We almost gave up hope.
After a reviled first appearance in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” where he was barely recognizable, comic book fans thought they would never see an accurate adaptation of Marvel Comics’ Deadpool, a foul-mouthed, wisecracking killing machine who knows he’s a fictional character. But actor Ryan Reynolds never stopped campaigning for a more faithful adaptation.
Break out the chimichangas, because “Deadpool” is on the big screen, original comic roots fully in place.
Wade Wilson is a mercenary who finds out he has terminal cancer and signs up for an experimental procedure that may save him. After nearly being tortured to death he becomes super powered but also horribly disfigured and insane. Now nigh-unkillable, the newly christened Deadpool seeks revenge against the man who experimented on him, played by Ed Skrein, and in the process rescues his ladylove when she is taken hostage.
The plot is pretty standard – “get payback and save the girl” – but the strong writing, great characters and sharp humor prevent it from becoming stale.
Interestingly enough, the movie spends more time with Wilson then it does Deadpool. After an opening scene where the titular character takes out a whole group of trained killers in the present day, we flashback to Wilson before his cancer, taking small hit jobs and starting a relationship with prostitute Vanessa (Morena Baccarin). This backstory, especially the romance, takes up a good portion of the running time, with Deadpool’s antics in the present day mostly saved for the beginning, the final showdown and several scenes in between.
Yet it works, thanks in large part to the film never letting up with its humor and sense of fun. Baccarin and Reynolds have chemistry as two messed-up people whose similar troubled backgrounds and psychosis make them perfect for each other. So much so, in fact, that we actually care if she’ll take him back when Deadpool looks, in the movie’s words, “Like an avocado f**ked an older avocado.”
It’s obvious from his performance that Ryan Reynolds is having a blast as the titular merc’ with a mouth, throwing out one-liners with aplomb while indulging in the fourth-wall breaking humor that the character is known for, including several self-deprecating barbs at Reynolds’ earlier roles in “Green Lantern” and especially “X-Men Origins.” The small bits of seriousness, such as Wilson’s first diagnosis, are also played with real emotional impact, which helps contrast the toilet humor and cartoonish violence everywhere else.
This is possibly the most faithful adaptation of a comic book character ever put on the big screen, which is ironic since it’s also the first film with Marvel in the opening title that is absolutely not for children. Popular X-Man Colossus – and to a lesser extent very obscure X-Man Megasonic Teenage Warhead, who only got in the movie because of her awesome name – is also true to the original comic as a steadfast hero who plays straight man to Deadpool’s antics. In fact, he’s truer to the source then he is in the X-Men films.
Fans of the character will find a lot to like in the flick; conversely, people that hate the anti-hero’s off-brand sense of humor won’t find much here for them. People get blown into bloody chunks, including the main character, whose ability to recover from nearly anything means he gets shot up and eviscerated for black humor.
“Deadpool” is filthy, raunchy and hyper-violent. Its main character is a sociopath who murders even worse sociopaths in horrific ways while gleefully ramming a leather-clad boot straight through the fourth wall.
In short, it’s Deadpool. And we wouldn’t have it any other way.
