Taking It To The Genre’s Mouth

There’s no denying that in recent times, there has been some hefty discussion over the saturation of Superhero films in the current industry and how, regularly, each year, the numbers of Superhero films seems to be getting bigger and bigger. I mean, in fairness to the Studios that do produce and distribute the Superhero films, you can’t blame them since it’s the headline genre that makes the most money these days. While down the road of this year we are going to get the ‘main’ Superhero films of the likes of Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Captain America: Civil War and Suicide Squad, It’s vital that we don’t forget some of the other titles that could easily take the mantle of being the better Superhero film of 2016 and this is no different with the recent release of Deadpool. Although in fairness, it’s not necessarily an archetype and character that the general viewing audience wouldn’t of heard of, Deadpool is ultimately a film that is simply refreshing for the Superhero genre and is quintessentially, one of the funniest Marvel related films you’ll ever have to watch. Okay, on the general outlook it’s not as grand as opposed to something like The Avengers or another big Superhero hitter, but for what it’s supposed to do for the audience with it’s crude yet satisfying gags, it’s commitment in breaking the 4th wall and the romance which is far told better than any other romantic side-plot in other Superhero films, Deadpool figuratively, hits the nail onto the coffin…

This isn’t just your typical Superhero origin story, but an origin story of Special Forces operative turned mercenary Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) who receives bad news in the fact that he is diagnosed with cancer in his liver, lungs, prostate and brain. Leaving behind his better half in Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) who is equally crude and humourlessly twisted, Wade leaves to a facility that will not only cure him of his cancer, but also give him incredible powers in the process. Although at first it may seem like a positive way forward for Wilson, this process, which is ran by Ajax (Ed Skrein) along with Angel Dust (Gina Carano), is nothing but a lie as Wilson undergoes torture techniques until he becomes a super slave to be auctioned off somewhere else, ultimately resulting in Wilson never seeing Vanessa again. After a fiery incident at this facility and being subjugated to torture which has left him with incredible accelerated healing powers, Wilson seeks revenge against Ajax under the alter-ego… Deadpool. With the help and appearances of  X-Men companions Colossus (Stefan Kapicic) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand), Deadpool hunts down the man who nearly destroyed his life…

While I will get around talking about how Ryan Reynolds’ performance as Deadpool is something to appreciate, it would be criminal not to mention the directorial debut of Tim Miller who manages, quite frankly, to do the impossible in this day and age with Superhero films; to create a comic-book adaptation that is likeable for fans and other audience members a like. Okay, as mentioned in the introduction, from the outset Deadpool was never really going to compete with the grandeur of the likes of ‘The Avengers’ or Christopher Nolan’s ‘Dark Knight’ set of films which made huge income at the box-office, but for what Tim Miller tried to do with the budget he had at his disposal, he went beyond the expectation of what people perceived of this film. Even though the president of trailers consists of boorish jokes and one-liners that Reynolds funnily delivers, Deadpool is surprisingly heartfelt and romantic at it’s core with Miller correctly using a romantic counterpart similar to that of Reynolds characters personality. With saying this, what this shows is Millers understanding of providing a balance with the film. At face value it might seem like a film that is a full feature-length meme, but Miller, with his background in other filmic projects in the form of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, is savvy enough to understand that there’s more to Deadpool than quips and dismemberment and this comes in the form of the romance we witness.While what I’m about to say has got some people divided whether it works or doesn’t, a big plus when watching Deadpool would be that of the story structure since it’s not only refreshing to gaze upon, but it’s narrative platform that is a lot better than some of the other Superhero films that overly dwindle over an ‘origins’ story. Granted, by the time we are at the end of the film, we all know how the ending set-pieces will go down and that’s a trope from comic-book adaptations to films that I’ve always questioned over. However, what’s evident from the get go with Deadpool, is the inventiveness the story can be in the first half of the film. The film decides not to bog you down with just a simplistic and linear origins tale right from the start, instead we are greeted with the action-set-piece, that is heavily noticeable in the many trailers there are for this film, but goes back and forth with the flashbacks of Wilson’s anti-hero origins and cuts back to the present with the action a couple of times which I thought worked well. What I was most impressed with this was the way in which the origins story was told. Again, they purposefully went for the flashbacks technique so we don’t get bogged down with the narrative and it worked well with the screening that I went to. Making a film around a character like Deadpool was in of itself a good concept because it appeals to all audiences with not only the jokes, but the fans will like how the origins story is told and for people coming into this knowing nothing about Deadpool’s character, they’ll enjoy very much his romance and the comedy that he quickly and expertly delivers. Knowing only my fair share of the character of Deadpool with the cameo appearances he makes with the X-Men and Spider-Man in other previous works, I really enjoyed watching the origins since it was an origins story that I never really read upon. Flashbacks and fast-forwards in some films can be something that is repetitive and overused to tell a story that sometimes doesn’t need going back-and-forth, but with Deadpool, Miller finds this perfect balance of providing a tale that never seems to lag, and is instead enjoyable to watch.

