Deadpool (2016)
Directed by Tim Miller
The origin story of former Special Forces operative turned mercenary Wade Wilson, who, after being subjected to a rogue experiment that leaves him with accelerated healing powers, adopts the alter ego Deadpool. Armed with his new abilities and a dark, twisted sense of humor, Deadpool hunts down the man who nearly destroyed his life.
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Naturally, that folly gets cheekily referenced here, as do Green Lantern and the Blade series; there are more allusions than plot points in this movie, with screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick packing in nods not just to Reynolds’ history of aborted crime-fighting series, but also to the Spin Doctors, Adventure Time, Bernadette Peters, Taken, Alien 3, and Jared from Subway.
(That’s not to mention the trailblazing “Blade” series, which Reynolds inexplicably namedrops in one of the picture’s hundred throwaway pop culture references.)
I liked the bit where Deadpool's stoner buddy (T.J. Miller) references Blade II because I remembered that Reynolds was notoriously in Blade: Trinity and I recall reading that Wesley Snipes was perpetually stoned on that shoot and sent memos to the director signed "Blade."
While the wildly popular “X-Men” and “Avengers” franchises — including “Iron Man,” “Thor” and other feeder films — have never strayed beyond PG-13 territory, some Marvel adaptations occasionally have, such as “The Punisher” and “Blade.”
One of the primary selling points of "Deadpool" and its big differences with most studio fare is its R-rating, earned for "strong violence and language throughout, sexual content and graphic nudity" (plenty of people have tried to tout the film as the "first" superhero film to pick up an R, but that's just not the case, as it follows in the rating steps of other offerings as diverse as the "Blade" films, "Watchmen" and even the recent hit "Kingsman: The Secret Service").
Fast, ferocious and inevitably a bit too pleased with its own cleverness, this Fox-produced offshoot of the “X-Men” series nevertheless can’t help but feel like a nasty, nose-thumbing tonic next to the shinier delegations of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as represented by Disney’s “Avengers” franchise (and its various subfranchises) and Sony’s not-so-amazing “Spider-Man” movies.
He’s played the part before, in the very first of the X-Men solo spinoffs, 2009’s all-around-regrettable X-Men Origins: Wolverine .
It continues in the opening credits, which list the stars as "God's Perfect Talent," "A Hot Chick" and whatnot (I won't give away all the jokes), and picks up with Deadpool's consistent references to Marvel Comics' "X-Men" movie franchise ( a stiff, staid thing at this point ), to which he belongs, because he cavorts with two of its characters, but at the same time doesn't belong, because he references Professor X and Wolverine by the actors who play them in the movies we've seen in our reality.
Its anarchic luster is purely cosmetic, an edgier “X-Men” film that struggles to conceal its dud of a story that has nothing new to offer to anyone but middle schoolers.
Still, there's Reynolds, and a R-rated comic-book script which delights in its own filthy dialogue and bloody action without tipping over into unintentionally ridiculous sex scenes (like "X-Men") or way-too-gruesome gore (like the "Sin City" movies).
As a vehicle for the impudent comic stylings of Ryan Reynolds , this cheerfully demented origin story is many, many cuts above “Green Lantern,” and as a sly demolition job on the superhero movie, it sure as hell beats “Kick-Ass.”
It doesn’t take Deadpool more than about a minute to include a jab at Green Lantern (2011), star Ryan Reynolds’s much-maligned green-clad superhero-movie bomb, but that is pretty much a given in a movie where the opening credits refer to the director as an “overpaid tool” and the writers as “the real heroes.”
The script throws abuse at Hugh Jackman, Reynolds’ dreadful work in “Green Lantern,” James McAvoy and Patrick Stewart, Wham!, Salt-N-Pepa and even Marvel founder Stan Lee, who is cast as the DJ in a seedy strip club.
If not wholly infectious, it’s endearing, spiritually righting some of the actor’s past wrongs (“Green Lantern” and “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” where Reynolds’ take on Deadpool was so confused that it was long assumed the character would never get another crack at the big screen).
(We also get references to Reynolds’ ill-fated turn as “Green Lantern,” his heavily criticized appearance as Deadpool in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” and his 2010 “Sexiest Man Alive” People magazine cover.)
