The Anti-Hero Reviewed: Deadpool

By Stephen Fasulo II

I went in to Deadpool with the worst expectations. The real burden to bear with comic book movies is that you often get interpretations of characters that are not based on your favorite versions. A comic writer changes so often that there are several writers attributed to any character that runs for a number of years. The Iron Man that the movies are based on is not the same Iron man that was around when the character was invented. It is not the same now. Storylines have shifted the character, and that is the prevailing theme of comic books.

Deadpool is my favorite hero movie at the moment. It has got an incredible plot and believable characters, an amazing score, and the best action I have seen in a long while. It succeeds in making me empathize with a character that wears a face obscuring mask for the majority of the film without cheating and ripping the mask, a la Spider-Man 1 through 3. It compels with humor and drama and makes jokes that do not pander, they are simply funny. The movie works because everyone involved between the actors, the writers, and the director cared enough to wait 11 years since the premier of X-Men Origins: Wolverine to make the best Deadpool movie they could.

Ryan Reynolds is pitch perfect as the titular ‘Merc With A Mouth’, an undeniably funny and charismatic actor that delivers a perfect performance, completely putting aside any ego to play ‘God’s Perfect Idiot’ as he is listed in the opening credits. He acts with an energy that defines the movie, and the humour based around the classic Deadpool tropes, breaking the fourth wall and internet meme jokes, is tempered down so he is just irreverent. We still get the glimpses of these, but never so much as to become obnoxious to the viewer.

The rest of the cast is great as well, and everyone in the film has an easy chemistry when they interact. TJ Miller is likable as Weasel, the sidekick to Deadpool, and the rest of the cast meshes into place easily fulfilling character archetypes but with a twist that becomes the mainstay of the film. Where you would expect the movie to zig, in character or story, it almost always neatly zags to subvert expectations in comical ways.

The score is interesting, to say the least. From the trailer of the film with its hard hip-hop and rap vibes, one would not expect Julie Newton’s “Angel of the Morning” to play such a key part, but returning to that song for comedic effect or sincerity is one of the film’s best running gags, and plays well the entire time.

The movie has great action and comedy, and creates a film that is a breath of fresh air when superhero movies where the stakes are ridiculously high are the norm. An idiot going off to save his one true love by slaughtering every single bad guy along the way works better than expected, and I never once was bored by a billion dollar scene where the current popular super team fights legions of CGI gray mooks. Deadpool is not a film to miss.