Tuesday 16 February 2016

Film Review: Deadpool


Director: Tim Miller
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, Ed Skrein, Brianna Hildebrand, TJ Miller, Gina Carano
Runtime: 106 minutes

The Merc with a Mouth is back - and this time he means business. After nearly a decade in production, Marvel's R-rated, fourth-wall breaking antihero Deadpool arrives for his first solo outing. How does it stack up?

Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) is a chatty mercenary in love; smitten with his gorgeous girlfriend Vanessa (Morena Baccarin), Wade would do anything to stay by her side, including signing on for an experimental DNA alteration program to help cure his cancer-ridden body. However, when said experiment leaves Wade horribly disfigured and with the ability to heal at an extraordinary rate, the newly-invulnerable soldier decides to track down the man responsible - Ajax (Ed Skrein) - whatever the cost.

Deadpool promises a superhero experience unlike any other; gratuitous violence, full frontal nudity and a potty mouth to rival 12-year-old boys playing Call of Duty. It's lead, played with gleeful aplomb by the near perfect Ryan Reynolds, breaks the fourth wall and routinely pokes fun at his own film and popular culture at large. It's a fringe character being brought into the mainstream with almost zero censorship - fans of the original Deadpool comicbooks will be pleased to see that the edgy humour and adult nature that the character is known for has been retained.

Firstly, Reynolds is superb in the lead role. His passion for the character oozes from every pore and radiates from every limb giving his physical performance a brilliant comical quality. His delivery is sharp and his ability to transition from humour to drama is impressive.

Equally as great is Baccarin as Wade's love interest Vanessa. Her character gives the film life in the pre-surgery flashbacks and she shares fantastic chemistry with Reynolds. The main issue here is that she is relegated to supporting in the second half and much of this momentum is lost.

Brianna Hildebrand is also great as Negasonic Teenage Warhead, a tough-as-nails X-Men recruit who Deadpool allies himself with. She's sulky without being abrasive and funny without feeling harsh. In contrast, her colleague Colossus (Stefan Kapicic) feels really out of place. Completely CGI rendered, Colossus doesn't mesh with the rest of the cast and feels like a very forced piece of connective tissue to the rest of the X-Men franchise.

The humour doesn't always work with about 50% of the jokes falling by the wayside; it's a very scattershot approach that pokes fun at everything from Reynolds' career, the X-Men series continuity and every that falls under the 2016 Hollywood zeitgeist. Oh, and dick jokes. Lots of dick jokes.

Of course, fans of the character will be expecting this careful blend of juvenile crassness and meta humour. It's par for the course with Deadpool, so just make sure you know what you're in for - lots of swearing, plenty of jokes about sex and tons of obscure pop culture references that occasionally make no sense whatsoever. In terms of capturing the essence of Deadpool, this film is pretty spot on.

But in terms of filmmaking, it's far from perfect. The plot is thin and simplistic, whilst the supporting characters (particularly the villain, Ajax) are derivative and nowhere near as original as you'd hope. The humour flows thick and fast, but a lot of the time it's being used to disguise an otherwise derivative and conventional origin story plot.

I hate to say it, but I'm a little disappointed. It still gets a pass because this is the film that fans have been waiting for and Reynolds is a delight to watch as he bounces around the screen shooting goons in the skull. But it's nowhere near as clever as it wants you to think it is and the execution is only wholehearted in fits and bursts. A thin plot and broad humour will give the film a wider appeal, but I can't help but think that it's missing that X-Factor that sends it stratospheric.

The Verdict: 6.5/10


Deadpool is entertaining as heck, there is no denying that. The only problem is, the film doesn't do enough to subvert the superhero genre and ends up conforming to age old tropes all whilst riffing on how silly they are.

Deadpool is in cinemas across Australia now. 

4 comments:

  1. I fear I won't like this one as much as the others - your line about half of the jokes failing doesn't surprise me because I felt that vibe from the trailer

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    Replies
    1. I was surprised how 'meh' I felt about this one actually. It looked like exactly my kind of thing! Ah well. Thanks for commenting Sati!

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  2. Haven't written my post yet, but we're on the same page for sure. Loved Reynolds, loved the supporting cast...but the villain? The story?

    Eh.

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