'Deadpool' is the Superhero Formula ON CRACK!

Deadpool: The Sexiest, Funniest, Most Outrageous Superhero Alive!

HHHHHNNNNNN……AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH… (Me taking a really deep and heartfelt breath) 

The sweet, sweet relief of finally getting a Deadpool live-action movie! And a freaking kick-ass one at that! No, not that pasty white, mouth-sown, discount Baraka, piece of manure monstrosity in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, I’m talking about a PROPER Deadpool! The Deadpool we all wanted; the Deadpool we all DESERVE!

Ryan Reynolds stars as Wade Wilson, a former Special Forces operative turned killer for hire and all around asshole. When diagnosed with terminal cancer, he’s forced into accepting a shady government division’s inhumane rogue experiments for a cure. Their super slave program cures his cancer and gives him accelerated healing abilities but also permanently mutilates his body. Wade escapes the facility, puts on a mask and dons the identity Deadpool to hunt down the men responsible for his torture in hopes of getting his life back, or at the very least, pay them back for what they’ve done.

It’s all pretty standard, even predictable. But fortunately, that’s one of the VERY few and TRIVIAL things I could fault this movie for. Everything else was pure, unadulterated fun! Self-commentaries, 4th wall breaks, unapologetic sexual content, family-unfriendly language, and gratuitous violence…the only thing missing is his patented internal dialogue but other than that, THIS WAS EVERYTHING YOU COULD HAVE EVER WANTED FROM A DEADPOOL MOVIE.

That is, Deadpool drawing with crayons before dishing out a major ass-whooping.

Any film made with love and reverence to its characters and the lore is bound to be good, and Deadpool is definitely one of those films. There are only a few other movies in this genre that’s as faithful to its source material as Deadpool; and considering the utterly profane nature of said source material, that fact is even more impressive. This film never shies away from the material, never tries to water it down. It’s not sort of R, it’s a HARD R film. Graphic violence, nudity, and a whole lot of vulgarity, the works! It’s definitively Deadpool! And it was glorious!!!

With double pistols and a pair of katanas, you can expect to see lots of head shots, amputations and other very creative ways to kill bad guys. In true Deadpool form, the film’s action scenes were as hyper-violent as they were stylish. Deadpool twists and twirls and jumps around everywhere as if his fighting style was an amalgam of murder and dance. It was distinct, energetic and incredibly fun, and I’d see the movie again just for that!

His movement looks like an amalgam of murder and dance...and sometimes it's just actual dancing.

But that’s not even the top reason you’d want to catch it again! The absolute best thing about Deadpool? The writing! That script captured the uncapturable, Deadpool’s very snarky, infantile, schizophrenic personality. From the opening credits it was already very “Deadpool”. Descriptions like “God’s Perfect Idiot”, or “a British villain”, or “a CGI character” flashing on a landscape of bullet-time action and a sea of references and Easter eggs (including a magazine with Sexiest Man Alive Ryan Reynolds on the cover), it’s clearly a movie unafraid of making fun of itself; almost like a parody, except it actually makes an effort to be really, really good!

From marketing to movie, Deadpool is extremely funny!

That kind of comedic sense and quirkiness carries on from start to finish. Even more than his talent for murder and his slightly-better-than-Wolverine’s healing factor, Deadpool is best known for his inimitable offbeat, wide-ranging, rapid-fire humor and the film profoundly portrays that. Deadpool never shuts up! The Merc with a Mouth practically fires just as many quips as he does bullets. One minute you get crude, juvenile one-liners (this movie probably has more penis and masturbation jokes than any other single movie that’s come before) and then the next you get clever and in varying degrees of meta humor. There are jabs at the genre, at the Hollywood industry, at FOX and the creators of the film, and even at Ryan Reynolds himself and all of his less than successful attempts at comic book characters. Deadpool’s infamous self-awareness not only adds a unique dimension to the humor, but also means that absolutely no one is safe from being the butt of his jokes.

Watch out! His gun is loaded!

And the sheer volume of jokes, commentaries, and references, is too much to absorb in just one go!

But there’s also a very tragic element to the character before he gets his mutated rotor mouth and it’s drama that’s elegantly structured and paced, spread out and juxtaposed to the action and comedy. (If they hadn’t, I’d likely have been bored at the mandatory origin story.) Again, the writers definitely deserve a lot of credit for the narrative’s zen-like balance.

And to think this movie was almost never made! But the creative team, and most notably Ryan Reynolds, lobbied hard to give us this film (for 11 years!), and it’s very clear now why he did…

RYAN REYNOLDS. IS. DEADPOOL.

There is simply no other human on the planet who has the comedic prowess AND the physicality (and the big brass balls) to pull off Deadpool! Ryan Reynolds disappears in the character; and for someone as recognizable and type-casted as he is, that’s a major, major feat. (Although the mask and all the Ryan Reynolds jokes kinda help with that too.) Reynolds was born to play Deadpool…or Deadpool was made for Reynolds. It’s really hard to tell at this point.

According to the comics, Deadpool looks like "a cross between Ryan Reynolds and a Shar Pei."

...Deadpool and Reynolds is destiny. 

The X-Men supporting cast added to the film’s charisma as well. Colossus (the CGI character) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead were stark contrasts but hilarious foils to Deadpool. And when it came to it, they were also pretty darn badass during the film’s climactic fight scenes. Not only is this film guilty for giving us a proper Deadpool, it’s also guilty for finally giving us the Russian, powerhouse Colossus that we always wanted.

Cue the music.

I’m so incredibly excited for the sequel. Weasel was right, Deadpool looks like it’s going to be a solid new franchise for FOX, one I’m eager to see crossover with their other properties. But aside from the recently announced, very notable addition to the sequel’s cast, I want the see the writing delve more into Deadpool’s broken psyche, give Morena Baccarin more to do than being the damsel in distress plot device and come up with a more complex and challenging villain for Wade. Those and a real Hugh Jackman cameo! Please!

More Morena Baccarin!!!!

Director Tim Miller, Ryan Reynolds, and writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, I standing-ovation-slow-clap to you. Shooting and slashing carnage punctuated by sharp and assorted quips and the occasional boob shots; Deadpool is the equilibrium of ‘adult’ and immaturity. You have indisputably succeeded in creating the most accurate depiction of Deadpool fans could possibly hope for and proved that there’s still a lot you can do with the saturated superhero movie landscape. I’m glad you made this. The world is a much better place with Deadpool in it.

MICMIC RATING: 9.5 / 10 (WOOOHT!)

*First seen on The Philippine Online Chronicles!