Hey guys, it's Jan here!
I've just seen the new Deadpool movie, and it's clear that right from the opening credits,
Deadpool knows exactly what kind of movie it is and makes absolutely no bones about
it whatsoever.
Yes, this Deadpool is super-meta, super-cheeky, super-violent and... super-fun.
Forget Green Lantern Hal Jordan, Wade Wilson aka Deadpool is the comic-book role that Ryan
Reynolds was born to play.
And I don't mean the Merc with a Sewn-up Mouth who we saw in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but
the full-on potty-mouthed Merc with filter-free Verbal Diarrhoea and a chronic case of ADHD
who Reynolds brings to delirious life here with bags of obnoxious charm and a sack full
of sass.
From start to finish, Reynolds plays the part to perfection, fully embracing Deadpool's
fourth-wall-breaking world of R-rated violence, nudity, and language.
Reynolds completely carries the whole movie on his shoulders, and if you were ever in
any doubt that he was totally up to that task, you can't have seen his gripping turn in the
incredibly tense thriller Buried, which featured Reynolds alone on screen for 90 minutes with
nothing but a wooden coffin, a lighter, and a cell phone to keep him company.
And just as many of us can't imagine anyone other than Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man since
he pulled on that exosuit back in 2008, as soon as you've seen Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool,
you won't want anyone else in that red costume.
And, frankly, based on this film, I hope they make more Deadpool movies with Reynolds in
the lead.
As for the movie's supporting characters, well, Deadpool's deliberately overbearing
personality puts everyone pretty much in the shade, and they're intentionally full of played-up
stereotypes.
From Ed Skrein's British villain role as Deadpool's nemesis Ajax to Karan Soni's Indian taxi driver.
I enjoyed the back-and-forth between Deadpool and the totally CG-created Colossus, voiced
with a Russian accent by Stefan Kapicic.
And I really loved Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead.
I'd definitely like to see more of her in future movies.
TJ Miller gets some nice interaction with Deadpool as the Merc with a Mouth's pal Weasel.
While former MMA star Gina Carano gets to bust balls as Ajax's hyper-strong henchwoman,
Angel Dust.
As Wade Wilson's girlfriend Vanessa, Morena Baccarin is great – she has good chemistry
with Reynolds and gives as good as she gets.
I'd like to see her character developed and the same goes for Deadpool's flatmate Blind
Al, who's played by Leslie Uggams, though of course this particular movie is Mr Pool's
story, not theirs.
Director Tim Miller, who's known for his visual effects, commercials, and video game work,
has done a fantastic job – in fact, it's incredible to think that this is his first
feature film.
Note to X-Men Origins: Wolverine director Gavin Hood, this is how you use slow-mo, not
the overly melodramatic rubbish used in Wolverine's origin tale!!
Miller has put together a stylish film and made it look as if the cast and crew had a
ball making it.
The movie's 108 minutes speed by in a hail of gunfire, gags, and profanity, thanks to
a script by Zombieland writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick which creatively more-or-less
masks the movie's tight-budget and cleverly avoids the bit in a superhero origin tale
where we wait for the hero to become, you know, super.
That the movie's story is pretty low-stakes doesn't really matter – it's not about what
happens so much as it is about getting to know and love this incarnation of the stunningly
self-aware comic-book character at the centre of it all.
Humour comes thick and fast and covers all points from the juvenile to the shrewdly ironic
so expect everything from the scatological to slapstick, self-referential, and more.
Some of the jokes didn't land for me, but the sheer volume of them meant that there
was usually something on the way pretty soon that did.
In terms of other movies, Deadpool's stylised violence, hyper-genre-awareness, and superhero
shtick compares favourably to the likes of Kick-Ass, Kingsman: The Secret Service, and
James Gunn's movie Super.
So, shut up, crime!
The old-school vibe of the movie's soundtrack, which is a suitably eclectic mix of everything
from rap to easy listening and 80s pop to soft rock, reminded me of Guardians of the
Galaxy, while the movie's original score is by JunkieXL, who also scored the insanely-inspired
Mad Max: Fury Road.
As you'd imagine, there's a shed-load of Easter Eggs and references to the comic books, other
movies, and general pop culture.
In fact, I'll have a lot more discussion about that in my next video, which I'll add a link
to here when it's ready for you to watch!
Oh, and expect a pretty cool cameo from Stan Lee, some very Deadpool animated credits and
also a little something after the credits.
Oscar-winning Costume Designer Angus Strathie and Production Designer Sean Haworth, whose
work you'll have seen in the recent Goosebumps movie, have done some fine work creating Deadpool's
world.
And Make-up Designer Bill Corso, who transformed Steve Carell for the movie Foxcatcher, has
done similarly stellar work again in this movie, especially with Wade Wilson's post-Workshop
look.
I also want to give a shout-out to the movie's Stunt Co-ordinators Robert Alonzo and Philip
Silvera, who, between them, have worked on movies including Star Trek, Iron Man, and
Netflix's Daredevil series.
The fragmented fight scenes and action sequences in Deadpool are top-notch.
So, to sum up: Tim Miller's Deadpool movie is the best Deadpool movie that chimichanga-loving
comic book fans could have wished for.
Its star is pretty much pitch-perfect, its action and violence are loud and proud, its
language is totally untamed, and its tongue is very firmly in its cheek as it takes a
full-frontal swipe at superhero clichés while merrily making the most of them itself.
Deadpool gets 4 out of 5 Flicks.
Now, what are you looking forward to most about Deadpool?
Or, if you've seen it, what did you think?
Let me know in the comments below!
I've got a video looking at the movie's behind-the-scenes secrets here, and there'll be a link here
to my Deadpool Easter Egg video when it's ready.
As always, do please like, leave your comments and share this video, and hit that subscribe
button for more videos like this!
Thanks for watching and see ya next time.
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers!