Deadpool

Despite not being a comic book fanatic and not really knowing much about Deadpool’s character, I was hooked right from the opening credits. This is not your usual superhero movie: the jokes are a bit crass, the superhero is actually an anti-hero and the fourth wall is broken multiple times. Welcome into the world of Wade Wilson a.k.a. Deadpool…

Deadpool was a bad guy before becoming a bad guy with super abilities. What triggers his transformation is cancer, spread in his lungs, prostate and brain. Willing to spare her the pain of seeing him die slowly and in a horrible manner, Wade Wilson leaves his girlfriend to join an experimental base. There, Ajax, the bad guy named after the house cleaning product, injects him with a serum that will cure his cancer and help him develop mutant abilities. To activate the process, though, Wade is being tortured to just an inch before his breaking point.

After his transformation, that saved his life but killed his incredibly good looks, Wade, now known as Deadpool, revengefully seeks Ajax. Not to kill him - no, no! - just to get him to fix his skin (that looks like an avocado had sex with a really old avocado) so he can go back to his girlfriend.

What is absolutely amazing with Deadpool is the fact that this film is aware of what it is doing. Based on a lot of inside jokes about the cinema industry, the X-Men franchise and even the actors who play famous heroes (Hugh Jackman is referenced a lot), Deapool explodes the fourth wall. To quote the man-turned-mutant himself: “There is a fourth wall into the fourth wall so that’s like…16 walls!”
You also have the classic superhero scenes like the design and making of his costume, the tear-jerking story about his mutation and the Stan Lee cameo (this time, in a strip club). The jokes are a bit crude but it is easy to let go and laugh without feeling offended in any way. There are also pop culture winks dispensed throughout the film with an ending that goes Wham! The soundtrack is super catchy, which is always an added bonus.

The action scenes are breathtaking. There is a lot of slow motion, which is actually quite exciting. Deadpool is a great character, very unusual in the Marvel world: he is selfish, irreverent and overall bad to the bone! Ryan Reynolds enjoys playing him and does a terrific job. Side note: you get to see his lovely apple-like-bum and his astonishing abs quite a few times! Happy Valentine’s Day!

If you are a Marvel fan, do not forget to sit through the end credits, as you know there is always a little special surprise for those who wait…