by Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick
Marvel Enterprises
Fans of Deadpool have been giddy since Ryan Reynolds definitely didn’t leak the test footage of himself playing the irreverent, pan sexual, anti-hero. Deadpool is everything the super hero genre is lacking right now–hilarious, subversive, violent and sexual. Emphasis on hilarious though.
Here’s the story: Wade Wilson is a mercenary who is not a bad person but definitely not a good person either. He’s madly in love with his fiancée Vanessa. He’s diagnosed with stage four cancer, and in an effort to save his life, agrees to be experimented on by a dodgy as fuck super hero factory. Turns out he’s being made into a super-solider-slave and while the process leaves able to regenerate from any injury, it also horribly disfigures him (and possibly makes him more unstable).
He spends the movie searching for revenge, a cure for his disfigurement, and a way back to Vanessa.
Redheadedgirl and I had lots of thoughts:
Elyse: Deadpool is a romantic comedy and I will fight anyone who says otherwise.
RHG: You ain’t gonna fight me on that, because we are both clearly correct in that assessment. I did bristle quite a lot at “Ladies, I bet you’re saying right now, ‘My boyfriend said this was a superhero movie!’” because Jesus Christ, Ryan Reynolds, you should know that Deadpool has a LOT of female fans (hell, Ask Deadpool is run by Emily Whitten) and we don’t need to be tricked into going. We were gonna go as soon as the trailer indicated the movie didn’t suck.
And it did not suck.
Elyse: I was afraid this would be one of those movies where the best scenes were in the trailers and thank God that wasn’t the case. Mostly because you couldn’t put most of the scenes in the trailer.
Was the violence gratuitous? Yes. Were the jokes off-color? Yes. Do we see Reynolds’ peen? Yes.
I loved every ridiculous minute of it.
RHG: The thing with Deadpool is that he is aware of the Fourth Wall, and he breaks it. That’s not an easy thing to do well, and they manage to find the line so they can hold true to the spirit of Deadpool, and also slam the Wolverine Origins movie as much as possible. Also the Green Lantern movie which, if you haven’t wasted two hours of your life on that, DO NOT. Just, don’t. Your bellybutton needs cleaning.
But Deadpool’s real thing is that he takes “uses humor to cope with a crappy deal” trope to like, 17. And he’s kind of a delight. A crass, gross, a little sexist, violent, overly horny delight. Reynolds just gets it. YAY.
Elyse: It’s funny because the audience is in on the joke, and because it makes fun of the genre, and because often Deadpool is the butt of his own jokes.
I laughed so hard during the scene when Deadpool is trying to beat up Colossus and just keeps hurting himself. Or when he shows up at the mansion and makes the comment about how only Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead are there, like the studio couldn’t afford more X-Men. And allllll the Hugh Jackman references. It was gold.
RHG: Or how this movie only got made because of a little movie called “Pullverine.”
CAN WE TALK ABOUT NEGASONIC TEENAGE WARHEAD THOUGH? I want her to get a movie. I’d watch her angrily tweet and raise a sullen eyebrown and then blow shit up ALL DAY LONG.
ALL. DAY. LONG.
Is it a deep movie? No. Does it make sense? Well, kinda. Would I watch extended scenes of Deadpool and Al discussing the merits of IKEA furnature? Yes I would.
Elyse: And I was really, really engaged in the romance. Wade and Vanessa are an amazing pair and the story veers a little bit into Beauty and the Beast territory with Wade being terrified to show Vanessa how badly he’s been disfigured.
This movie also has a really positive depiction of a female sex worker. Vanessa is a prostitute when they meet and apparently a stripper later and no makes any comments about it at all.
What did you think of the romance?
RHG: Ultimately, I liked it a lot. I like that they had compatable crazy, and we witnessed an on screen female-on-male pegging, and they ADORED each other. “I’m trying to memorize every detail of her face” MY COLD BLACK HEART. Yeah, her characterization was a little bro-fantasy, and hopefully in the sequel (already green-lit) she’ll be given a chance to be her own superhero, but Morena Baccarin has chemistry with everything, so she’s a delight. And she’s not here for Wade’s bullshit.
And they’re CUTE. “I slept in a dishwasher box!” “OH SO YOU HAD A DISHWASHER.”
Elyse: Ah, yeah, this is not a kid friendly movie. Not unless you want to explain pegging to your kids.
