Hey gang, AfterDark here. And I’ve come out of semi TOV retirement
to tell you all about the lastest from FOX and Marvel – Deadpool,
which is a movie for everybody: comic fans and movie fans. Well
maybe not everyone, good job to the moviegoer who brought their
little girl to this film. You most assuredly have scarred her
for life. Now here is the review. (Spoilers so many spoilers.)
If you've watched “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” and recall that version of Deadpool, it won't help you with this movie. This latest film is a reboot (played by the same actor – Ryan Reynolds) and a welcome one at that. With the clever use of matrix style camera shots as cut-aways, this first half of the movie explains Deadpool’s origins and it starts from when he was a normal guy working as a mercenary dealing justice to stalker pizza guy... okay not a normal guy. We’re introduced to his one true love, Vanessa (Morena Baccarin – Son of Batman), and the reason for his crusade against the villain simply known as Ajax aka Francis (Ed Skrein). In Vanessa, Deadpool aka Wade Wilson finds his soul mate and happiness until he is faced with cancer. Wade decides to spare Vanessa the pain of seeing him sick by running away and accepting an offer from a guy, who really does look like Agent Smith, in hopes of becoming healthy again. Wade quickly discovers that he's been tricked into becoming a super soldier that will be sold to the highest bidder. We then meet the two main villains Ajax and Angel Dust (Gina Carana) and we get an interesting take on why Deadpool looks the way he does, which has something to do with the oxygen chamber that Ajax locks him into. Truthfully I got a little lost in the explanation. Deadpool escapes and vows to hunt down Ajax in order to get revenge and a cure to his disfigurement.
Deadpool hunts after anybody that can give him Ajax's whereabouts, all the while perfecting his costume into the one we all know and love. When he finally gets an opportunity to take down Ajax, he is stopped by X-Men Colossus (voiced by Stefan Kapicic) and Negasonic (Brianna Hildebrand), who are attempting to turn Deadpool into an X-Man and a hero. Deadpool escapes in the manner that only he could (kiddies close your eyes for that part). Ajax vows revenge and finds out through Deadpool's friend Weasel (T.J. Miller) about Vanessa. In order to protect her, Deadpool must confront her, which is something that he has avoided since becoming Deadpool. The reunion at the strip club, and I am not making this up, between Deadpool and Vanessa is prevented by Ajax getting to her first. And with the help of the only two X-Men that 21st Century Fox would allow - Colossus and Negasonic, Deadpool storms a hangar containing a Shield carrier in order to rescue Vanessa. To spare you the huge letdown, Colossus added nothing to the fight, with Negasonic stealing the glory between the two. Deadpool doing Deadpool things mops the floor with Ajax's soldiers and eventually Ajax himself. Colossus attempts to stop Deadpool from killing Ajax but Deadpool… well, he does what Deadpool does. In the end, Vanessa accepts the new him and I got my money worth seeing this film.
The Good:
This movie really is a Deadpool movie that I've longed to see and it met all of my expectations. As a comic book and movie fan, I would love to see Marvel get back all its franchises so that we can get a true Marvel movie Universe. But for this film, I'm happy to see that the same company that gave us Family Guy is running this particular franchise because I can't imagine this film produced under the Disney umbrella. Deadpool is crude, rude, and masturbates to unicorns... ahem. Yet that's why we love him. And if you read the comics, then you will see it in the movie - even the little quirks like Deadpool breaking down the fourth wall and talking to the audience is here. Not to mention a lot of characters from the Deadpool franchise such as Blind Al, Weasel, Bob, Copycat (Vanessa - without powers), and even an Easter egg character like Domino. Let us give many thanks to FOX and co for making this happen and let us all be thankful that Disney didn’t head up this film (or PG-13 downer) or that Deadpool will hopefully not be making any appearances in a Disney Park… the horror the horror. In the end, there's so much to love and nothing to hate about Deadpool. And I can't wait for the sequel!
The Bad:
Mostly that I can't watch the sequel yesterday! But since Valkor counts words, I do have one gripe – “Say my name”. In my attempt to get some revenge against this joke gone too long, I've mostly used the name Ajax instead of Francis throughout my review. In the scene leading up to Wade Wilson becoming Deadpool, he finds out that main villain Ajax’s real name is Francis. So whenever Ajax is about to punish Deadpool throughout the movie, he always says, "What's my name". Deadpool uses some interesting writing material at the end of the movie to answer him back, but it did get annoying after awhile. So that is my one gripe to a really good movie.
The Ugly:
N/A
So in summary: Go see Deadpool – see it more than once. It will make you laugh, feel emotional at some parts, and have Child Protective Services waiting for you outside the theater if you choose to bring your small kids to watch it. And out of TOV 5 stars, I’m giving Deadpool a perfect 5!
