Wade Wilson is an ex-special forces operative who spends his time now as a for-hire mercenary. But after being diagnosed with an incurable disease, he agrees to be the subject of experimental tests that leave him with super human healing abilities, but also horribly disfigured all over his body. The one man who intentionally tortured Wilson during these experiments is also the man who can cure him, and so Wade Wilson assumes the alas of Deadpool, to hunt him down. Through it all, Deadpool maintains his sick and twisted sense of humor and continually breaks down the 4th wall with the audience.
Cast
Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson / Deadpool
Morena Baccarin as Vanessa
Ed Skrein as Ajax
T.J. Miller as Weasel
Gina Carano as Angel Dust
Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead
Stefan Kapičić as Colossus
Leslie Uggams as Blind Al
Who will like this movie
Deadpool stays true to it's comic book inspiration with very little changes. And it is a Superhero movie even though Deadpool is not your typical superhero. But even anyone who has never read a comic book can find pleasure in it. It has a LOT of pop culture references and is very funny in many ways similar to Hangover or Ferris Bueller's Day Off (with a great nod to the latter in a spoiler moment)
Phantom Thoughts
I will go on record first by saying I'm not a Deadpool the Comic Book fan. That's not to say I don't like it, just that I've never read it. So that being said, I had to get the advice of those who have for the comparison. Those sources have told me that this movie draws most of it's inspiration more from when Deadpool got it's own title and not so much from when he was introduced in The New Mutants storyline. And as I mentioned before, there are just a few changes that were made.
First off, Wade Wilson had a few failed relationships before meeting his missing jigsaw piece of Vanessa. And in the comics, Vanessa was a shape shifting mutant similar to Mystique. But just because this was not explored in this movie, doesn't leave out the possibility of introducing this aspect of her in a sequel.
Then there is the character of Negasonic Teenage Warhead. This X-Men character was chosen for the movie simply based on the fact that they thought the name was cool. But they changed her abilities from telepath and precognitive mutant to one that has explosive powers to more accurately go with the name and to fit in better with the movie itself.
But other than that....damn! What a fun movie! I mean, from the opening title sequence to the inevitable Marvel end credit scene. (SPOILER: the end credit scene is a recreation of the Ferris Bueller after credit scene almost exactly) It was filled, and I mean FILLED with pop culture, comic book and movie references. I will have to see it more than once for sure in order to get all the ones I missed from laughing so hard. (ANOTHER SPOILER: one I DIDN'T miss was the fact that the final fight scene was done on an abandoned S.H.E.I.LD Heli-Carrier.)
Almost everyone knows the story of how this movie almost didn't get made. In May 2000, Artisan Entertainment announced a deal with Marvel Entertainment to coproduce, finance and distribute a film based on Deadpool. In February 2004, development for the film began with New Line Cinema. However, in March 2005, New Line Cinema put the film in turnaround and 20th Century Fox became interested. In May 2009, 20th Century Fox lent the film to writers and a 3 minute reel was shot in 2012 to convince producers to go ahead with making it. In 2014, that footage was leaked to the internet and there was such a wave of positive response from it that the studio was all but forced to begin production.
Part of what makes Deadpool so good is that it doesn't take itself too seriously. And it makes fun of Ryan Reynolds, his Green Lantern movie role and his previous Deadpool role in X-Men Origins just to name a few. All the while he breaks down the fourth wall by talking to the audience. Yes, he mentions the fact that he's doing this too, which makes it even funnier.
There was lots of swearing, blood, violence and nudity (other than Ryan Reynolds ass, there were plenty of boobies!) to give it the R-rating. But in this Phantom's opinion, you couldn't do this movie any other way.
Until next time, see you in the center seat!
