It's the first superhero movie that makes me feel truly old... Mainly because I've never heard of Deadpool before, and I'm confused that a meta-comic exists in this otherwise predictable cookie-cutter universe that they've built around this mega-franchise.
I''m not sure how the movie will ultimately make you feel, but I laughed a lot. The film isn't high art, but it doesn't aspire to be.
Deadpool is so winning in it's first act. Then it loses it's tonal consistency for a bit before coming back strong in the second half. It funny, and meta, and self-referencial, and violent, and a love letter to comic book fans (as opposed to fans of comic book movies). The opening credits won me over immediately, but that may be because they have this weird Hollywood insider feel.
Not all the jokes land. However, those are far outnumbered by the ones that do and the whole affair so winking and self-deprecating that even the bad jokes are okay. In that way,
Deadpool resembles the
Austin Powers movies. The writers are throwing any joke at you they think will work, and they're not proud. The jokes are raunchy, foul, juvenile, crude, and hilarious. There
are moments when the movie feel like it's trying a wee bit too hard to be edgy, but those are few and far between. Plus, the pop culture references are fast and furious, and aimed at folks our age moreso than kids.
If there's a problem, it's that the hyper-violence while slapstick, takes a bit of getting used to in a comic book sense, though it shoves it down your throat out of the gate, so it's not like you start out with one thing and it suddenly goes a different direction. Yet Deadpool's origin story gets so dark and disturbing that coupled with the jokiness, the whole affair becomes a bit... I don't know, cruel? *That* is where I felt old. I don't mind gross jokes nor do I mind ultra-violence. However, the origin gets so literally torturous that it's hard to remember you're watching a comedy, and a bit of the satirical shine wears. It's like the mom scene in
Shaun of the Dead except far less artfully done.
That quibble aside, the movie has a heart of gold. Ryan Reynolds is insanely likable, and the rest of the cast does their jobs admirably. Morena Baccarin as the love interest is especially warm and arresting. It's not necessarily groundbreaking structurally, though they shake up the formula enough to make it feel fresh, even though at it's core,
Deadpool is really just your typical superhero origin story dressed up in stylistic gore and masturbation jokes. Still, it's so funny and so willing to make fun of itself and comic book movies in general, you don't care.
RC says check it out.
