Comic book movies are rolling off the assembly line these days. They are hot, people love them, but when done wrong are torn apart by fan boys everywhere. Deadpool is one such character. He made his movie debut in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Fans loved Ryan Reynolds, but despised the Mortal Kombat looking version of Deadpool that came in the end of that debacle. Fast forward a few years. Some test footage is leaked, fans go crazy about it, and the, "Merc With a Mouth," gets another go at the big screen.
Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) is former special ops soldier who works as mercenary and could be mentally unstable when we meet him. While in his best friend Weasel's merc bar he meets and falls in love with Vanessa (Morena Baccarin). After discovering he has terminal cancer, he volunteers for a secret program that causes his mutant healing factor to manifest. He is cured of cancer, but horribly disfigured and mentally not all there. Add some guns, a cool costume, and the need for revenge and we have ourselves a movie.
Picture a combination of Spider-Man, The Punisher, and Wolverine and you get Deadpool. The comic often has him breaking the fourth wall and talking to the audience and the movie does the same. Reynolds was born to play this character. After the dismal movie that was Green Lantern, it is great to see Ryan given something that fits him to a tee. The stop motion action is great and the storyline is simple enough to keep even first time watchers engaged. Fox is attempting a mutant based multi-film universe. Deadpool does a great job of tying in the X-Men. Negasonic Teenage Warhead isn't a household name character, but comic book fans will love how she is treated. The fact that her costume looks like an old school, New Mutants suit is a nice subtle throwback to the comic that launched Deadpool. Colossus has been in other movies, but we finally get the truest version of the Russian powerhouse. Spot on!
Deadpool was created by writer Fabian Nicieza and artist/writer Rob Liefeld, who has stated before that he was the most directly responsible for the character. It is hard to find argument in his point. Rob was at the forefront of the comics boom in the 90's and this has been a long time coming. Deadpool came along as a villain, but has since evolved into an antihero and has garnered a 20 plus year cult following. Fox has a reputation of getting things VERY wrong when it comes to comic book movies. I can wholeheartedly say that they got this one right. Action, humor, and great attention paid to the source material. As comic book fans, we can't ask for much more than that. Accept for maybe the inevitable sequel.
Go see it. 'Nuff said.
No comments:
Post a Comment