He’s not a superhero and he’s not a villain. Perhaps that’s the most fascinating thing about Deadpool – he does want he wants.
This Valentine’s Day weekend marked the long awaited release of “Deadpool”, everyone’s favorite mercenary with a mouth. In fact, it has already broken the record for the biggest opening weekend for an R-rated movie, raking in $150 million within the first four days of its release.
From the second the opening credits rolled on screen, the movie was already dishing out some serious, Deadpool-style sarcasm, foregoing the actors’ names and instead opting for some rather hilarious, stereotypical descriptors of the actors themselves.
The film alternates back and forth between Deadpool’s backstory as normal guy Wade Wilson and the mercenary he is in the present, using flashbacks to tell his tale. One of the winning points of the movie is its ability to juggle emotional moments juxtaposed with the classic humor associated with the character. Wilson deals with some heavy issues, such as cancer and relationship problems, which leads him to unknowingly make the decision to become the superhuman we all know. Even at its most poignant points, the humor and sarcasm were always in play to lighten the mood.
The movie is surprisingly equal parts love story and action movie, which makes it a winner among both men and women. The humor, while definitely ranging more on the crude side of things, still had audiences laughing. That being said, it should be noted that this is not a superhero movie. At the very least, it is not the superhero we are all used to seeing from Marvel. In terms of action, it packs quite the punch, featuring rather gory, well-choreographed, yet hilarious fight scenes.
However it doesn’t feature potentially world ending and catastrophic battles for humanity as we see in other Marvel films such as Avengers and Captain America: Winter Soldier. Instead, we see a man on a mission. With the help of some X-Men, Wade takes on other mutants, trying to reclaim what was taken from him. In this sense, it makes the movie a bit more intimate, if not, more story-focused instead of wowing audiences with over-the-top special effects.
Actor Ryan Reynolds, who played Deadpool, did an amazing job portraying such a witty, fun, and driven character. He also never missed a chance to rip apart and jab at his previous role as the superhero Green Lantern, whom not many people were a fan of. For a “superhero” movie, it featured a rather small cast, more than likely so as to focus more on its star player. All two hours of the movie were good down to the last second of screen time. Overall, the movie manages to deliver a good time to all who see it, promising laughs, a good story, and a potential anti-hero-turned-superhero in the making. It leaves most people asking, “So, when’s the sequel?”
