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| Ryan Reynolds |
Celebrating his 25th anniversary this year is Wade Wilson, a.k.a. Deadpool to fans of the Marvel comics character who breaks the fourth wall and plays into radical frat boy humor too risque for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He is a character whose defenders are likely to shrug and say "What do you expect?" thanks to his somewhat divisive personality and sheer existence. It then makes sense that when watching director Tim Miller's take on Deadpool to come away with a similar response. He's a character who doesn't care what you think, and it's both what does and doesn't work in his second big screen outing (following the maligned X-Men: Origins - Wolverine) that is just the right amount of different to be an enjoyable b-level superhero romp.
The film works largely because of Ryan Reynolds, who is no stranger to superhero movies, or Deadpool for that matter. Having starred in films for Marvel (X-Men: Origins - Wolverine), D.C. (The Green Lantern), and Dark Horse (R.I.P.D.), he also feels like the perfect candidate for a film promising to skewer society's pop culture love of these characters as well as many within his own career. The one plus is that Reynold is unashamed to mock his own career without ever losing focus of what Deadpool would theoretically be: self-referencing and crass. In a sense, there's little difference between this film and Reynolds' breakout Van Wilder down to the use of narration and that jock persona.
For a character who's just as enjoyable to beat up as it is to see him succeed, he is the relief that Marvel, and more generally superhero, movies needed. For starters, his contemporaries are all stuck in the PG-13 realm and follow a strict universe formula. Even new kids like Guardians of the Galaxy have a familiarity that you've seen in Iron Man or Captain America: The First Avenger. While Deadpool plays as a conventional origin story, it's at least a relief to know that he's not just another hero stuck in the contrived mold that Marvel and D.C. have built. In fact, he serves to make fun of those ideas and produces something both cathartic and not reaching enough. Due to legalities and copyright, Deadpool cannot make fun of everyone directly (as is the case with his comic book appearances), but it only makes his attempts a little more compelling.
The level of enjoyment for this film will differ based on your preference for the character. He is loud and crass; and he will make a few molestation jokes. He is the hero by which fraternities and sadistic cults will raise as an icon, forgetting to check for satire. For those that can handle his gimmicks, Miller does a decent job of balancing everything in a way that may not make it a truly cohesive comic book movie, but at least one along the lines of The Punisher: War Zone where the niche audiences will keep it alive. It's a mid-budget film that makes for a solid B-Level movie. If you go in for fun, you will get fun. If you go in for quality, then you may run into issues.
The one problem with the film is that Deadpool is supposed to be subversive and different. However, the origin story is both necessary and overlong providing very little towards the raucous energy that comes in the "present" scenes where the film is best left. The action is crazy and Reynolds' line deliveries are fitting. One can only hope that the kinks are out of the system and that whatever comes next will have less plot and more action. Deadpool is a character who doesn't need plot. He just needs to bother someone else to be a rascally scamp. His best moments are when he's riffing on the supporting cast, and frankly there could be more of those.
When trying to summarize this film, it is impossible to call it disappointing because it delivers on its promise where even the opening credits are a hilarious middle finger to comic book conventions. However, one cannot help but feel like the film never fully strikes the balance between defiance and homage in a way that matters. This will never be as revered as X-Men or The Avengers - and that may be the point. In fact, this could easily become a spaghetti superhero format where Reynolds churns these out annually and still maintains a loyal audience. The one benefit is that it finally gives Reynolds a good superhero movie. But, like Machete before it, maybe he is best left in the B-Movie realm so that he doesn't become too familiar and so that he can maintain his edge. Deadpool is a fun film, though not a great one. It will never be more than "What did you expect?" entertainment, and that may be just fine.
Rating: 3 out of 5
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