One thing that bugged me was that Deadpool didn’t look as bad as he does in the comics. In the comics he’s supposed to be horrifically disfigured, but in the movie, honestly, it’s not that bad. And given how much Vanessa loves him, I didn’t doubt that she could see past it.
RHG: Oh, Elyse, you know that modern movie protags can’t be really disfigured.
Exhibit a:
Exhibit B:
But Masculinity So Fragile, yo.
AND YES DO NOT LET YOUR 11 YEAR OLD TALK YOU INTO THIS MOVIE. DO NOT THINK “Oh, I let my 4 year old watch The Avengers, so this is obviously okay.” IT IS NOT. They are not kidding around.
I don’t think this is going to turn into a trend of “all comic book movies are now R-rated!” because there’s too damn much money in a PG-13 rating. But as a seasoning in the Superhero Smorgasboard? I like it.
Elyse: Let’s talk about villains. I love that they poked fun at the typical British bad guy. The whole Ajax/Francis thing was glorious.
I also liked that the physical powerhouse was a woman, Angel Dust. Although I suspect that some of the jokes about her being masculine will piss some people off.
RHG: I liked his basic plan was “Find desperate people, make mutants, sell mutant, PROFIT!” It’s tidy and neat and not like “AND THEN I WILL TAKE OVER THE WORLD. Not every villian is trying to rule the world. That’s a lot of work.
Elyse: I think overall the plot was pretty tight–get revenge, save fiancée. It wasn’t overly complicated so we really got to focus on the funny. And there was a lot of funny.
RHG: Grade? It’s like, ungradeable, tbh. A, based on the sheer amount of fun I had while watching it, I think.
Elyse: It was everything I needed it to be and I had ridiculous fun. A
Deadpool is in theaters now and you can buy tickets (US) at Fandango and Moviefone.
I saw it Saturday and loved it so much I went back Sunday. And thank god I did, because I missed this the first time:
Colossus: Let’s go see Professor.
Deadpool: McAvoy or Stewart? These timelines are so confusing.
I enjoyed the movie, though I went with a B+ instead of A (review at http://thearmchaircritic.blogspot.com/2016/02/deadpool.html ). While it was funny, every character could pretty much be summarized in one sentence or less (and did Angel Dust have any character or personality?). I also wasn’t blown away by the romance, as the “hooker with a heart of gold” doesn’t do it for me and his one-sided decisions to leave her to spare her what was coming didn’t show any respect for her part in their relationship.
One thing I did love about the movie was that, except for the very end, Deadpool kept his mask on. I am tremendously tired of Marvel superhero movies where the star(s) conveniently lose their mask before/during the big finale, I suppose because the actors think they can’t sufficiently emote well with part of their face covered. (For a movie showing you can emote well even with a full static mask, check out V FOR VENDETTA.) But Deadpool’s mask stayed on for almost the whole movie, and it worked fine whether he’s telling jokes or angrily hunting down Ajax/Francis.
@Lynda: I laughed so hard I cried at that line, and there was some guy a few rows up who was just howling with laughter at that line as well.
It was just hilarious, and I think maybe I do need to see it again…
Also, love the Phantom of the Opera comparison– I mean, seriously, Christine Daae, Gerry Butler with a slightly messed up part of his face and weird hair is not the worst thing that could happen to you. Just saying.
Re: the kids in the movie… I’d actually be totally fine explaining pegging to my kids, but sweet Jesus, some mom snuck her THREE YEAR OLD into the movie when I saw Deadpool last weekend! (I know the kid was 3 because that’s what the mom said to the women at the ticket office when she was asked- they refused to sell her a ticket, she said “Really?” and then bought a ticket for something else… then we saw her three rows behind us as the lights came up after the movie).
That was my only complaint. Otherwise loved the movie itself. 🙂
Only two reviewers? It’s like SBTB couldn’t afford more tickets. 🙂
As a longtime fan of the comic, I like that it was as accurate as it could reasonably be, especially when it came to Colossus and how much of a goody-good he is. Only Nightcrawler could really out-cheese him and they needed a stronger guy for plot reasons.
There were a bunch of little kids in the theater when I saw it!
