DEADPOOL (2016)

Action/Comedy/Adventure
Directed By: Tim Miller
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin
For Fans Of: Any Comic Book Movies
My Rating: 9 out of 10

Yawn, another comic book movie? Jesus how many more of these do we need? What???? There is one in every month for the next century? You have to be fucking kidding me? This is generally how I have felt about the Marvel Universe and comic book films for a while. I mean, do we really need another Spiderman movie? I just think it's been over done. These movies seem to be continually churned out and I never really see a need. Usually you could copy and paste the general storyline from one to the other and effectively just edit out one villains name for another, likewise do the same with whichever caped crusader it happens to be about. Unless something new is brought to the table, which isn't often, it's usually far too predictable. Some nice action, but ultimately you know that the bad guys going to get his ass kicked in the end and the man with special powers will kiss the girl. There have been some saving graces of late. I thought Ant-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy were great. Notice both of these films feature heroes little known to the masses. I am not by any stretch a massive comic book fan. But the fact these characters were a bit more fresh than the overused more popular ones probably had a lot to do with that. So on we come to Deadpool. Not a character I am that familiar with. But from the mass marketing campaigns being run, this looked a lot more like my type of superhero. An adult character with plenty of filthy jokes who can kick as much ass as Batman. All the teasers hit the right notes, so walking into the cinema I was confident of a good film.

This was not a good film, it was a brilliant film. ​From the get go I could tell the humour would be spot on. It constantly ridicules itself and a lot of its comic book movie counterparts. It's witty, sarcastic and in parts downright filth in the best possible way. It also looked incredible, some of the action shots are visually stunning and beautifully engineered. The opening credits are some of the best I've ever witnessed and it sets the tone for the movie at the earliest opportunity. Perhaps the biggest shock was the romantic storyline. I just didn’t expect it to be so well written, I thought it was done better than any I've seen in this genre before. Maybe it was the February Valentines spirit I was high on. But I thought it was played to perfection. It's an excellent script brought to life by the superb Reynolds, whose rhythm and delivery of the lines all the way through made this a joy to watch. Co star Morena Baccarin is worthy of all the attention our hero gives her. It wasn’t perfect. I thought the main villain was ultimately just a bit too forgettable. But I totally get why inthe first movie of this franchise, it needed to character build rather than put in something that wouldn't fit. But this was about as minor a problem as I could find to pick out. For the most part I loved everything about it. From the jokes, to the action, to the also incredible soundtrack.

​Is it predictable? Yes of course it is. The villain does indeed get his ass kicked and the guy does indeed kiss the girl. But this comic book movie was just a bit smarter and more fun than most of the others, so it completely gets away with it. I really hope FOX and Marvel keeps up the good work because at a rate of nearly one comic book film per month in the next few years, I fear that most will not hit these dizzy heights. But I more than hope they prove me wrong if this is the caliber that can be delivered. This film was exciting, hilarious and romantic. It was different compared to the same old comic book routine usually jogged out. It broke the fourth wall and well and truly broke its way into my heart. Roll on number 2