Review // Deadpool

[projekktor id=’23080′]

If you’re afraid the Deadpool movie isn’t going to be as sardonic, bloody and foul mouthed as the trailer suggests – rest assured, it is. The film sets the tone instantly with probably the funniest, most self-aware opening sequence I’ve ever seen. This is not your typical superhero movie, but then again, Deadpool isn’t a superhero (a fact he is very keen to enforce).

In Deadpool, Ryan Reynolds reprises his role as Wade Wilson from 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The wise cracking dead shot has left his escapades with Wolverine and the armed forces behind him and now works as a mercenary who specializes in cases defending the unfortunate. Wade keeps a low profile, occupying himself at Sister Margaret’s School for Wayward Children aka the Hell House where he gets his assignments and his buddy Weasel (T.J. Miller) tends bar. Wade’s found the perfect girl in Morena Baccarin’s Vanessa and celebrates holidays whenever he feels like it. Everything is roses until he’s diagnosed with stage four cancer – his body is riddled with it – and with no shot at recovery he does the only honourable thing, signs up for a shady government experiment designed to make a mutant out of him. After being tortured by Ed Skrien’s Ajax, Wilson is cured of his cancer, but Ajax’s experiments actually transformed Wade into a healing machine – not too different from the aforementioned X-Man Wolverine. Wade is also grotesquely disfigured in the process, making him unrecognizable to the people he once knew and loved. Desperately wanting to return to his pervious life and reunite with Vanessa, Wilson gets a mask and a cool new name (Deadpool) and tracks down Ajax in the hopes that the mad scientist will be able to restore his boyish good looks. Deadpool’s not-so-subtle crime-fighting streak catches the eye of the X-Man Colossus (Stefan Kapicic) who attempts to put a stop to Wade’s spree before the newly super powered mercenary crosses the line from superhero to super villain.

Deadpool shoehorns its way into the X-Men cinematic universe at the perfect time. After the events of X-Men: Days of Future Past all canon concerning the modern day group of mutant heroes has been wiped clean. It’s the ideal time to give the fan favourite anti-hero a stand alone feature. Screenwriters Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick lift scenes straight out of the comic books and infuse them with so many self-referential one liners it made this film nerd giggle with delight. After the initial adjustment to the annoying (and yet charming) lead character, Deadpool reveals itself as a whip-smart, funny, enjoyable theatre going experience. An impressive directorial debut from visual effects artist Tim Miller, who manages to pair an engaging story with awe inspiring, over the top, brutal action scenes. No one’s pulling any punches in this movie. Deadpool delivers exactly what it promised, a film for the fandom that can also be enjoyed by viewers who have no idea who the ‘Merc with the Mouth’ is.

Reviewed by Vithiya Murugadas.