Deadpool

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, Ed Skrein, T.J. Miller, Stefan Kapicic, Brianna Hildebrand, Karan Soni
Directed by: Tim Miller
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy
2016

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) seeks revenge on the scientist (Ed Skrein) who tortured him until his mutant powers developed.

Review:

Tim: It still feels unbelievable to me that we actually got a Deadpool movie that was done the right way to be true to the character. This film, within the X-Men franchise features nudity, a lot of graphic profanity, gruesome violence, and the main character breaking the fourth wall. I applaud Fox for taking a chance on this film. It obviously paid off, as this is shockingly the highest grossing film in the X-Men franchise. By all accounts, this is an amazing success.

Here's the only issue- I am apparently one of the few people who didn't love the movie. I liked it, to be sure- this is a good movie. However, it felt like too much focus was on the style and not enough on the substance.

The style is certainly incredible. Deadpool cracks exactly the kind of jokes you want him to- pop culture references, hilarious use of profanity, and this all comes at a mile a minute. The opening credits are some of the best I've ever seen. They make fun of movies like this and get the movie off to a good start. Tim Miller directs one of the most stylishly cool movies I've seen in the last several years. The problem is the substance. There's just not enough here. Some of this is due to the budget- Fox took a gamble, but they wouldn't invest all that much in the film. Miller does a great job of trying to distract us from that fact, but it's always there. This feels like a very small movie, and not in the purposely intimate feel of The Wolverine. It's like Miller knows he doesn't have the budget he needs, so they found creative means to try and hide this fact.

If you think about it, not a whole lot actually happens in the film. We get a lengthy flashback that tells Deadpool's origin story. I found this to be okay. Some of those scenes take way too long. The torture scenes felt like they dragged on and on. It was a little hard to watch and I didn't love them. Even some of the scenes with Wade and Vanessa felt like they dragged on a bit. In one light, it makes sense- those are cheaper scenes to film and they take up some of the run time. On the other hand, dragging out scenes is never very good. The movie's opening highway fight scene is probably the highlight of the film- it's incredibly cool. It kicks the movie off in grand fashion. The problem is that nothing else in the movie reaches the heights of that opening sequence. That is problematic. We do get the big finale, but that climax felt a little toothless to me. Much of the budget was spent on it, but it never wowed me. It seemed like an okay but lackluster conclusion.

On the positive side, Ryan Reynolds was born to play Deadpool. He's hilarious- his comedic timing is perfect. I can't imagine anyone ever playing the role better. He was a joy to watch in this role. He obviously loves the character. Reynolds is the biggest reason to see this film. Ed Skrein made for a bland villain. I know he's playing Ajax, but Deadpool calls him "Francis" for most of the film. That's not helping set him up as a worthy antagonist. Plus, I honestly believe Skrein is a bad actor. He's just so bland and lifeless. He can mug for the camera all he wants, he has no charisma and adds almost nothing to the film. This movie would have been much better with a good actor in this role. Morena Baccarin is good as Vanessa. I suppose I liked T.J. Miller as Deadpool's buddy, but Miller has been typecast a bit in these roles. He was good, but it was just very expected casting. Brianna Hildebrand surprised as Negasonic Teenage Warhead. She makes a positive mark on the film. The cast as a whole is certainly a plus, albeit outside of those few exceptions.

I feel badly that I didn't love Deadpool. I certainly wanted to. However, I struggled to get past its flaws. Now, while I didn't love it, I did enjoy the film. This is a good movie and it offered enough glimpses into the brilliance of this character that I expect great things from the sequel. With a big enough budget and the origin story out of the way, I firmly expect to love the sequel.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: X-Men, X2: X-Men United, X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, X-Men: First Class, The Wolverine, X-Men: Days of Future Past