Deadpool Skewers and Satisfies

You could say that Deadpool is the Don Rickles of superheros. Or maybe Tracy Morgan. Without a filter.

In our age of increasingly lugubrious superhero films, Deadpool not only spiked the Kool-Aid, he drank it – then gave you an enema with it. Then gargled.

To say that Deadpool is the most irreverent corner of the Marvel universe is putting it mildly.

Sprung from the pages of The New Mutants, the pansexual “Merc with a Mouth” has a fondness for breaking the fourth wall, matched only by his penchant for violence.

It seemed highly unlikely that we’d ever see a real Deadpool movie, and if we did, it would be watered-down like the punch at the Sadie Hawkins dance.

But crazy things happen. First, Deadpool showed up briefly in very diluted form in the much un-beloved X-Men Origins: Wolverine, where he was played by Ryan Reynolds. Then two years later, Ryan Reynolds is Green Lantern, in one of the biggest bombs of the entire superhero genre. So you’d think if someone did decide to try and swim upstream to make a Deadpool movie that actually embodied the snark-shark of the comics, the last person they’d think of would be…Ryan Reynolds. But they did. And he rules. Reynolds is likable and talented, and what both of those prior outings failed to capitalize on was his sense of humor. So, “Gimme one more swing at that ball and I swear I’ll knock the scoreboard over.” Somehow Reynolds connected with talented newcomer director Tim Miller, and their combo is explosive and deliriously entertaining, giving Deadpool fans the movie they’ve always dreamed of. And it’s actually rated R. And for good reason.

Wade Wilson (Reynolds) is a tightly wound mercenary who meets an equally off-kilter girl (Morena Baccarin) and sex sparks fly like a welding torch. Things are awesome. Then the worst villain in the history of evil cold-hearted soul-annihilating villains comes calling: cancer. Wade has cancer, and desperate for a cure, he gets lured into an experimental program that will eventually turn him into something else. Something you want to get payback for. Something that twists you. Amid the one-liners and “I’m in a franchise!” self-awareness, Reynolds brings a real poignancy to the cruelty of his diagnosis and its shadow as a dream-killer. He carries the film in nearly every scene and it’s no wonder audiences are responding.

Director Tim Miller (Academy Award nominee for Best Animated Short, Gopher Broke) brings an unhinged visual style to Deadpool, as if Terry Gilliam had directed Robocop. Exploding with kinetic hilarity from the very first frame, through tumbling time-frozen opening “credits,” it’s a chaotic and wisecracking assault on the senses that delivers smashing action and engaging characters. Morena Baccarin is awesome, and seems thrilled to have doffed the weary shackles of her Homeland role. Equally smashing is chrome behemoth Colossus (Stefan Kapicic) who nearly steals the movie as the titanic embodiment of the X-Men fellowship Deadpool relishes in tweaking. Colossus is a tremendous presence here. There’s also a terrific Leslie Uggams role, that will delight and surprise you.

If you’re looking for nail-hard action and acerbic laughing gas, Deadpool is waiting for you, batting his eyelashes and sharpening his steel.