Let me start off by saying that this movie was very funny to the point that I laughed out loud on more than one occasion. Being normally quite reserved, I didn't expect it to be this funny. It is totally irreverent, has much swearing, nudity, and violence, so they stayed true to the character and the comic book. Unexpectedly, Stan Lee's obligatory cameo is as he announces the next stripper onto the stage.
I have really enjoyed most of the recent superhero movies - they are right down my alley. I can't count the number of days (or dollars) I spent at the local comic book shop perusing the back issues and finding out what issues and stories I had to look forward to. I was definitely a Batman fan from as long as I can remember, and I liked a few Marvel superheros, but I always kind of discounted Deadpool as a the Marvel version of Lobo, and I didn't really like Lobo.
I'd seen him in a few crossover stories, but they tamed him down compared to his own titles (they had to - his natural insistence on swearing and slaughter doesn't mix well with most of the mainstream comic books). In this movie, he's all Deadpool. They manage to fit in at least two Green Lantern references (for the crappy movie Ryan Reynolds was in) and at least one reference to the version of Deadpool from X-Men Origins: Wolverine (in the
review of which I stated, "Let's look past the fact that Ryan Reynolds should clearly never be in any superhero film ever - we learned that lesson from Green Lantern.") Well, I was wrong. Ryan does just fine as THIS Deadpool.
Even my wife, the one who sighs at the thought of having to sit through another superhero movie where I will inevitably complain about some misinterpretation of a character, some crappy CGI that didn't need to be in there, or the miscasting of Ben Affleck in... pretty much anything he's in #DamnYouDareDevil, said when the credits rolled that she really liked the movie.
As a movie, it had a few issues - there was WAY too much breaking of the fourth wall (which totally happens in the Deadpool comics, so I get it) and CGI that was... I guess it was necessary for the director to get what he wanted like a barrel rolling truck that lands in just the right spot, but the physics in the CGI STILL doesn't seem like it's 100% yet. Jurassic Park is 20 years old - get the physics together, people!
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I am a CGI truck.
Watch me flip. |
Honestly, I'm just going to give a quick shout out to each of the major supporting cast members: Morena Baccarin as the hot girlfried is an underused actress who can probably carry her own movie. Ed Skrein is a guy I referred to as a discount Jason Statham, and I still think he is. That isn't always bad. T. J. Miller seems hit and miss sometimes, but he was a solid hit here. Gina Carano seems to have put on some bulk for the movies. I don't mean that she got fat - it's like she decided to go the Rock route of adding bulk (she was almost unrecognizable). Leslie Uggams is a foil for comedy as the blind roommate. Brianna Hildebrand unsurprisingly winds up being a very powerful mutant after a very, very long time for her to whip out any of her power. Stefan Kapičić is the new incarnation of Colossus, and I am satisfied that it is substantially better than the half-assed version in the X-Men movies.
Effects were good in general
Acting was very good
Dialogue was excellent
Direction was good
Story was good
Bottom Line: An irreverent comedy and superhero movie that is probably best in small doses but is good in the current bunch of movie offerings.
4.0/5
