Oh hello. I don’t like to always follow the formula of film reviews. Sometimes I can’t help but use the dreaded pronouns I, myself and me. Sometimes I break away from the formula of having the first paragraph be about whether the film is good, the second paragraph introducing the plot followed by a third paragraph to expand on said plot and maybe start to go into the performances. Sometimes I never really have much of a fourth paragraph referring to technical aspects that stand out which often include cinematography, score or the stunts. Sometimes I skip straight to the fifth paragraph and rate the director in comparison to his/her other films before closing with the sixth where you reiterate how good it is maybe with a pithy comment. I don’t always follow this formula but it is insane how much better my reviews have been when I have started writing trying to fit this structure. By the way I really like the review I did for Youth if you’re interested. Deadpool likewise is a comic book movie screaming how much it is not like your average comic book movie and yet still following the structure of the formula in some ways. That’s not to say it isn’t like a breath of fresh air in this comic book movie saturated market. Timing can play a part in these things coming off Age of Ultron which was great but not as satisfying as its predecessor and arriving just before the juggernauts of Batman v Superman (v what the fuck is that?!) and Captain America: Civil War, Deadpool feels like a renegade upstart lacking the big bucks of those films but daring to go to places with meta-humour and adult content that those franchise four quadrant blockbusters would not dare. 
Guardians of the Galaxy, which I really shouldn’t be mentioning because the link to it is tenuous at best and will just increase my word count which is always far too long but screw it it’s a blog and nobody is paying me so I’ll be self-indulgent, arrived at a time that there hadn’t been a space opera in a while besides those Star Treks of which the latest was good but not nearly as funny as a Talking Racoon with a machine gun. If it came out now it might feel like it was trying to catch the wave of popularity The Force Awakens is enjoying. A few years ago Deadpool would have been subverting a genre the average movie goer didn’t know inside and out. It turns out my ex-wife was right, timing is everything although I think she was talking about foreplay rather than motion picture releases and box office success.
The film opens with possibly the best opening titles sequence of the entire decade, certainly the most memorable and original one I can think of in a long time. The camera tracking through a car crashing in ultra-slow motion, while orientating us to where the car’s occupants are and throwing up humorous self-mocking credits. This is a moment from the film’s most impressive action set piece. Opening with a conversation in a taxi cab it becomes a car chase down a crowded freeway that segues into a lengthy shoot-out before concluding with a character stand-off where the lead villain and two X-Men are involved. This sequence is such a stand out that it is broken up into at least the 4 listed sections above each ending with a cliff-hanger to peak interest before it is intercut with a series of flashbacks. By chopping and changing like this the filmmakers also disguise the fact that in sequential order the audience would basically be following yet another standard origins story. Ryan Reynolds plays Wade Wilson, a mercenary and former special forces soldier who falls in love with escort Vanessa played by Morenna Baccarin. The flashbacks while not as interesting are still unconventional themselves (the development of the central love story is partly depicted in a sex montage that will never let you think of international women’s day the same way again) but it is also where the film reveals it’s heart showing the lead character as vulnerable as we will ever see him. A cancer diagnosis is played honestly by Reynolds and Baccarin showing what a young laconic couple would face when disease creeps into their lives. 
Wade gets an offer to enrol in an experimental government project that will cure him but not all is as it seems. The torture basement where his mutant powers of healing as well as physical disfigurement come forth is suitably dinghy and depressing. Deadpool is actually insane in the comic books which I’m not sure is as obvious in the films where the fourth wall breaking just seems like a good running gag but his anger against villain Francis is well articulated and as an audience member you are right there with him following the basement story. The second act of the film having left the freeway and flashbacks plays as a more straightforward revenge showdown but is lightened by crude jokes and Reynolds’s nice interplay with Leslie Uggams as Deadpool’s roommate Blind Al.
Uggams is part of the supporting cast that fares best including Karan Soni as the taxi driver Dopinder, Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead, an assortment of people bringing Colossus to life and Gina Carano as Angel Dust completely channelling major henchman parts from 80s action films that I expected her to do a neck crack at some point. Baccarin as love interest Vanessa is limited somewhat in the second half but comes across as a whole human being in a role that would have been in danger of being a cliché. My favourite moment for her is when they are in the Doctor’s office. Ed Skrein is effective as Francis but lacks presence possibly due to playing against Reynolds in the role the latter was always meant to play-just not like he did in that Wolverine film! T.J. Miller as Wilson’s best friend Weasel has his moments which are a bit like his comedy. His acceptance speech at the Critic’s Choice Awards last year was awesome but the guy just doesn’t always do it for me and that’s true here too. I suppose since this is a review I should probably be more articulate in my opinion of Miller but I really would rather write about how amazingly hot Jennifer Garner is. I mean seriously those cheekbones, that smile. By the way Jenny there was absolutely nothing wrong with the black one. 
Absolutely nothing. 
I also respect you for your talent, personality and intelligence and I love my wife but there really was nothing wrong with the black one and yes I think about sex a lot. By the way I don’t have an ex-wife like I mentioned earlier. But if I continue to write blog posts like this…. Maybe I’ll need to buy a unicorn stuffed toy for myself too.
And now it’s time for the technical paragraph. Tim Miller shoots the action effectively and the effects are first rate especially given the budget, the crew are not lacking in ambition. The palette is grey and gloomy for the most part and I for one could’ve used a bit more colour but it fits the mood. Different sets are effectively lit to convey mood but there is little variety, this is a drab grey city that is mostly overcast when not raining and full of small dinghy apartments and bars. Yes the humour buys an awful lot of good will and is the best part of the film but if the action didn’t hold up or the film lacked heart we wouldn’t care as much. We do. The soundtrack as well is a fantastic arrangement of old hits mixing country, hip hop and power ballads. Juice Newton’s Angel of the Morning is well and truly back folks.
A few years ago I saw a great romantic comedy that pushed Sandra Bullock back into the superstar stratosphere. She followed with an Oscar win in The Blind Side, an excellent action comedy The Heat and anchored a special effects drama directed by a first rate film maker. Her male co-star Ryan Reynolds did some good films after The Proposal but if there was a Ryan who broke out in that time frame his surname was Gosling not Reynolds. But like I said kids it’s all about timing. Here we are and some of those failures have made this film’s success that much sweeter. Alright getting close to 1,200 words so better wrap this up. Ryan Reynolds can play a lot of different notes, he really can and I hope he gets to in the years to come but he has always delivered as a first rate smart ass and the Merc with the Mouth (that is not stitched up!!!) really is the role he was born to play. Did I say that already? Whatever he is great in this film.
I saw Deadpool on opening night in a packed cinema; the crowd was lapping up every minute. Two days later I saw it again for a late session and the theatre was uncharacteristically packed again. The marketing had been clever and hitting the mark for months but don’t let anybody tell you any different- nobody expected this. The film cost $58 million dollars and has so far grossed $710 million dollars worldwide. In its opening week initial gross estimates were revised three times at least. It was hoped to be a hit but it has surpassed all expectations and delivered something audiences were craving. It has not been an easy, likely or guaranteed journey to this film getting made let alone it being this good. God it’s just so nice when everything just comes together. If you’re 18, do yourself a favour and go see this movie.
-Lloyd Marken
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