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

Big Hero 6 (2014) review

In the 90’s, Disney’s Animation Studio experienced their ‘Renaissance’ era, a decade which saw the release of some of their greatest films of all time like ‘Beauty and the Beast’, ‘The Little Mermaid’ (which was technically released in 1989), and my personal favorite, ‘The Lion King’. After that, the studio sort of went into a bit of a decline, even deciding to stop producing traditionally animated films at one point due to the rise in computer animation. Now while I will argue that there are some ‘diamonds in the rough’, like ‘The Emperor’s New Groove’ and ‘Treasure Planet’, for the most part the Disney films of the early 2000’s are viewed as some of their lesser works. However, it seems like the studio is in the midst of what can be described as their second Renaissance as they’ve really been dishing out some truly excellent animated films recently, including 2012’s ‘Wreck-it Ralph’ and of course last year’s $1.2 billion grossing, two-time Oscar winning smash hit, ‘Frozen’, which I can easily say was the best film that Disney had made in quite some time. For their next film, ‘Big Hero 6’, Disney takes advantage of one of their recent acquirements; Marvel Comics, which they bought in 2009, now serving as the distributor for Marvel’s main film studio. Though strangely, the fact that this is based off of a Marvel comic has not really been focused on at all in the marketing. Regardless, Disney succeeds in giving us yet another excellent animated film that ultimately can best be described as being similar to what the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies are like; loads of fun.

In the futuristic metropolis of San Fransokyo, 14-year old robotics prodigy Hiro Hamada (Ryan Potter) dreams of being accepted into the prestigious university that his brother Tadashi (Daniel Henney) currently goes to. With Tadashi’s help, Hiro develops a series of telepathically-controlled microbots in order to try and gain an invitation to the university, which he does manage to get. However, on the day he shows off his new invention, Tadashi ends up dying in a fire, and resulting explosion, at the university. Sometime after this, Hiro discovers that the microbots, which were thought to have been destroyed in the accident, are now being developed by a mysterious man in a kabuki mask. Looking to catch this mysterious person who ‘stole’ his idea, and who may also be responsible for the death of Tadashi, Hiro and his brother’s invention, a personal healthcare robot named Baymax (Scott Adsit), form a team of superheroes consisting of themselves and his brother’s friends; adrenaline junkie GoGo (Jamie Chung), chemistry whiz Honey Lemon (Genesis Rodriguez), laser-cutting expert Wasabi (Damon Wayans Jr.), and comic-book fan Fred (T.J. Miller) in order to find this mysterious man.

Whereas ‘Frozen’ was a return to the old-school Disney musical, ‘Big Hero 6’, as you might expect given that it’s a Marvel property, feels very much like one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, albeit in animated form of course. It’s more action-oriented than something like ‘Frozen’ and the action in this film is truly excellent thanks of course to the one thing you can always expect from Disney; great animation, with plenty of eye-popping visuals that both kids and adults will no doubt love. This film maintains the same ‘fun-loving’ tone that their ‘cousins’, the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, have and as I’ve said before, that’s one of the best things about those films in general is that while they do have their more serious moments, they’re not all serious. But like many of Disney’s greatest films, this will also no doubt appeal to adults because the visuals are backed up by solid writing and the film does hit the right emotional beats at just the right moments, with some legitimately emotional scenes, specifically when Hiro grieves over the loss of his brother and a key action near the end that of course I won’t dare spoil here. But once you see this film, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

But of course, this film’s writing wouldn’t been as good had it not had good characters, and this film does have great characters. The relationship between Hiro and Baymax is the heart of the movie and while the character of Tadashi isn’t in the movie for very long, you can definitely sense a real brotherly relationship between him and Hiro. Hiro is a likable lead and Baymax… let’s face it, is the biggest standout character of the film. It’s just impossible not to like this character who has what could kind of be described as almost like a childlike innocence at times along with his devotion to help his people. The other members of ‘Big Hero 6’ are also really great as well, with each of the other four main characters getting their own chance to shine in the film. As for the main villain, whose identity I will not spoil, it’s a neat little twist as to who it turns out to be and overall it does make sense from a story perspective. It is admittedly better than the villains from ‘Frozen’, who were actually rather weak. However, with that film, I didn’t really view it as that big of a problem just because the other characters were excellent and the story was well-written and had a lot of heart which I felt at least managed to hide the fact that it had some rather lackluster villains. Had the villain in this been weak, it would’ve been the same effect; everything else around it is so good that it wouldn’t have been that big of a problem.

It’s safe to say that Disney Animation is in its second Renaissance thanks to films like ‘Wreck-it-Ralph’, ‘Frozen’, and now ‘Big Hero 6’. Taking full advantage of their acquirement of Marvel Comics, Disney delivers a film that very much feels like an animated version of one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. It’s loads of fun, has plenty of eye-popping visuals, and features a great cast of lead characters. Not only that, but the film also has the right amount of heart that you would expect from the studio behind such classics as ‘Pinocchio’ and ‘The Lion King’. I’ve heard some people already starting to compare this film to ‘Frozen’, some saying that this isn’t really as good as ‘Frozen’ while others actually favor this over ‘Frozen’. However, I’m not going to do that here, not just because I’ve only seen ‘Big Hero 6’ once (I usually wait until I see a film twice before I start attempting to ‘compare’ films) but ultimately because both films are entirely different. ‘Frozen’ is a musical while ‘Big Hero 6’ is the animated equivalent of the MCU films and I feel that it’s actually rather unfair to compare two films that really aren’t that similar. Regardless, both films are fantastic, showcasing the fact that Disney Animation has once again proven themselves to be a force to be reckoned with in animation.

Rating: 4.5/5