After being diagnosed with severe life threatening cancer, Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) accepts an offer from a secret organization to become a rogue experiment in order for his cancer to be cured. When the process begins to take a turn for the worst, Wade's skin becomes disfigured as he becomes a failed experiment. After Wade makes a daring escape from the facility, he comes to the realization that he has inherited a powerful healing factor from the experimentation, despite his disfigured body. Armed with his new abilities alongside his twisted sense of humor, Wade becomes Deadpool and hunts down the head of the his experimentation, Ajax (Ed Skrein), who nearly destroyed his life.
Accuracy in Chaos & Comedy
Over the past decade, countless comic book films have been released, portraying a large variety of heroes saving the day from strong and powerful villains. It has been a formula that has been recycles and reused throughout and continues to work with the large rise in superhero films. While the concept can be found in Deadpool, it adds in own twists and flavor to the film that circles around the character's accurate portrayal. Deadpool has always been known as an antihero in the Marvel universe and continues to be in the film adaption as a mercenary, or commonly known as "The Merc with the Mouth." His character involves witty, heavily sarcastic behavior and attitude with heavy usage of violence when it comes to fighting crime. From the very beginning of the film, Deadpool strongly takes on the wittiness of the character in the execution of dialogue let alone in the overall plot. With this witty dialogue comes the breaking of the fourth wall by the character. Deadpool has always been known for talking directly with the audience, knowing fully well that he is in a comic book world. Because this is very well known and engrained into the character, the film executes it solidly, allowing audiences to have a great laugh and enjoy the film throughout.
Alongside of the strong adult comedy, the film does not shy away from the fact that it is R-rated. A violent R-rated film pushes boundaries but even then from time to time will have its limits due to the intensity of the plot. 20th Century Fox, however, does not hold back in proving just how R rated Deadpool is. When fight scenes are executed, the film relies heavily on the damage that Deadpool causes to Ajax's henchmen, from slicing limbs off to head decapitation. If there is one fact that Deadpool is known for other than running his mouth, it is his violent nature in crime fighting, self-defense, and acts of killing, which is nailed throughout the entire film. After watching this film and recognizing how violent it was even just by watching the trailers, there is no way Deadpool would have been a sucessful PG-13 film without having the Merc with the Mouth slicing and dicing it up on camera.
Backstory Stretch
Every superhero films one way or another needs a backstory of the character and how they came to be, good or bad. This tends to take place during the first 30 minutes of superhero film, from earning certain abilities to having a set goal on why they become a hero. Deadpool stretches this by having scenes throughout paint a picture of had happen to Wade in the past. While they were certainly necessary, they did drag on to a certain point. Does it take away from the film? In the long run, no, however it does take its time, having audiences wonder when the story would return to the present day.
While this was not a large problem for me, I was quite surprised that the film was only 1 hour and 40 minutes. Most superhero films today are stepping over the two hour mark in a large amount of ways to make room for what the film has to offer. For Deadpool, I was hoping for the film just to be a little bit longer, allowing the possibility of more scenes or an expansion on certain characters and plot points. Again, this does not take anything away from the film or the character, but it would have been great for other scenes to have just a little more depth.
Final Film Thoughts
Despite the number of accurate comic book based film that have come out, I have never seen such accuracy for a specific character, from the costume design to the overall backstory, personality, and execution. Especially if you are a fan of the comic books, Deadpool will certainly make you laugh and entertained throughout. It is not your average superhero movie, which makes it all the more enjoyable for audiences.
Final Film Review: 4 out of 5, 88%.