For 18-35 year-old comic book, superhero, Marvel, “X-Men” and diehard Ryan Reynolds fans – “Deadpool” will likely be your movie of the year. The makers clearly set-out to make the ultimate R-rated “anti-superhero movie” superhero movie, packed with ultra-violence, raunchy humor and an unlikable lead character. And in that respect, they succeeded brilliantly. But for regular moviegoers who are looking for originality, suspense, and fun from this blockbuster action film, well…there’s none of that here.
About 30-seconds into an opening credits montage that features a cover of Reynolds’ “Sexiest Man Alive” issue of People Magazine, an obvious Green Lantern reference and ridiculous nicknames for the cast and crew, I knew it was going to be a long and bumpy ride. And if the Deadpool character had used that line at some point in the movie, there’s no doubt it would have been part of a tasteless sex joke.
There’s no escaping the fact that Deadpool is – as his arch-enemy in the story refers to him at one point – really, really annoying. He made me feel exactly like how (in their first film) a certain giant green ogre couldn’t stand a talking, singing, waffle-loving donkey. However, Shrek and Donkey grew to tolerate each other – and their dialogue was clever and timing impeccable. Deadpool is certainly no Donkey – but he is a jack***.
What’s his superpower? Sarcasm. And Reynolds proves that a little of that goes a long, long way. Pretty much every line Reynolds delivers is arrogant, irrelevant, smutty and – here’s the biggest sin – NOT FUNNY. In fact, co-star T.J. Miller has the funniest (or, I should say, only funny) scene in the movie – and it’s basically a throw-away joke.
But let’s take away the red suit and foul mouth and break down the actual story of “Deadpool”: Guy gets girl. Guy gets life-threatening disease. Guy goes through “superhero movie” procedure to try to save his life. Guy lives, but becomes deformed. Guy seeks revenge. Girl gets kidnapped by enemy. Guy must try to save her. We’ve only seen this a hundred times before. This comic book-basic script needed an infusion of SOMETHING – and a lot less Reynolds.
There’s also a closing credits scene, teasing “Deadpool 2”, which is already in production. You’ve been warned. As for whether this is better than Reynolds’ “Green Lantern”, I’m giving it the same grade, and for the same reason: I liked the makeup. On The Official LCJ Report Card, “Deadpool” gets a D-.
Running Time: 108 min.