Deadpool

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'Deadpool' movie poster

Release: Friday, February 12, 2016

[Theater]

Written by: Rhett Reese; Paul Wernick

Directed by: Tim Miller

I hope someone is going to pay for it, because that fourth wall is destroyed. And I know Ryan Reynolds ain’t gonna put up the money, even if he is about to make millions upon millions with this future franchise.

STOP! READERS! HI, HELLO — THIS IS RYAN REYNOLDS AND I AM TAKING OVER THIS BLOG. I REPEAT. DO NOT . . . oh, fuck you caps-lock. Anyway, don’t listen to . . . er, well, I guess read . . . a word this cream-puff so-called ‘critic’ says about the Deadpool movie! He’s going to try to sell us (me) short, go see the movie for yourselves. You have a choice here, people — do not become passive, put in your place! Break out!

Ryan, I never said I was trying to talk them out of seeing the movie. 

SHUT UP TOM!

Alright. Well, what I was going to say. . . 

I SAID SHUSH, YOU MUPPET! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . OK, so what were you trying to say about Deadpool? I’m sorry, this wasn’t . . . you know, like this wasn’t meant to be a hostile takeover, nothing permanent or anything — I just wanted to prove that there was in fact, another domain I could go into and try to be more meta with this movie. FIFTH WALL BROKEN!

See, I’m already confused. Who’s now talking?

You are, Tom. Well, you were in italics before, so . . . I mean, this is me. I’m regular font.

Yeah, you’re right I just forgot to italicize that last line. Well, still. 

You’re welcome! Your blog is yours again. K thanks for the promo and everything! . . . . . . . . (p.s., Julie — call me 😉 )

Oh, really? I can have my blog back now? [Ponders how to translate unenthusiastic sarcasm through typing.]

*

Alas, this is what you pay to see in the much-anticipated and appropriately-rated comic adaptation for the snark-and-sexsass Wade Wilson/Pool of Deadness — the over-the-top meta humor. 21 and 22 Jump Streets have nothing on this. Not even The LEGO Movie got the audience to feel like such an active participant in the events.

Deadpool is so relentlessly self-aware and rather clever it’s easy to forget how generic the story is. When we’re not kebab-ing the bad guys we’re fumbling hopelessly for dramatic realism — I’m not feeling the multiple-organ-cancer as an excuse for him to undergo this radical ‘transformation’ bit — it’s delivered ably enough but there’s very little original about this origins story. However if you’re of the sort who like films with as many ridiculously well-written, well-thought-out-but-even-more-expertly-articulated-and-delivered jokes packed into a single frame as possible, Deadpool is probably going to bring you to your knees.

Screen Shot 2016-02-12 at 2.50.54 AM

Recommendation: Ryan Reynolds cranks up the snark to 15 debuting the red-and-black form-fitting man suit. Its merits far outweigh the weaknesses, of which there are several, and there’s enough commitment from the rest of the cast to ground the film somewhat in its slower moments. I’m also still trying to decide if it definitively benefitting from the R rating makes the content stronger or weaker. How would this have worked if it were packaged as a Marvel-friendly PG-13? 

Rated: R

Running Time: 108 mins.

Quoted: “Crime’s the disease, meet the cure. Okay, not the cure, but more like a topical ointment to reduce the swelling and itch. Hi, Tom!” 

All content originally published and the reproduction elsewhere without the expressed written consent of the blog owner is prohibited.

Photo credits: http://www.impawards.com; http://www.imdb.com

44 thoughts on “Deadpool”

  1. Ha ha, what a top review! Saw tis the other day and while I’m not as hot on it as you are, it’s good fun. Basically, for me, it’s not as subversive or smart as it thinks it is, but hey, there are worse movies out there!

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    • You know, I’ve been really debating dropping that score. Deadpool is the epitome of a one-trick pony. It’s humor is a source of much entertainment but I’m completely with you. The irony of them making fun of comic book heroes while simultaneously constructing a plain, cliche-riddled story is hard to overlook. Or, maybe, on the other hand that’s just another layer to their “creative” mockery of the genre. They actively embrace cliche while rejecting cliche while embracing cliche while rejecting the embracing of the rejection. If you get me. If you don’t, I don’t blame you. That didn’t make any sense. Neither does the fact its consistently being considered a “revolutionary” film. It’s not.

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    • Deadpool is oddly becoming a contentious movie. It’s an interesting kink in Marvel’s streak of PG-13 almost-family-friendly kind of superhero movies by being an R-rated film and it certainly earns it not just b/c of the violence but the vulgarity. I’m all for movies that can be good on their own but when one uses those things to bolster the content, I become a bit more skeptical of the story that lies beneath. Turns out, when you look closer the story itself is pretty generic and bland. But I was really enjoying Ryan Reynolds in this, it’s hard not to really

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    • It’s a good enough story but Guardians of the Galaxy was better if you’re looking for both humor and storytelling. But there’s no doubt Deadpool feels kind of like a breath of fresh air in a crowded genre.

