MadCap At the Movies - "Deadpool"

Once in a lifetime there comes a character that defines a generation.  In comic books, this generally means redefining what it means to be a hero.  Wade W. Wilson...is not that hero.  What he is is Deadpool, the Merc with a Mouth, and an absolutely fun fun fun time.  Yes, he can get incredibly grating to some, but one has to accept that there is some kind of mass charm about the man that all the good guys just don't have.

Deadpool is the epic tale of Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) fresh out of his mouth being stitched shut days (which are apparently not canon anymore) going to hunt down Ajax Francis (Ed Skrein) in order to fix up his face after the experiments that made him immortal...and so ugly that he looks like chain smokers have been using his face to put out their cigarettes for the last decade.

In Highlander-style (albeit with Reynolds' narration) we are told the story of Wade from his days as a merc with a soft heart who falls in love with escort Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) and later learns that he has terminal cancer as interposed with him in the "present" hunting down Francis so that he can get a cure for his terribly shriveled looks. It's really a very excellent movie, if a little predictable in terms of how the plot flows.  I've seen some critics accuse it of being "formulaic".  Well, yes, critics.  That's rather how it works.  When the entertainment finds a formula that works, it will beat that dead horse until its congealed into a pile of dust.

Ant-Man followed a formula that was brought to us by Iron Man and both those movies were awesome.  Really, stop being such pretentious dicks.

Regardless, the formula is completely aided by the zany madcap (no relation) antics of Wilson as he shoots, stabs, and snarks his way through life's challenges that crop up when you face off the Weapon X program.  The jokes are almost nonstop, a tribute to the essence of the character himself.  Reynolds shows that he shines when his mouth isn't stitched shut, and the words put into his mouth by writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick are absolute gold when delivered by him.

The action scenes are also top notch - the one in the beginning has made its way into my top ten favorties of all time - as Deadpool is indeed a Merc with a Mouth and one of the greatest combat specialists alive, regardless of how addled his brains are.  Deadpool is also not one to be hindered by impaling, gunshots, or (self-)dismemberment, either, and as one would expect, there is a realistic amount of blood and gore with only a single Gory Discretion Shot in the entire film (and, considering the noises we hear, I don't want to know what he did).

I would go into the deep character bits (of which there are at least three), but that's not really what you go to see this movie for.  You go to see either your favorite character gorily dismember bad guys while spouting one-liners or you go to see Ryan Renyolds gorily dismember bad guys while spouting one-liners, there's no middle ground.  I will say, though, that that marketing technique seems to have worked well for Fox and Marvel.  For the first time in recent memory, the theater was actually packed and I mean packed to the point of people coming in during the opening credits looking to sit on armrests in lieu of unavailable seating kind of packed.

So, I do owe Fox an apology.  Yes, you made one movie right.  Now go fix the X-Men franchise and we'll talk about celebrating.

Deadpool is now in theaters  from 20th Century Fox and Marvel Entertainment.

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