One from the to watch pile…
Deadpool (2016)

Film:  

I never wanted to see Deadpool. 

I detested pretty much well everything that Rob Liefeld, comic ‘creator’ and ‘artist’ did to my favourite comic, which I had been collecting since issue 1, Marvel Comics’ brilliant The New Mutants, and every time I saw one of his new characters, I rolled my eyes at the crudely drawn, horrible characters. The New Mutants was a companion comic to The Uncanny X-Men that started in the early eighties and told of Professor X’s attempt to relaunch his school for super powered kids.

Deadpool was amongst those characters that helped execute it and I pretty much well ignored him until around 2004 when I was attracted to the art in a comic called Cable & Deadpool. I enjoyed that comic’s irreverent humour, but when it folded I didn’t actively pursue either character, so Deadpool and I drifted apart again.

I do however enjoy the X-Men movies, and if I’m completely honest, I loved Ryan Reynold’s portrayal of the character in the dreadful X-men Origins: Wolverine film, but mainly because they completely screwed him up, and I hoped that he would be retro-fitted out of the Marvel comic universe…

However, I must eat a large slice of humble pie as I just watched the film Deadpool… and loved it. The film is the first feature film from visual effects designer, now director Tim Miller from a script by Rhett Reece and Paul Wernick (both from Zombieland, which explains a lot about the comedy in this), from comic ideas from Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld.

Deadpool tells of ex-special ops guy Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) who now earns money as a mercenary, with the occasional good will job. He meets and falls in love with Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) and things seem to all be great until one night he passes out, and they discover he’s suffering from multiple cancers.

After some research he decides to take up an offer he’s received to have his cancer cured by having an artificial mutant gene introduced to his body by a man named Ajax (Ed Skrein), but what he doesn’t realise is, Ajax sells the mutated people as weapons.

Wilson is a giant smartarse, and takes great delight in teasing Ajax, who in turn tortures him as a petty revenge. The operation is successful and his body now has a healing factor akin to Wolverine’s, but it does have some cosmetic side effects… And perhaps fractured his mind.

So with his help from the X-men Colossus (voiced by Stefan Kepipic) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand), Wilson becomes Deadpool, and seeks Ajax and his men out so he can reap bloody revenge…

This film is one of the most entertaining comic films I have ever seen, with perfect comedy timing and an element of violence not before seen in a mainstream Marvel character’s film. The cast is bang on with their performance and the choreography of the violence is catastrophic and awesome.

I must say that being a comic fan is of great benefit to watchers of this film, as is knowing that there have been other comic films around helps as there are references to everything from Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, the previous cinematic appearance of Deadpool and Ryan Reynolds not-entirely successful turn as Green Lantern. It’s not essential though, but your experience is certainly enhanced by it. This is possibly one of the endearing things about this film: it is self-referential, it regularly breaks the fourth wall and enjoys the fact that it KNOWS it can’t be taken 100% seriously… Because you know, basically the concept of superheroes is one that is hard to take seriously.

The film also doesn’t stop at any point for a breather. From the beginning of this built-like-Pulp-Fiction movie, if you aren’t cringing at the hyper violence, you are laughing at the constant barrage of filth coming from the main characters, or perhaps are admiring the hot naked girls in the strip club, or wondering how they got away with the sex scene. The best idea anyone ever had about this film was to make it for adults: innuendo does NOT exist in Deadpool’s world.

Also, Stan Lee’s appearance, and I won’t spoil it here, was certainly different from any he’s done so far!

If I have to really dig deep into my hyper-critical reviewer pockets to pick on this film, but I did and I have. Very occasional there are some dodgy CGI physics, and the character Colossus is SO obviously an effect… I mean, he’s a giant walking metal mutant, by the just never felt like he was not completely present physically in the film, like when Jerry the mouse (from Tom and Jerry) danced with Gene Kelly in Anchors Aweigh: most special effects take an element of deliberate ignorance by our brains to be effective, but I just never found him visually effective. Luckily his Boy Scout persona made that easier to overlook as he is Deadpool’s perfect straight man.

I am however being extraordinarily picky in this case as I liked the film so much and am just attempting to find some thing to take this film to task on.

The film is just so damn violent, so damn funny and so damn fun it’s like a traditional superhero film, but made by the guys who did The Story of Ricky with the script writer from Superbad. It’s hilariously violent, and violently hilarious. I think this 20th Century Fox production will open the eyes of other companies, including Marvel themselves, making superhero movies, and if the trailers to Warner Bros/ DC’s Suicide Squad are anything to go by, maybe they have…

Score: ****1/2

Format: This review was done with the Australian, region B, bluray (steelbook) edition, which runs for approximately 108 minutes, with a 2.40:1 image and a DTS-HD 7.1 audio, both of which are perfect. The package also comes with a digital download of the film.

Score: *****

Extras: 

Deleted Scenes with or without commentary by the director: The Raft, Cancer World Tour, , Extended Workshop Fight, Morgue, 5 Year Montage, No. 5 Bathroom, Extended Angel/ NTW Fight, Extended Rubble/ Gratuitous Worth It and Alt Coda. Some of these deleted and extended bits have unfinished CGI elements, but the lover of the making of films finds this interesting. Watching with Ritter’s commentary is quite informative as well.

I love me a good Gag Reel and this is excellent, a hoot and a holler, with heaps of dialogue freestyling from some of the cast.

From Comics to Screen… to Screen is a series of making-of mini docs including Origin…ier, Peoples and Muties, Stylin’, ‘Splosions and Magic! Watched from start to finish, these docos cover everything to do with the production of this film, and it’s entertaining as well.

We have Two Audio Commentaries on this disc too, one by Reynolds, Reese and Wernick and the other by Miller and Liefeld. Both commentaries tell of different processes and have different tales to tell of the production of the film, but both are heaps of fun and very informative.

There is a series of galleries for Concept Art, Costumes, Storyboards, Pre-vis and Stunt-Vis – Shipyard. Normally I hate stills galleries but this is a money saver as I won’t have to buy the expensive no-doubt-impending ‘Art of Deadpool’ hardcover book because all the images are here.

Deadpool’s Fun Sack is all the worldwide advertising for the film. It contains all the trailers and interstitials and a whole of bunch of posters.

Score: *****

WISIA: I’m already seeing it again. Nuff said!