That's apparent right from the title sequence, which instead of using real actors' names merely credits "British Villain" or "This Idiot" along with mercilessly tweaking star Ryan Reynolds' past as the veteran of People pin-ups and the crashed-and-burned "Green Lantern."
I liked the bit where Deadpool's stoner buddy (T.J. Miller) references Blade II because I remembered that Reynolds was notoriously in Blade: Trinity and I recall reading that Wesley Snipes was perpetually stoned on that shoot and sent memos to the director signed "Blade."
“Deadpool,” however, takes itself far less seriously than either of those films (and includes a snarky little dig at “Blade II”).
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The snark-happy "Merc With a Mouth" quips as quick as the semi-animated Jim Carrey in "The Mask," firing off rounds of punch lines like ammo.
If you combined The Mask with Watchmen, you start to get a sense of what to expect.
Also, we’ve seen wisecracking anti-heroes time and again, from “The Mask” to “Iron-Man.”
This is not a bad gag – at a push, a sort of lightweight counter to the magnificent opening sequence of 2009’s Watchmen, featuring visions of fallen superheroes matched to Dylan crooning about how the times, they are a-changing.
If you combined The Mask with Watchmen, you start to get a sense of what to expect.
One of the primary selling points of "Deadpool" and its big differences with most studio fare is its R-rating, earned for "strong violence and language throughout, sexual content and graphic nudity" (plenty of people have tried to tout the film as the "first" superhero film to pick up an R, but that's just not the case, as it follows in the rating steps of other offerings as diverse as the "Blade" films, "Watchmen" and even the recent hit "Kingsman: The Secret Service").
Accordingly, “Deadpool” supposes – on a molecular level – that R-rated superhero adventures are its own invention, as if James Gunn didn’t make “Super,” Matthew Vaughn “Kick-Ass,” or Zack Synder “Watchmen,” all of which are ideals of innovation in comparison.
Por ahí pasan Ripley, Sinead O’Connor, el clásico romántico de Say Anything… (1989), la serie animada de Voltron: Defender of the Universe (1984) e incontables referencias que se mezclan con hitos más recientes: la automutilación cotidiana de Deadpool con la tortura –en varios sentidos– de 127 Hours (2010); las autorreferencias a la carrera de Reynolds; la burla de los esquemas clásicos de las películas de superhéroes con el famoso aterrizaje de Iron Man imitado por Angel, la parodia de las escenas post-créditos y las mofas constantes a Hugh Jackman…
As a vehicle for the impudent comic stylings of Ryan Reynolds , this cheerfully demented origin story is many, many cuts above “Green Lantern,” and as a sly demolition job on the superhero movie, it sure as hell beats “Kick-Ass.”
The slick visuals, high-velocity gag rate and ample body count recall Matthew Vaughn’s “Kick-Ass,” and it’s a mild bummer when “Deadpool” settles into a more predictable groove later on.
Accordingly, “Deadpool” supposes – on a molecular level – that R-rated superhero adventures are its own invention, as if James Gunn didn’t make “Super,” Matthew Vaughn “Kick-Ass,” or Zack Synder “Watchmen,” all of which are ideals of innovation in comparison.
This R-rated, in-your-face flick aimed squarely at savvy movie-goers and fans of the Marvel Comics universe is sophisticated, furiously witty and as enjoyable off-kilter as “Kick-Ass.”
We've had R-rated comic book movies before, even superhero ones; the two " Kick-Ass" movies hit new heights, or depths, in gleefully sadistic fight scenes.
Speaking of Kick-Ass, this new film shares the same R rating as that 2010 effort.
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And oh, the movie references … “127 Hours” and “Blade 2” are among them.
Por ahí pasan Ripley, Sinead O’Connor, el clásico romántico de Say Anything… (1989), la serie animada de Voltron: Defender of the Universe (1984) e incontables referencias que se mezclan con hitos más recientes: la automutilación cotidiana de Deadpool con la tortura –en varios sentidos– de 127 Hours (2010); las autorreferencias a la carrera de Reynolds; la burla de los esquemas clásicos de las películas de superhéroes con el famoso aterrizaje de Iron Man imitado por Angel, la parodia de las escenas post-créditos y las mofas constantes a Hugh Jackman…
There’s a gag riffing on Monty Python’s “Black Knight” sequence , another that recalls a bit from Stripes, and a third that borrows from Saw (and, before it, the original Mad Max).