Deadpool [MA]

A masked and wisecracking vigilante dressed all in red stalks the streets looking for the villainous Francis against whom he has a personal vendetta. His objective: make the bastard pay for ruining his life, transforming him from regular cancer-ridden joe, Wade, to immortal and disfigured ‘superhero’, Deadpool. 

You know how Po said in Kung Fu Panda that, “he was so deadly in fact that his enemies would go blind from over-exposure to pure awesomeness”? This movie came pretty damn close to making that a reality! I say, “pretty” because I can still see what I’m typing, but ARGH THIS MOVIE IS SO AWESOME!!! A galactic step higher than the surprisingly successful comedy-action style of Ant-Man, Deadpool is practically faultless. It’s a refreshingly and crassly comedic ‘superhero’, really anti-superhero, movie that ticks all the boxes and I would strongly recommend that you all go and see it. Now. Like right now. GO! 

The best thing about this movie: it’s positively dripping with meta. Drenched in it. Swimming in it. And it’s delightful! From as early as the opening credits (keep an eye out for them, they are awesome) you’re aware that the film knows of its status as a movie and it continually draws attention back to that in the form of multiple fourth-wall breaks (including a fourth-wall break within a fourth-wall break), voice-over narration, literal rewinds and fast-forwards, sing-alongs with the soundtrack, and a bit of character and actor bashing (mainly Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman and it’s hilarious!). The film’s constant references to itself as a movie, to Deadpool as a character that got his own movie, are really refreshing and tickle the funny bone in all the right ways. Brilliant! 

And the story. What I love about the story is that it’s very simple, refreshingly simple in fact. You’d think with the ‘Marvel’ stigma overhanging it, there would be some sort of complicated narrative at hand, but actually this is really just a revenge story, plain and simple. Yes, it does take place within the same universe as X-Men and we do have two X-men characters hanging out at the edge of the ‘hero’ narrative, but ultimately this is a boy meets girl, gets bad news, makes a dud choice, and then seeks revenge on the guy that ruined his face. The simplicity of it works hand in hand with the character of the protagonist himself and the wonderful script that has been written for him. The dialogue in this movie is fantastic; fast-paced, sharp, witty, and sassy, everything you could want for a superhero that really doesn’t give a shit. 

And then we have the special effects and CGI! Yes there is a good helping of blood and gore and gross-out moments in this film, but it’s in these moments that the computer wizards get to show off their talents. Most of the highly memorable CGI moments take place whenever Deadpool cops some sort of horrible physical blow. The regrowing of his severed hand scene is one such moment. Disgusting but incredible at the same time, seeing this womb-filtered baby hand morphed onto the arm of a full grown man is disturbing, disgusting, and damned cool. So, whilst there is a lot of violence and gore and scenes that may disturb the stomachs of the squeamish, some of the best CGI achievements are in those scenes and they deserve an accolade. 

If there is anything bad to say about this movie it might be that sometimes the constant fourth-wall breaks and meta get a little too overbearing and take something away from scenes. Whilst I do love meta and what it does in books and film, sometimes it can get a bit too much and disrupt the flow of the movie. But now we’re just nitpicking because I really found so much to just love about this movie! It’s wow. How are you still sitting here reading this and not out watching it right now?! 

Starring Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, Ed Skrein, Michael Benyaer, Brianna Hilderbrand, Kyle Cassie, Randal Reeder, Karan Soni, Isaac Singleton Jr., T. J. Miller, and Stefan Kapicic, Deadpool is an insanely cool film that you should all be watching right now! 

Filled with action, romance, drama, violence, gruesome bits, loads of meta, and comedy, it’s downright bloody awesome!