Deadpool is another character from the Marvel universe, but don’t expect to take the kids to see this one. It’s about as anti-kid and family friendly as Marvel could ever hope to get. Here is a movie that is 108 minutes long and I would venture to say that 80 to 85 of those minutes are nothing short of absolutely hilarious.
Ryan Reynolds stars as Wade Wilson, a former Special Forces mercenary who finds out he has terminal cancer. He meets up with a secret organization that tells him they can cure him of his cancer and give him superpowers far beyond that of any mortal being. Wilson undergoes the program, but it turns out this group instead nearly kills him in order to give him his immortality and leaves him looking like a Freddy Kruger wannabe.
After he discovers his newfound abilities, Wilson eventually dons a red suit and goes out to fight crime under his new superhero name, Deadpool. From then on, Reynolds becomes a walking one-liner with enough banter to rival the likes of both Robin Williams’ Genie in Aladdin and Jim Carrey in The Mask.
The movie’s biggest strength is Reynolds and all his one-liners which would take another review to get them all down. There is one scene that effectively displays Reynolds’ commitment to the character and that is a scene involving him surrounded by criminals with automatic weapons and he has only two guns that can shoot six bullets apiece. His response: “I only have 12 bullets, so you’re gonna have to share!”
Deadpool is a pretty straightforward story. It’s much more of a jumble of stuff than an actual plot, but thanks to Reynolds’ terrific performance and some electrifying action sequences, Deadpool is definitely a winner.
As I said before, the movie is not family friendly, so I would assume there’s going to be a lot of battles in households as to whether or not parents will be taking their children to see it. It is outrageously violent and gleefully profane, but that’s one of the reasons why I embraced it so much. It refuses to go soft or sell out for a second.
Later this year, other superhero outings such as Batman V. Superman and Captain America: Civil War will be released. They have an extremely tough act to follow. Here’s hoping this will be just be the start of Marvel going in a different direction with some of their characters.
Grade: A
(Rated R for strong violence and language throughout, sexual content and graphic nudity.)
