason, clearly that risky venture has paid off given the extremely positive reviews that this film has gotten from both critics and audiences and its record-setting $135 million opening weekend here in the U.S.. So with all of that said, does Deadpool, and for the matter Ryan Reynolds given his previous misfires in the genre, finally get the proper superhero film that they deserve? Well, to put it simply, yes they do. ‘Deadpool’ is an extremely fun superhero film that isn’t afraid to go places that other superhero films wouldn’t dare to go. And for the most part that does make up for a few of the film’s shortcomings.

As already noted, Ryan Reynolds stars as Wade Wilson, a mercenary from Canada who spends a lot of his time protecting teenagers from potential stalkers. One night, he meets an escort named Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) and the two end up in a relationship. However, one year later, the two learn that Wade has been affected with terminal cancer in multiple parts of his body. Looking to find any possible way to overcome his new affliction, Wade is approached by an Agent Smith-like recruiter (Jed Rees (And I’m not making a joke here. This character literally is referred to by that moniker multiple times in the film.)) who offers him a way to cure his cancer. Wade eventually accepts the offer and is then subjected to torturous procedures as part of the Weapon X program led by Francis Freeman AKA Ajax (Ed Skrein) and his partner Angel Dust (Gina Carano). While his cancer does end up being cured as a result of his newly gained abilities of healing, the process also ends up severely disfiguring his face and skin. Left for dead by Ajax, who tells him that he has the cure for his disfigurement, Wade survives and soon takes on the vigilante persona of ‘Deadpool’ as he tracks down ‘Francis’ for revenge. Things get a little more complicated when fellow mutants Colossus (voiced by Stefan Kapičić and performed via motion capture by Andre Tricoteux) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) try to convince Wade to join the X-Men and Ajax ends up kidnapping Vanessa.

Fans have been clamoring for years for a proper Deadpool film and, more specifically, that it would be rated R so that it would properly represent the fan-favorite mutant on the big-screen. And in that regard, this film definitely succeeds in doing its title character justice. After the severe misfire that was Deadpool’s characterization in ‘Origins’, the character in this new film is very much the Deadpool that fans know and love. He’s constantly cracking jokes, particularly fourth wall jokes, and massacring his opponents in gory detail. The end result is one very hilarious film from beginning to end, with loads of great jokes as well as some pretty darn awesome action sequences that of course are much more violent than what we’ve seen in other superhero films. But while the film is very much a no-holds-barred R-rated superhero affair, admittedly it is a bit lacking in terms of being an actual ‘superhero’ film. The humor and action may be superb, but at the end of the day this is basically just a simple story of a man enacting revenge against the man who ruined his life. Sure the film may subvert and poke fun at the usual tropes of the superhero genre but other times it ends up doing those exact same tropes so it doesn’t completely succeed in lampooning the genre. Also I should probably note that while I did find the humor in this film to be hilarious, its generally crude nature (in other words, a whole lot of sex jokes) might turn off those who aren’t fans of this kind of humor. 
   
Ryan Reynolds’ comedic abilities made him a perfect choice for the role of Deadpool when he first took on the role all the way back in 2009 for ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’. It’s too bad then that he got screwed over in that film just as much as the character did. Now that Deadpool has finally been given a proper superhero film, Reynolds finally gets the chance to shine in the superhero film genre and proves that he was the perfect choice for the role of the wise-cracking mercenary. On the other side, though, Morena Baccarin is severely underused as Deadpool’s girlfriend Vanessa. While the two do have really nice chemistry, Baccarin spends most of the film as a damsel in distress for Deadpool to save at the end. It’s even more disappointing because her character is a superhero in the comics named Copycat. Maybe they’ll go that route for the sequel but here she’s just the pretty face that has to be saved. However, Deadpool does have a pair of memorable allies in the form of Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead or, as Deadpool puts it, ‘the only X-Men the film could afford’. Colossus had previously appeared in ‘X2’, ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’, and ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ but, with no disrespect towards Daniel Cudmore (who played the character in those films), the Colossus in this film is much more in line with the Russian metal man that fans know and love from the comics while Brianna Hildebrand makes quite a great first impression in what will no doubt be her breakout role as the character with one of the coolest names ever. T.J. Miller also gets some memorable one-liners as Deadpool’s best friend Weasel, who points out many examples of what Deadpool looks like with his face all disfigured (e.g. an avocado had sex with an older avocado).

But memorable protagonists come at the expense of some very, very forgettable villains. You know how a lot of people tend to criticize all of the MCU villains that are not named Loki for not being as memorable by comparison? Well, that doesn’t mean that ‘Deadpool’ is off the hook either because its villains are arguably the biggest weak link of the film. Ajax is basically just your typical evil British guy whose only real quirk is the fact that his real name is Francis and Deadpool constantly mocks him for it. Ed Skrein is fine in the role but the character really doesn’t do much to stand out amongst the other villains of the superhero film genre, even the ones that the internet tends to mock. The same can also be said for his assistant Angel Dust. Pretty much all that Gina Carano has to do in this film is just stand around, glare at people, and occasionally punch someone. Sure it may do well enough to highlight Carano’s MMA experience but that’s really about it. So like how the film occasionally slips into the same exact territory of the superhero films that it’s poking fun at, it too suffers from one of the most common criticisms that befall a lot of the films of the genre; dull villains. And as a result, the film ends up feeling a lot smaller-scaled than it already is. There’s not a lot of connections made towards the other ‘X-Men’ films which, while understandable given the film’s more hardcore style and tone, still would’ve been appreciated. I have the feeling, though, that we will be seeing Deadpool play a bigger role in the X-Men universe in future films.

Now despite the criticisms that I’ve gone over in this review, I want to make it clear that I did like ‘Deadpool’. It really is a very fun superhero film and the filmmakers do deserve credit for not flinching when it comes to giving the film a harder R-rated feel compared to other films of the genre. But at the end of the day, I don’t think it’s that big of a ‘game-changer’ as much as others are saying it is. Really, all it does different is just that; being an R-rated superhero film. Obviously, though, it’s the first big R-rated superhero film of this current era of the genre and because this film is definitely going to be a hit, that’ll most likely lead to more R-rated superhero films down the road. And I can tell that this is something that quite a few people will be happy with because let me tell you, I’ve seen quite a few reviews that have compared this film to the MCU films and have negatively referred to the latter as ‘toothless, watered-down mediocrity’. Well you may think that but at least those so-called ‘toothless watered-down mediocrities’ have more to offer in terms of plot, action set-pieces, and even villains. Some say that this film set the bar for this year’s slate of superhero films but at the end of the day I’m probably going to be talking about films like ‘Captain America: Civil War’ and ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ more than this one when the year’s done. To make it clear, I have nothing against there being more R-rated superhero films. But just like how I don’t want to see darker superhero films for characters that aren’t meant for darker storylines, I don’t want to see certain superhero franchises get needlessly more R-rated just because that’s what certain fanboys want more of. Again, I really did like this film. I guarantee you that you’ll have a lot of fun watching it. But ‘best superhero film of all-time’ as some are saying? Uh-uh…


Rating: 4/5

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