The Dead pool is a Dirty Harry film about a secret contest to murder local celebrities and the always angry Dirty Harry has to stop it. Shit, wait, that’s the wrong movie. So I guess I don’t need this picture..
The only reason I decided to add that joke was because The Dead Pool has risen almost four hundred points of popularity on IMDb and it makes me wonder how many of those clicks were from people who didn’t know the difference between it and Deadpool. But I digress. On with the show.
I was super exited for Deadpool. He was never one of my favorite Marvel characters but he’s always been enjoyable. The Deadpool Kills and Deadpool Versus series of comic books were fantastic and I’ve reread them all quite a few times. The problem was that 20th Century Fox was making the movie and newcomer Tim Miller was directing so there was a good chance it was going to be a steaming pile of crap. Let’s face it. 20th Century Fox is unreliable when it comes to comic movies and a newbie director may be more likely to let a studio push them around. They have about fifty fifty average and even though they seem to have learned their lessons, I’m not ready to fully trust them yet. After all, last years Fantastic Four was one of the worst movies I have ever seen. It’s been six hours since I saw Deadpool and I’m happy to report that it was awesome. Here’s my review.
I never thought this day would ever really come. When X-Men Origins: Wolverine came out I was only slightly familiar with Deadpool because there was this huge gap from my middle school years until my late twenties when I didn’t read comics. I didn’t understand the anger of the fan base and I just thought they were pissed off because this Deadpool clown was a stupid character. It was only later after reading some Deadpool that I realized what a terrible sin X-Men Origins had committed. The terrible thing was that Ryan Reynolds was a great choice for the role but it was just written terribly. Fast forward to 2016 and every Marvel nerd’s wet dream has come true.
“I loved it from start to finish.” It’s a cliche saying that even I’m guilty of using but I’ve never meant those words more than I do now. Even the opening credits were hilarious and fun to watch because they made fun of themselves and some of their cookie cutter characters. The joking in the beginning helped prepare me for all the fourth wall breaks that Deadpool is known for because even when you know they’re coming, it’s still jarring. The origin story of Deadpool was done using a series of flashbacks which made it possible for the movie to stay exciting and funny while having character building and backstory. Most origin story movies have the same kind of plot. They spend half the movie showing how the hero is born and the second half is all about her/him in their first big battle. Iron Man and Captain America: The First Avenger did this and they were really good movies, but most of the excitement is saved for the last half. Deadpool’s equation for a origin story worked much better so it kept a constant level of humor and excitement all while introducing Deadpool for those who many not know who he is.
Ryan Reynolds was, of course, the best because he WAS Deadpool. He wasn’t just acting, he became Deadpool. The fact that they kept his costume true to the comic, and kept it on most of the time, helped a lot because we were allowed to focus more on body language and the delivery of the lines. The supporting cast was good though they were all typical of a comic book movie. T.J. Miller played T.J. Miller, but it worked because he had a lot of great jokes and his sense of comedic timing is fantastic. Morena Baccarin, every nerds favorite courtesan, was good as Vanessa even though there wasn’t any hint of her being Copycat. Maybe that will come out in the Deadpool 2. Gina Carano was good as Angel Dust, better than I thought an MMA fighter would be (Don’t look at me like that! There aren’t many athletes who can make the jump to acting!). Lastly I’d like to touch upon Jed Rees who played the recruiter. If you’ve already seen the movie then you may have recognized him. Yes, my friends, Teb from Galaxy Quest is all grown up. 
Negasonic Teenage Warhead was probably the most obscure choice for another X-men to accompany Colossus. According to my Google-fu, she’s actually a telepath who was introduced in 2001 as a student at the Xavier School. She was taught by the mutant formerly known as the White Queen who used to be a bad guy and occasional member of the Brotherhood of Mutants. Remember earlier when I mentioned that gap in my comic reading? When I got back into it there had been a lot of changes but there were some things that were still the same. Deadpool was still Deadpool, if not even more off the wall, and Scott Summers was still a gigantic dickbag. He was too likable in the first three X-Men movies. But here I am again, getting off topic. Supersonic the Teenage Warhead may have had her character changed, but I didn’t mind. First off, she wasn’t big enough of a character for anyone but X-Men superfans to give a flying buttress about, and her new powers even made more sense. Sure, she was named after a Monster Magnet song but how many movie goers were even going to know that? Angel Dusts powers weren’t exactly done right and the relationship between Deadpool and Blind Al was changed but again, these changes were okay. It was nothing fundamental to the franchise.
It was a refreshing change of pace to see 20th Century Fox get it right. Even their good movies, like the latest X-Men movies, get a lot wrong but they have the saving grace to be fun enough to warrant the audience turning a blind eye. But no blind eyes had to be turned for Deadpool. The movie was a grandslam home run touchdown goal point set match and every other sports analogy you can think of. I can’t remember the last time I laughed that hard for so long. There were jokes for everyone. There were a couple subtle jokes that only a few people in the audience got and then there were the obvious jokes that everyone could enjoy. My friend Walker didn’t get one of the jokes at the time so I explained it to him and he gave a fantastic refrigerator laugh.
The one warning I’m going to leave you with is that this is a movie for adults. It’s brutal, it’s sexual, and it’s gross, it’s over the top in so many ways but it’s all done with disarming humor and charm. Don’t take your kids to see it. Wait until they’re old enough. Even if you’re one of those parents who think your kids are mature enough for R movies, they still won’t appreciate it as much as they would if they were older and had more life experience to draw from.
Oh! That’s right. You know what the best part about the movie was? No one talked! The showing was sold out. There wasn’t an open seat in the theater and there wasn’t one asshole gabbing away. No phones went off. No drunken dbags were tipping over bottles. Everyone was engrossed in the movie until the credits rolled. That’s how good it was. Pro Tip: There’s a stinger but no mid credit scene. So stay until the very end. It’s worth it.
Deadpool gets an 11 out of 11.