Since I am a parent of two young children, and the closest movie theater is about a 30-minute drive, my most recent trips to the movies have been to see children's fare like "Inside Out" and "Minions." (Although we did sneak in some time to see "Star Wars: The Remix" and "Mockingjay: We made two padded-out movies out of one book").
Still, most of the movies I really want to see end up being on demand or on Netflix. I rented Deadpool on demand.
I had a good feeling coming into this, because it was marketed well, and looked like it would be a lot of fun. Audiences agreed, because it made a whopping $750-plus million internationally. It was the highest grossing R-Rated movie ever, and surpassed many other superhero/comic book movies like "Guardians of the Galaxy," both "Amazing Spider-Man" movies (the ones with Andrew Garfield), "Iron Man" 1 and 2, "Man of Steel," "Batman v. Superman," and every other "X-Men" movie. This was on a modest $58 million budget, which is about 1/3 the cost of most effects-heavy entries in this genre. Granted, some of the CGI effects looked like CGI, and lacked the refinement of the pricier superhero movies, but the filmmakers managed to make Colossus, a CGI character, look great.
Just to point out, his is not part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (the Avengers et. al.). This is technically a spinoff of the X-Men movies.
First of all, what a riot! Deadpool's frequent breaking of the fourth wall and vulgar sense of humor worked perfectly here, as did the bloody violence. Ryan Reynolds was a perfect fit for this part, kind of like how Robert Downey Jr. seemed like he was born to play Tony Stark/Iron Man.
The movie knew exactly what it wanted to be. It took itself seriously enough so it didn't become an all-out farce, but wasn't too serious. The tone was set from the hilarious opening credits: "Starring God's Perfect Idiot, A Hot Chick, A British Villain, A CGI Character... Produced by Asshats, Written by The Real Heroes Here..." you get the point. This is set to a freeze-frame of a car full of bad guys wrecking (and Deadpool tea bagging a bad guy) as Juice Newton's "Angel in the Morning" plays. In otherwords, I was already laughing uncontrollably 30 seconds into the film. I would have loved to hear how a packed theater reacted to this opening.
This was not a perfect movie, but it was pretty damn good and really entertaining. Looking past the off-color humor, fourth wall breaks and graphic violence, the story is, for the most part, a standard-issue superhero origin/revenge tale. It is the humor and Reynolds' performance, however, that make this movie particularly memorable, and made this movie the success that it is. My wife enjoyed this movie somewhat, but said it was a bit too crude for her tastes. In her defense, it was awfully violent and very offensive.
A unnamed movie industry executive said he loved this film's willingness to make fun of itself. "Guardians of the Galaxy" director James Gunn rightfully ripped this person a new one. I tend to agree with Gunn, who said "Guardians," the "Iron Man" movies and "Ant-Man" all shared a humorous, self-deprecating tone, and "Deadpool" succeeded on its own merits thanks to good performances and good writing.
Also, I worry a little about the film's success relative to its R rating. I am fearful that stupid Hollywood execs, like the one above, might add gratuitous sex and violence to comic book/superhero movies for no particular reason other than the fact that R rated movies can make a lot of money. This is a dumb idea. It works for Deadpool, because the comic book character is also very sick and twisted, and has a filthy mouth. The next Wolverine film will be rated R. I am OK with Wolverine being rated R as well, because, well, 12-inch blades protrude from his hand. However, there is no reason for Superman, Iron Man or Captain America movies to be rated R, because the more mainstream comic books are not overly violent or profane.
Finally, as Deadpool revealed in the hilarious end credits that spoofed Ferris Buehler's Day Off, Cable will be in the next movie. The rumor mill says Dolph Lundgren will be cast in this role. I am not too familiar with the character, but he looks the part physically, and I don't object to the casting of Lundgren in anything. I also hope they bring back Colossus and Nega, who were both great supporting characters.
Basically, anyone who enjoys the comic book/superhero genre should definitely check this out. I am looking forward to the sequel.
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