Director: Tim Miller; Main Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, T.J. Miller, Ed Skrein;
Self-indulgent, self-complacent, self-aware, Deadpool is the (anti-)hero we need and the one we deserve. Finally the origin story of Wade Wilson (Reynolds), a.k.a Deadpool, done right, adopting a widely (over?) used approach of starting in the middle and then going back to the beginning with long flashbacks. The foul-mouthed, verbally incontinent Wade is a mercenary that threatens, hurts or kills for money but they tend to deserved it… at least from his point of view… so he has a kind of moral compass… more or less.The routine of his life of crime and hanging out with fellow criminals is upended by…drum rolls… meeting the love of his life: Vanessa (Baccarin). So cliche right? Well, the film is very self-aware in this too and the idyllic story is a match made in psychologically scarred heaven and presented in a very “alternative” way. Naturally fate strikes: Wade has only few months to live due to multiple cancers so he leaves his beloved and accepts to be the guinea pig of a rather shady guy, Ajax (Skrein). Ajax sports a clear British accent, dead giveaway in superhero/action movies! He is, of course, the villain of the piece! Anyway, Wade is tortured for a while but cured of el cancer. He gets superpowers but he’s horribly scarred… cue to montage: rampaging revenge and improving his gear! Fanboys and fangirls squeak with joy at the red and black suit and the ninja moves!
The writers follow the “keep it simple” rule for the plot but play a lot with tongue-in-cheek humour and references, effective breaking-the-fourth-wall moments (or even the sixteenth wall!) and the trademark verbosity of Deadpool. Behind the camera, Miller, balances well the tight-packed action scenes with moments of drama or comedy, making the film a fun ride! Wilson looks like he’s having the time of his life and he makes Wade an antihero not only you can root for but that you’d love to hang out with. Baccarin is reduced to token love interest/damsel in distress but she does it with flair. Skrein as the villain du jour is rather monotone and uninteresting, which is usually a common problem to many superhero films. All considered this is a very entertaining and more daring foray into the comic book world than its predecessors.
Final juicy tidbit is the post-credits scene: a really great use of a pop culture reference!
Brilliant —8/10
Ramblings of a cinephile 