It’s the movie that comic book fans have been waiting for, and boy have they been waiting a long time. Can you believe it’s been seven years since Ryan Reynolds popped up as Deadpool is X-Men Origins: Wolverine? Because I can’t. That means I was eleven when my Dad took me to see it, a little kid probably wearing a Spiderman t-shirt wondering why Dad was making me watch a film that wasn’t Spiderman. The buzz around Deadpool hasn’t really subdued since then, which is great because that buzz has finally paid off kids- not that any kids should see this movie. Everyone else should though, because it was hella awesome for all the reasons, the main five reasons being listed below…
1) All the women were bad-ass.
Yeah, the film’s called Deadpool for a reason, but I think the women in this film deserve a special mention because looking back on it they were so cool. Vanessa – Wade’s girlfriend/fiance/lover – totally owns her body, and can match the Merc with a mouth like no one else can. Yeah she’s captured, but as you’ll see, she’s not exactly the typical damsel in distress.
Then we have Angel, who turns out to be way stronger than the mutant Colossus, as well as the delightful (and wonderfully named) Megasonic Teenage Warhead who can detonate whatever the hell she wants.
My favourite of all has to be Al, the blind old woman Deadpool ends up living with after his transformation. Her appearance is never really explained, but their interactions are pure comedy gold. Overall, I’m giving the creators a thumbs up.
2) The film is so damn meta it hurts.
The fourth wall was broken so many times that I lost count. Every time the audience was addressed, when there references and easter eggs, I squealed with nerdy excitement. From the opening credit sequence, all the way to that post credits scene, every reference was glaringly obvious and guttsy, just the way Deadpool’s supposed to be. There are some that only Marvel fans are going to get, but when it’s staring you in the face (you’ll get that soon enough) and the rest of the cinema is dying with laughter, you’ll probably get what’s going on. It’s a movie that makes fun of itself simply because it can, and why the hell not?
3) It strikes the perfect balance between violence, tragedy and comedy. The holy trinity of film making. Or Ancient Greek literature.
For a film about a guy with cancer, it’s extremely lighthearted and rarely takes itself seriously. It won’t appeal to those completely uninterested in blood and guns and brains being blown out, and at times the violence may seem a bit excessive, what with the highly relevant discussion on gun control in the US, but I was able to stomach it and laugh along because every scene was coupled with Deadpool’s witty dialogue. That and my Dad introduced me to this stuff at a young age, as my intro says, so go Dad.
Overall, definitely the funniest film I’ve seen in a very long time, so go see it just for the lols.
4) It’s a superhero film for people who don’t like superhero films.
You’ll probably be enjoying it a lot more if you’re a hardcore fan of the genre, but the point of the film is that it’s not your standard ‘guy gets in a bad situation, guy gets amazing powers, guy saves the world, guy joins a team of superheros’ plot that Marvel’s kind of known for now. One of the biggest critiques of superhero films from the past decade seems to be that they all follow the cliche, but Deadpool tries to stand itself apart from that stereotype, as he says so himself. Even when it does get cheesy, like the guy-gets-the-girl scenario, it firmly makes fun of itself, over and over again.
5) Ryan Reynolds was made for this role.
Given that he’s been trying to get this movie made for so long, I think we should give him a round of applause for pulling it off so well. Maybe its because of that time I was eleven watching Wolverine, but I’ve never imagined anyone else playing the character. His voice fits perfectly, so hats (masks?) off to you, Mr Reynolds, for being such a wonderful human being.