Deadpool has had the wildest journey to the big screen in his first solo movie. Technically part of the X-Men universe, and therefore over at Fox, Ryan Reynolds first sported the suit in the much maligned X-Men Origins: Wolverine. When test footage for a Deadpool solo movie leaked online, it became a sensation. Before we knew it, Reynolds was suiting up as the Merc with a Mouth and an R-rated superhero movie was promised to movie goers that they would fall in love with over Valentine’s weekend 2016.
There is so much to adore about Deadpool and it stems from the character created on the comic books by writers Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza. Screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick impeccably capture the spirit of the graphic arts pages and director Tim Miller brings the world to life in the most fantastical of ways to give us one of the best movies of the year, that could likely end up on some best-of lists when 2016 closes – much like Kingsmen: The Secret Service did last year at this time.
We first meet Reynolds as Deadpool as Juice Newton’s Angel of the Morning blares. The camera slowly makes its way through a frozen-in-time highway crash scene where bullets are in midair, bodies are flying in all sorts of disarray and civilians are running for their lives. That right there is Miller’s way of telling you what kind of self-aware, self-depreciating and balls to the wall fun you as an audience member are in store for with his film. It is a jaw-dropping, mesmerizing and a brilliant and bombastic way to pull in your audience and tell them to buckle up for the wild ride.
Reynolds begins our story as Wade, a mercenary who gives us his part of the Deadpool story in flashbacks that effortlessly interweave with the story in the present in one of the most effective uses of playing with a timeline onscreen in some, well, time.
He meets the girl of his dreams in the form of Vanessa (Morena Baccarin). They quickly fall in love, move in together and then fate slams their dreams right in the face. Wade has stage four cancer and he doesn’t have long to live. A mysterious figure arises and lets Wade know that he can cure him of what ails him, but things will be noticeably different afterwards. Yup, he’s going to get mutated through some seriously painful, downright unethical medical treatments. Had Wade known how awful, he never would have done them. But he does, and somehow he escapes, with expanded powers, most notably the ability to heal, no matter the wound.
He takes the moniker of Deadpool (you’ll have to see the movie to learn why) and embarks on his vengeful journey which is the crux of this first film, that we hope will become an entire series of studies into the benefits of Reynolds playing wise-assery like a match made in heaven.
That’s exactly why Deadpool works as well as it does. Reynolds has not always played sincere all that well. There are few examples where it works, such as opposite Sandra Bullock in The Proposal. But most of all, his career is littered with cinematic failures that didn’t capitalize on his gifts of gab. Audiences first fell in love with Reynolds as Van Wilder, and that is exactly the type of character that finds the Canadian actor at his best.
Deadpool is custom built for Reynolds and from the moment viewers saw the test footage, one can now see in hindsight, why it became a sensation. For a performer in search of a franchise or a role that defines his career, this film is his moment and we have a feeling, it is just the beginning.
The movie also dazzlingly plays with the fourth wall like a turnstile. Not only does Reynolds directly talk to the audience about what’s going on in the film, but he references things in the real world (like Hugh Jackman being the Sexiest Man Alive, the studio not having enough money for more popular X-Men characters – beyond Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead). It’s hilarious. It’s revolutionary. In the end, it’s Deadpool, exactly as he should be and we love him for it.
Grade: A-