Saturday, February 13, 2016

Deadpool - Movie Review: Are 90’s Pop Culture References Still Funny?




There were parts I was laughing so hard it hurt.
Deadpool starring Ryan Reynolds, TJ Miller, Morena Baccarin, and directed by Tim Miller. At its core Deadpool is still a standard origin story superhero movie. He goes through a transformation getting superpowers, and must accomplish a task to save the day. The difference between Deadpool and other cliché superhero movies is its self-awareness, comedy, and surprisingly its love story. The love story is the plot which ties the movie together. Wade Wilson’s sole motivation is to cure his cancer so he can spend his life with Vanessa. Once he gets transformed and disfigured he wants to change his appearance so she isn’t repulsed by him. His drive isn’t to become a superhero it’s to live his life with the women he loves. Along the way he just happens to become like a superhero, and crack hilarious inappropriate jokes while doing it.
The comedy of the movie is almost nonstop. It starts from the opening credits and only lets up at certain points throughout the movie.  I might have missed half of the jokes because they come so fast and furious at times. Some of the actual comic book jokes might have flown over my head, but the 90’s pop culture references didn’t. I was in a crowd who were probably too young to remember most of the stuff referenced and I found myself the only one laughing a few times. Guess that’s what I get for going to a 10:00 Thursday night showing. Most people my age had to work the next day. The jokes probably aren’t for everyone, but I loved all of the sick perverted humor. Not sure what that says about me, but since a crowded theater was laughing with me, I’ve got a lot of company. On top of the outstanding comedy are the stellar action sequences in the movie.
Every set action piece is executed brilliantly. Can you tell some of the things in the scenes are CGI? Yes, but it doesn’t detract from the film. It is over the top and brilliant. I was transfixed to the screen watching Deadpool inflict mayhem on his enemies. Either with his sword or gun each casualty caused was inventive and enjoyable to watch. Yes I realize it is a little morbid to enjoy watching this type of violence. Not sure what it says about our society and culture, I just know it’s enjoyable to watch a fictional character perform these acts. Which is also credit to the actors.
The performances are all fantastic. Ryan Reynolds was born to play Deadpool. He knocks it of the park. True it is similar to most of his other comedic roles, but it shouldn’t be a negative when you excel at one type of character. Morena Baccarin is fantastic as the female lead. The chemistry between Reynolds and her is believable and makes the love story work. You believed there types of crazy fit together. TJ Miller was great as another comedic relief element and he and Reynolds played well off each other. I can’t wait to see the deleted scenes with them that were too racy even for the final cut. Someone else I loved in the film was Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead. She was great as the irascible teen, and was a good contrast to Deadpool.  Was there anything in this movie that wasn’t good?
There isn’t much I can say negatively about Deadpool. The only minor problem I had was with Wilson not going back to Vanessa after he got his powers. He didn’t think she would take him back looking ugly. I just thought it was a stretch for this to be the reason for him not to go back to the women he loved. It is also a testament to how well their chemistry was established in the first part of the movie. Their love on screen is so believable, I didn’t think anything would keep them apart, even the way Wade looked. The only other small nitpick would be to cut out one of the apartment scenes with Blind Al to pick up the pace of the movie a small amount. It seemed to drag just a bit in the middle. I however still really loved each of those scenes and honestly wouldn’t want them cut. That’s all I can think of. There isn’t much wrong with this fun action packed superhero comedy.
With this being said this movie is of course well Worth Seeing. It’s worth seeing multiple times in the theaters so you can catch all the jokes. The one obvious thing is don’t take young kids to see it. There is a reason why it is rated R. I would say anyone 14-15 years old or over could go and see it, based on the kid and how flexible you are as a parent. I won’t be letting my eleven year old see it anytime soon.
Will you go and see Deadpool though? Did the marketing for the movie draw you in? Have you already seen it? If you did what did you think? What is your favorite R rated superhero movie. Deadpool is it now for me, before this it would have been Kick-Ass. Comment and let me know your thoughts. 

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