DEADPOOLGenre: Comic Book
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Deadpool - film reviewReviewed by: Mark Geraghty
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Director: Tim Miller
Writer: Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick
Starring: Ryan Reynolds
Ryan Reynolds talks about Deadpool
DEADPOOL is the first comic book film to “get it right” in a really long time. Writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick provide Director Tim Miller with a script that captures the spirit of the DEADPOOL comics without being a slavish to them; while star Ryan Reynolds brings the titular character to life in equal doses of funny and vengeful. There are no sacred cows in DEADPOOL as the writing team take delight in skewering the concept of “pop culture” while taking the proverbial skull-cracker to 20th Century Fox’s indifferent entries across their X-MEN related movie properties over the years. Reynolds seems especially enthusiastic when taking the piss out of Hugh Jackman and his Wolverine alter-ego as he continually breaks the fourth wall between the screen and the audience in his motor-mouth commentary about how he came to be in his predicament.
Writers Reese and Wernick make Deadpool (AKA Wade Wilson) both the star and their narrator, allowing first-person storytelling to extend far beyond normal conventions with incredibly funny results. Deadpool may or may not be the most reliable commentator, as he changes his mind throughout the course of the narrative as to what sort of movie he wants us to see. At one point, he tries to convince viewers that it’s a “love” story. Later in the film he switches tack and asks the audience to regard it as a “horror” movie. Such is the play between Deadpool and the cinema audience, there’s no point in really trying to classify what sort of movie is unspooling on the screen. The only certainty is that this is Deadpool’s movie and the audience needs to understand that the character doesn’t feel the need to conform to anybody’s standards but his own. The success of DEADPOOL is all down to Ryan Reynolds. Sure, the script is an absolute cracker, but Reynolds owns the character and the film so completely that all preceding Deadpool material will no longer able to be referenced without his take on the character informing it.
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The surprise of DEADPOOL is how well the majority of the supporting characters work in a story that is so utterly dominated by the lead. Ed Skrein as Ajax, Deadpool’s adversary, is effective as the villain of the piece because he’s not out to destroy the world with some evil plan; he’s a crackpot scientist doing somebody else’s dirty work. He doesn’t really give a toss whether Wade/Deadpool lives or dies. (As the story progresses, Ajax comes to want him dead more than alive.) Morena Baccarin as Vanessa, Wade’s girlfriend, is great. She and Reynolds generate real chemistry together, as the Merc With The Mouth and the Topless Bar waitress make an unlikely but fun couple. T.J. Miller as Weasel provides Deadpool with a comic foil, saying things to the newly-created mutant that only a true friend could get away with. (If you’ve seen the trailer for the film, you’ll already have a sense of how the relationship works.) In the second half of the film, Brianna Hildebrand comes into her own as Teenage Negasonic Warhead, a wayward teenage mutant under the supervision of a CGI Colossus (voiced by Stefan Kapicic), both of whom are part of the X-Men. Colossus tries more than once to draft Deadpool into the service of Professor Xavier’s mutant team but he’s having none of it and, ultimately, convinces both TNW and Colossus help him get his revenge against Ajax.
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Ed Skrein talks about playing Ajax; the film's villain!
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Despite Deadpool’s changes of mind about what sort of story he’s narrating, the film is comic book inspired and the technical execution of the action certainly meets, and in some cases exceeds, expectations for this type of film. Director Tim Miller, helming his first feature film, demonstrates skill beyond his experience and his background as a visual effects artist is on display throughout the movie. Cinematographer Ken Feng shoots the majority of DEADPOOL in low light to capture the gritty realism of Wade/Deadpool’s downbeat situation; with the exception being the film’s two big set pieces. Special mention needs to be made of the entire Stunt Department, as DEADPOOL is an extremely physical movie as the majority of the characters engage in their fair share of fight work, battle action and gunplay. Fans of the DEADPOOL comic will not be disappointed by anything on offer in the movie. Fans of comic book movies will find DEADPOOL a funny, refreshing change of pace from other Marvel-based movies. Moviegoers everywhere need to understand, DEADPOOL is not a wolf masquerading in sheep’s clothing. DEADPOOL is the proverbial wolf that has let himself into the sheep paddock and is just working out what sort of mayhem he’ll engage in next because he’s already beat the shit out of the shepherds!
DEADPOOL - electronic press kit
Check out the DEADPOOL electronic press kit, featuring interviews with Director Tim Miller and co-stars Morena Baccarin, T.J. Miller and Leslie Uggams.
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Tim Miller - Director |
Morena Baccarin - "Vanessa" |
T.J. Miller - "Weasel" |
Leslie Uggams - "Blind Al" |
No one cans DEADPOOL... |
The leaked footage that started the groundswell to get DEADPOOL made... |
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Deadpool Entertainment Weekly cover...
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Deadpool dares to offend! (No surprise there ...)
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Deadpool announces his own film rating!
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Deadpool movie synopsis + hi-res "Fireside" image
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The official 20th Century Fox synopsis reads:
Based upon Marvel Comics’ most unconventional anti-hero, DEADPOOL tells 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. |
Ryan Reynolds reveals Deadpool costume
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In the middle of 2014, just prior to the San Diego Comic-Con, a one-and-a-half minute video featuring the popular anti-hero Deadpool found its way on to the internet. The video was described as "test" footage, but upon viewing, it appears to be more than that, serving to re-introduce Deadpool in the form that comic book fans are accustomed (as opposed to the X-Men Origins: Wolverine version). It was subsequently announced, in September 2014, that 20th Century Fox would bring Deadpool to cinemas on February 11, 2016. Details are limited but Fox have tapped director Tim Miller to oversee the production with experienced writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick handling screenplay duties.
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