Movie Review - Deadpool

   A-ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Guys, welcome to my review of Deadpool, or as it should be called “Reasons Why This Movie is So Freaking Good that it More Than Makes Up for that Pathetic Excuse for a Deadpool We Got in 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine.” That's right 20^th Century Fox: I forgive, but I don't forget.

   Our plot follows Wade Wilson – AKA Deadpool – a mercenary seeking revenge against Ajax – AKA Francis – the guy who gave him his powers but subjected him to some brutal torture. It's a story that includes some fun side characters, a great Stan Lee cameo, and some surprisingly touching moments. However it's also a very unoriginal story that you've seen many times before: “he had it all – including a lover – then they took it away, now he has to take it back” blah blah blah, that whole schtick. The villain isn't very interesting and there's also this romantic dilemma which ends up being a total non-conflict. But all this is OK because you're not watching Deadpool to see a great story, you're seeing it because you want to see Deadpool fight tons of badguys and make lots of jokes.

   And they friggin' nailed that! Ryan Reynolds breaks his curse of only being able to star in bad superhero movies (Blade Trinity, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and Green Lantern) in spectacular fashion. With all the fourth-wall-breaking charisma he brings to the role, they couldn't have picked a better actor. Also, at one point Deadpool explicitly states that he's Canadian. I find that to be very cool.

   You know what else about this movie is cool? The fast-paced humour! This movie is extremely funny, from the opening non-credits to the very direct post-credits scene. There are fourth wall jokes and references about almost everything from the aforementioned 2009 Wolverine film, the other X-Men films, and even the character's original creators Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza. Much of the jokes consist of crude humour, but at least it isn't the dumb kind of post-late-90's National Lampoons-esque frat boy humour that makes you feel stupid for watching it. This is some quality crude humour, even if a handful of the jokes do seem a little unwarranted. In any case, the movie's meta humour and sense of self-parody at least help distinguish Deadpool from the deluge of other superhero movies coming out around now.

   I was also very impressed with the special effects, especially on the characters. The effects on Deadpool's mask (particularly his white eyes) give his masked face an impressive range of expressions. If only other movie superheroes used these types of effects to become as emotive – I'm looking at you, Spider-Man movies! (Stop having Peter take his mask off before every final fight scene!) Colossus also looks very realistic; I just wonder why they never show him in his normal, nonmetallic form.

   As you hopefully already know, Deadpool is a hard R. Thankfully this means that there's no stupid memes and/or spoilers all over the internet since kids can't see this thing! Haha. There's a little bit of nudity, a ton of swearing, and some awesome violence. There's a fair amount of blood and gore, but it doesn't wallow in it. It just sometimes exploits it for comedic effect. But yeah, if you're not a fan of gross-out humour and other extreme stuff then turn around now. You won't be pleased.

   For everyone else (who's 18 or over) Deadpool is a delightful adventure for comic book fans, fans of the recent Deadpool video game, people who like action-comedies, and people who just want to see a superhero movie try something different.

Grade: four out of five.