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  7. Haha! I see what you did there… 😉 I liked the whole breaking of the fourth wall (or, 16 at one point?) in this SO much more than in The Big Short (which I just found annoying). I had a lot of fun with this one. Won’t be an all-time favorite of mine but no superhero movie ever really has been. The R rating made this much better (for me). But I just really love filthy talk. :-p

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    • I especially appreciated all of the shots of Ryan Reynold’s ass in what are, essentially, spandex. Mmmm-mmmmmm.

      I think I said this to someone else but as much as I did like the 4th wall breakage, it came perilously close to completely obliterating any point of having a story. The movie was basically 50% Reynolds’ addressing the audience and 50% him taking care of business. I haven’t seen something that was this indulgent with that, but for the most part it worked rather well. The story was really lacking though, so I had to be a shitty fucker with my rating there. 😉

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      • It’s a nice ass. I liked it bare. 🙂 Yeah, they did go a bit overboard on that gimmick but, overall, I didn’t really mind it. The story was definitely lacking, though. Hopefully a sequel will focus on the story a bit more too!

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        • Oh yeah, I think the future is quite bright for Deadpool. Interesting to see how he will become incorporated into the MCU? Notice how Marvel doesn’t have any of their cute little banner or logo on anything that is DP right now. As if an R-rating is going to somehow tarnish their reputation.

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            • Good point! 😀 But seriously, how the f are they supposed to integrate such a potty mouth into the other films? Unless they do something similar to what X-Men Origins: Wolverine did and just barely used him so there wasn’t a lot of vulgar content. Thats the only practical issue I see with this approach. Other than that, #genius

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    • Cheers Cindy, glad you and others have taken to this . . . um . . . oddball review. Haha. I figured why not, since this movie is going to go to extraordinary lengths to “be different,” I might as well write a ‘review’ of it that does something similar. Lol. #pretentious

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  9. Nice of Ryan to show up! I might try and catch it tonight before the inevitable backlash kicks in. Sounds like an immediate hit that you won’t think about much afterwards: I guess I’m not surprised that you said the same superhero movie shortcomings are still there (hackneyed plot, at least), but it looks like fun nonetheless.

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    • Yeah those issues are on full-display still but the gratuitous, shameless comedy goes a long way in making up for that. I knew nothing about Deadpool the character prior to this so as far as that aspect goes, I learned a little bit about him but his overall trajectory wasn’t particularly inspiring. And the whole “oh man, I Have cancer all over my body, I guess I’m fucked” made for a pretty weak excuse to shove him into a torture sequence. But, anyway. . . I digress. 😉 It’s definitely very fun

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      • Cheers. I didn’t have enough spare time to see it in the end and was knackered at night over the weekend but will try and catch it this week. I don’t know anything about the character either, so that’ll be interesting.

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    • I was certainly left wanting in a few places. Deadpool is nowhere near as inventive as it thinks it is — if it’s really all about breaking the mould, why were such good-looking people cast in these roles? — but that didn’t matter so much as the overall experience. I laughed pretty hard throughout. Reminiscent of Guardians of the Galaxy, but with an Ant-man-sized scale in terms of story. It’ll be interesting to see where we go from here

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    • There’s enough to keep somewhat emotionally invested in it. Reynolds and Baccarin have good enough chemistry so that when the narrative slows down there’s reason for us to watch them, even if their relationship isn’t anything exciting either. The transformation didn’t impress me all that much but it was really the attitude and the behavior of the aftermath that sold it. I had no idea Deadpool was such a sarcastic dude. Very funny stuff.

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    • 😉 Thanks Em. Tried to do something different (i.e. I was too lazy to do a full-on critique of the piece), and I’m glad it has paid off. The movie is out-of-control with its meta humor and 4th-wall breaking. It comes dangerously close to nullifying the narrative itself but the performances are good enough to keep things relatively in control.

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      • I loved it! Made it funny to read and personable 🙂

        Plus…I’m too thick to understand full-on critiques. A row with Ryan? I get that! 🙂 glad you enjoyed it!!!

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    • Ohh, nice! Sorry for all these delayed responses. I hope your watch was awesome (if you got to it Friday!) I’ll keep an eye out for your thoughts on it.

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  15. EEEEEEEEP I really, really cannot wait to see this. I have been waiting YEARS for it and I want it NOW!!!!! It releases today but I think I will most likely only get to see it next weekend 😦 I don’t know if I can wait that long!

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    • However long you have to wait, I’m sure it will be worth it! I’m not huge on it but it was a lot of fun, I have to say. I’m sure this will surprise no one who has followed Deadpool the comic, but this film comes across a hybrid of Guardians of the Galaxy and 21/22 Jump Street. Just, crazy.

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