I’d give it a B. Definite hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold cliche (also, so male fantasy the hero ACTUALLY SAYS “It’s like I created you in a lab!”) tho I agree that Morena Baccarin is a delight in everything. Reynolds was funny, and I thought the Silicon Valley bartender dude’s whole “you look like an avocado that had sex with an older avocado” aria was HIGH-LARIOUS. I do not understand why there weren’t more actors of color, though I loved Leslie Uggams. I too want a Teenage Negasonic Warhead movie, because THAT EYEBROW. Super villain was dopey. Stakes felt really low b/c Deadpool can’t die and Ajax can’t feel pain. I felt bad for the the cabdriver, who is just supposed to suck it up that Mr. Pool doesn’t like to carry a wallet b/c it ruins the lines of the suit? And then he comes back again for the price of a high five? No. (I realize I’m asking for class-conscious realism in a superhero movie.)
Also, for all the gleeful talk about how pansexual Deadpool is, he only has sex with a woman. Tokenistic and teasing. And we do see his peen briefly in profile, but we get the full-on boobular look-your-fill stripper ogling. Again, lip service to progressive views on sexuality. I did appreciate the pegging. 🙂
I lurved it. I will go back for another big-screen experience. But on half-price tickets. Opening sequence – “Gratuitous cameo!” Lol.
I’m a fan of fourth-wall-breakers when they’re done well. The Sum of Us with Russell Crowe comes to mind.
But big thing: “I NEED THAT SOUNDTRACK” It even has Mera Joota Hai Japani. I know it does, because I stayed for the end-credits scene, and read as many credits as I could. “Oh you’re still here…”
@majorie Ohhhhhh no. We get a full on peen shot. It’s when he’s skewered to the floor. Cash and prizes on full display.
@Sure Thing
OMG THE OPENING CREDITS! I was howling. And all the Hello Kitty stuff. LOLOL
Wow. Sum of Us! I didn’t think anyone else knew that movie! That was a good one.
@Doug Glassman: I also saw the movie and really enjoyed it, though I wasn’t part of the joint review. As someone who used to be into comics, I’m curious what they’ll do with Vanessa and if they’ll make her into Copycat in a later film. Or if she’ll go the way with most love interests in superhero movies, never to be seen again.
I ADORED it! All the way through I was veering wildly between laughing myself sick and just wanting to sit Deadpool on my knee and pet him, oh god. This movie was so rude and yet it gave me all of the feels. And it was romantic as hell, and I loved that Vanessa was just as much of a jerk as Wade, and they just fit so well. I would’ve liked to see her given more to do, but hopefully they will in the sequel given her role in the comics. A, definitely.
My favourite non Brian K Vaughn non Manga comics!! Need a babysitter asap.
My raucous laughter may’ve disturbed some folks through the opening credits.
I’ve never been particularly fond of comics and haven’t read Deadpool. Could someone unaware of the background or the Marvel universe enjoy the movie?
@Joy: I would say, yes. You may not get some of the jokes or cameos, but I still think it’s enjoyable for non-comic fans.
Joy, I didn’t know a thing about Deadpool, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.
Although I’m quite familiar will all the other Marvel movies from the last few years. 🙂
So much love! 🙂 Need to see it again!
I’m embarrassed to admit that I totally cried with the whole cancer scene. I’m such a softie.
The whole who can call what a mutant and reference what movies due to copyrights is getting annoying though :/ Definitely limits what bad guys Deadpool gets to use in his next movie.
I, too, loved the idea of making super powered ‘heroes’ and enslaving them – what a concept!
I’m kind of surprised to see nobody’s mentioned the rape jokes, which could be triggering.
Yeah, I didn’t like the rape jokes. But they did go by quickly, and then we’d get to something I liked. I enjoyed most of the movie, but about 10 % of it was either too much, or not funny to me. Still good, and way different from anything out there. But yeah, I don’t personally feel the need to see it again any time soon.
I loved it, though there were times I wish there was some sort of secret flashing symbol for “avert your eyes now if you’re squeamish”. A little Deadpool doodle in the corner?
@Joy,
I went based on the premise “I feel like an action movie and this one is showing at the right time” bit with no expectations despite the lengthy queue. Plus, had second thoughts when I noted the average age of the line-up was at least one generation (if not two) older than I.
I didn’t get the Marvel jokes but there were enough other one-liners to keep me entertained. And how.
I loved the fun parts in the movie. The opening credits were truly awesome and set the tone for the movie. So did the end credits with the cartoon of the unicorn. But some of the violent scenes were too gory to handle. The first part of the movie, I was either howling with laughter or closing my eyes and cringing at all the blood, brains and flying body parts. Still, couple of hours of great entertainment!