Deadpool the comic-book character has never been my thing. I like funny comics. I’ve never been averse to the ultra-violent neither, trust me, Give Me Liberty and Lone Wolf and Cub remain favorites; the latter was done by Frank Miller before he became a crazy nut job. I just can’t get into Rob Liefield’s creation which got hijacked into Marvel’s version of Ambush Bug and to some extent, Harley Quinn in DC. It also doesn’t help that he’s a favorite of many people I can’t stand, right alongside the Firefly Fascists who continue to gush over the short-lived, mediocre Sci-Fi show. I once picked up an issue of Deadpool while Brian Posehn was co-writing it…boring.
Being a superhero movie launch, the focus is on Deadpool’s origin. Nothing terribly different than Iron Man or Captain America. What the film makers change up is the execution: a high body count, winking at the camera, self-awareness (Ryan Reynolds making jokes about himself/his past mis-steps) and Fox gambling on making an R-rated movie, a rating which is often the kiss of death. Does it work? Well, the money Deadpool is making says it did. For me, not really. I mainly went because Somara wanted to see this and in exchange, I get to drag her to something she finds boring, usually an art-house movie or something genuinely funny/absurd.
To my friends who are casual movie attenders and/or viewers of the genre, I’d say pass on Deadpool. If you’re a fan of obnoxious “Bro” movies or anything starring Adam Sandler, Marvel and produced by Fox, you found your hero.
As always, it’s a Marvel movie so wait for the surprise at the end. I will admit, I was amused by what Deadpool paid tribute to.
Alamo Extras: Trailers for Green Lantern and Blade 3 (Reynolds was in those obviously); Deadpool’s scenes from X-Men: Wolverine Origins; Deadpool and Catwoman on the toilet as animation (dumb); Japanese action stuff such as their Wonder Woman and Moonmask the Band; Rob Liefield drawing Deadpool; Rob Liefield and Todd McFarlane drawing a character on the spot as Stan Lee pitches an idea; Deadpool appearing in a Spider-Man cartoon; Bea Arthur and Madame doing comedy; Spider-man v. Deadpool at basketball; Shogun Assassin clips (aka Lone Wolf and Cub); Spike Lee’s Levi’s commercial with Rob Liefield; Conan O’Brien getting a massage from Deadpool; Kid cartoon for a chimichanga; Regular Show clip of the characters singing about a chimichanga; A chimichanga song; Deadpool in Japanese; Deadpool teasing kids dressed as the X-Men; Action clip of Deadpool as a chicken; a bunch of cosplayers dancing as Deadpool.