There’s not secret to state that Deadpool, alongside Miller’s directorial debut, is Reynolds’ show to express “some rage” and his burning passion for the character fuels a now career defining performance. Imbued with the divine gift to make even the crudest riffling gleam with cheery charisma, Reynolds nails each beat of wacky humour and expressionate body personality so effortlessly that there’s the uncanny feeling of him literally dipping ink from being lifted off the pages of a comic. While I could go on to talk about the vast-array of jokes that were used in this film and how in return, Deadpool is quintessentially the funniest Marvel related film there has ever been on the silver screen, one thing that’s worth pointing out in terms of the performances, is the chemistry that Reynolds’ character has with everyone. Despite having to combat a part that doesn’t appear as much as it should, Morena Baccarin as Reynolds’ counterpart as Vanessa, is someone that matches the likes of Deadpools damaged snappiness and is equally as likeable with a one-liner that she demonstrates to us and Wade Wilson. Even though I thought the villain of the film was again somewhat boring and a bit predictable similar to that of the end of the film, Ed Skrein as “that British villain” does bring enough pompous and banter to the show, especially whenever he interacts with Deadpool with the simple yet sweet recurring quip of “what’s my name?”. The chemistry that certainly appealed to me more was with the X-Men characters of  Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (that name!) as it was in the end, a nice touch since Deadpool is pretty much synonymous with the X-Men world. Probably my favourite gags of the film would be X-Men related humour, especially when Deadpool in once scene breaks the 4th wall, like he so often does in this film, and states simply, “Wow, this is such a big house, but I only ever see the two of you here. It’s like the studio didn’t have enough money for any more X-Men…”

While I could go on to talk more about the jokes which worked probably 90% of the time and were jokes that I couldn’t remember after walking out of the cinema, Deadpool overall is a good entry in a franchise that will hopefully explore the character in future films. Already, Millers film is proving to be a financial hit which is really pleasing to see considering it’s his first film that he’s directing and the fact that he had to work with a relatively small budget which in the end, paid off. From enjoying and being entertained by the films delivery and how it’s becoming a rather successful film at the box-office, it has, for me, brought up a few questions on the future of not only whether will Deadpool possibly make appearances in other future Marvel projects, but brings this question into fruition of whether you sometimes need a big budget to create something as simple as a Superhero film? One thing is for sure though, Deadpool IS the funniest Marvel related film there ever will be, but goes beyond the call of expatiation for both fans and ordinary viewers a like with it’s engage-able romantic angle it takes up. For sure, it does have problems with the predictable ending set-pieces and a bit of an underwhelming villain, but for what Miller did with this concept, he succeeded in creating one of the better Superhero films to watch. It really is time to get the Chimchangas out, and watch this film!…

And on that note, it’s time to for me to end this short review. As always everyone, thank-you for reading my latest film review and I hope you enjoyed the read. If you do have an opinion on the film or the review, please feel free to drop a comment down below. I’ll be back next week with a film review of High-Rise which I got the chance to see early. Until that review, I’ll see you all later! Adieu!! 🙂

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ – Alex Rabbitte