Directed by Tim Miller
Country: USA / Canada
The R-rated “Deadpool” is an often unruly and deftly funny superhero movie, directed by the newcomer, Tim Miller, a special effects artist for film and video games. The screenwriters, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, are the same of “Zombieland” and “G.I. Joe: Retaliation”, operating also as executive producers.
The ebullient Deadpool, played with ferocity by Ryan Reynolds (“Green Lantern”, “Mississippi Grind”), isn't a conventional Marvel superhero but a mischievous antihero who seeks revenge for his disfiguration.
The man behind the mask is Wade Wilson, a fearless mercenary who enjoys listening to the Wham’s tunes and mysteriously gained unexpected superpowers while being tortured in an airtight chamber. Frequently insolent and incessantly talkative, Wilson loves his job, which consists in getting rid of guys who are even worse than him, and be paid for it. Also, he’s about to get married with his dearest, Vanessa (Morena Baccarin), an escort who works at the bar where he always finds his easy-going mate and loyal supporter, Weasel (T.J. Miller). Wilson’s happiness falls apart when he’s diagnosed with terminal cancer. Disoriented and anguished with the idea of losing Vanessa, he volunteers for a dubious transformation program offered by a not less dubious recruiter, referred as Agent Smith. The main goal of this risky experiment would be curing him of the disease, but instead, he falls in the hands of the sadistic Ajax (Ed Skrein), whose real name is Francis Freeman, and his ally, the steadfast mutant Angel Dust (Gina Carano).
Incredibly, Wilson survives the torment, and his cancer vanishes forever. Moreover, he becomes astonishingly agile and powerful, and starts experiencing exceptional regeneration powers. The only setback is that his face and skin got permanently damaged. From that moment on, he lives to achieve two purposes: reconnect with Vanessa, who has no idea what happened to him, and find Francis, whom he believes the only one capable of reconstructing his face and body. For this latter mission, he counts on two X-Men who want to turn him into a respected superhero. They’re Colossus (Greg LaSalle’s face and Stefan Kapicic’s voice), a sort of metallic Hulk, and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand), a teen version of Ripley from the 'Alien' saga.
I recommend “Deadpool” mostly for its impish humor and tongue-in-cheek posture. A few action scenes, despite gratuitously violent, took me by surprise, positively speaking. It’s unquestionably more entertaining than intelligent, but not so brainless as I was expecting. One can find coherence in the plot, even considering it unsophisticated and cathartic in respect to curse words, tempestuous attitudes, and indigestible brutality. In a woozy manner, it ends up balancing all this destructiveness through encouraging love and good friendship.
