Deadpool

 

Not as nasty as media tells you but, WTH.

In a world covered with comic book media & merchandise frenzy a new film based upon another character from another comic book doesn't seem to be much of a thing. Or is it? Deadpool has been around since the early 90's and to everyone familiar with the character they're pretty damn sure that he is neither a superhero nor a vigilante. He's a merchant, a gun for hire, so having a comic book film with an R rating is nothing but the right way to do it. The problem is, (if there's ever a problem with it) is that Deadpool has become so massively popular since the arrival of massive Comic Cons and social networks that it is almost impossible not to find yourself checking your -insert favorite social network here- timeline with something either remotely or closely related to the man in black & red (or is it red & black?) And oh boy! let's not forget about the hundreds of thousands Harley Quinn worshipers waiting for the Suicide Squad movie!

The question is, have we had enough of Deadpool already? or Do we need a big screen movie of a character that's become an internet meme and Comic Con fan favorite just because it's what's hot in your silly timeline? I don't know, and as the premise of this humble blog states: discover the answer by yourself, our reviews and opinions are merely hints at something that will become greater when you're a part of it.

I for one, I'm a big Deadpool fan. As a matter of fact, some of his stories are the most entertaining I've read in ages! (Suicide Kings, Wade Wilson's War, Merc with a Mouth, etc) and the news of movie about himself made happy enough to forget my "I'm sick of overrated superhero movie" sickness.  

Listen, Green Lantern & Wolverine Origins gave me cancer.

Oh yeah! Sex in a Marvel Comics inspired flick!

The Deadpool film has been out for almost a week now, but the motto of SPAM Alternative is to deliver unbiased honest to Satan reviews. Nobody's paying us, and we're not a shitty advertisement site so, here goes nothing:

There is a word I don't like that perfectly describes what the overall feeling of watching Deadpool is: Hype. Although trailers, ads and social network campaigns promised a film that would rock your socks off, I'm sorry to tell you that this is not the film that would do that (unless, you're an inexperienced casual movie goer with little to no cinema & comic book knowledge) The gory action scenes, the pun intended jokes, foul language and some mild sex & nudity grant you nothing, because there are hundreds of films that rely on those tricks to keep you sat for an hour and a half, so the sense of "freshness" some may be expecting here is nothing but an illusion.Maybe I'm being too much of a purist perfectionist here so don't mind me.

Still, the film tries to stay as close as possible to source material and it comes packed with massive easter eggs comic book fans will love (and superhero movie fans will pretend to understand while they're googling them)  The plot is derivative at most. Wade Wilson a low life merchant, falls in love with a hooker and all of a sudden discovers that he's got Cancer metastasis and he will inevitably die sooner than later. Suddenly, the wild promise of a magnificent cure that will cure his cancer while turning him into a mutant seems like the only way out.

You can be an X-Men Deadpool.

Can we go home now?

Of course things go wicked wrong and Deadpool promises to find the man who turned him into an unfuckable avocado. Obviously, Deadpool means are nowhere close to being those of heroes, so enter Colossus & Negasonic Teenage Warhead (the only X-Men available because the studio couldn't afford more, according to Deadpool himself haha) Their goal is to convince Deadpool to become an X-Men but you already know, our merc with a mouth doesn't give a shit about that. 

The only weakness this film may have is that it tries too hard to bring new into a genre that is more about the merchandise than the quality of the art. Deadpool is the main character and well, every other character looks and feels completely diminished in terms of developing their own personalities. For instance, Colossus (Stefan Kapicic) goes from being one of the greatest X-Men to become a do goody nanny with morals. Megasonic is the cliched teen who hates everything and wants to be some place else, and to make matters worse the enemy, the one reason this revenge movie exists is, well, too weak to be likable and credible. Ajax (Ed Skrein) is a scientist who happens to have the same powers Wade has. Anything else? not really, oh! Deadpool calls him Francis and he hates that.

Yes, I'm Canadian & I love Vancouver!

Let's do this Ripley!

The jokes are there, some are pretty good and some are not. Whenever there's an action sequence you'll find a good joke, but when action isn't going on, jokes aren't really that entertaining. Movies that rely heavily on one liners & jokes become dated pretty quickly (think of the Austin Powers trilogy) and since the plot & support cast are weaker than a Toynami Robotech toy, I don't think this film will live up to the hype that's been built around. Nevertheless, the action packed scenes are there and Ryan Reynolds is the main star here, so if you're able to skip that, then you're ready to enjoy this film. 

The fourth wall is also present on this film in several films but clearly the most unforgettable moments and jokes are those related to Ryan Reynolds acting career, the Green Lantern movie, The Wolverine Origins film and some other pun intended jokes that are related to the comic book world in general. Also, the soundtrack seems to follow the idea established by Guardians of the Galaxy: Play only oldies but goodies. Can you believe Wade Wilson's favorite band is Wham! ?

Showgirls!

AT & T (ass, tits & twat)

Nevertheles, the mere fact that Deadpool got made is perhaps the greatest artistic triumph this film achieves. Little credit should be given to 20th Century Fox, as they had zero faith in the success of a Deadpool movie. To put things into perspective, Ryan Reynolds fought for this film back in 2004 when Blade: Trinity was released. Reynolds and co. (which is why Deadpool jokes about blowing Wolverine's balls in early scenes) went to shoot test footage that was then leaked online by Reynolds himself (he claims to be 70% sure of that) because Fox had no intentions to release it to the public. Finally, after years and years of begging to the studio and the overwhelming positive responses of the test footage from the public, Fox didn't even tell Reynolds and co. that the film was green lit. They had to find out online like the rest of us plebeians. If that sounds bad, Fox even cut their budget by $7 million at the last minute, which caused the writers to scratch some action sequences that make you feel the entire film was already spoiled in the trailers.
 
Deadpool now has the biggest opening weekend in the month of February (surpassing Fifty Shades of Grey), the biggest opening weekend for 20th Century Fox (surpassing all the X-Men films), and the biggest opening weekend for an R rated film EVER (surpassing The Matrix: Reloaded). With all that being said, Deadpool is an entertaining film that works mainly because of Reynolds himself. His comedic skills pay off gloriously as the titular character, who gives so many quips in one instance that some jokes will be missed. Of course, credit should be given to the writers too (AKA: The Real Heroes Here), and it's impressive that this is Tim Miller's directorial debut. The action sequences and pacing are so good that you'd think this came from a veteran director.

From the ingenious opening credits to the subversive ending, Deadpool constantly upends clichés and tropes you're used to seeing in superhero flicks in the past few years. What's great here is the filmmakers had something weird and perverse and just went with it. Jokes about pedophilia, pegging, and sex run rampant, but it's never really dark, despite the mature subject matter. On top of that, it's also very refreshing to see a pansexual superhero in such a big studio film. It's unheard of these days. Fox and other studios, learn from this success. It's not the fact that a hard R-rated film can do well, it's that Deadpool also happens to be very entertaining , most likely because you, Fox, actually gave the filmmakers the creative freedom to do whatever the hell they wanted.

Yeah! fuck me Wade!

Ladies & Gentlemen, Chastity!

The scene after the credits shows Deadpool in a bathrobe, making fun of you, the viewer, for sticking around for so long. He also talks about the sequel, and says it will feature Cable. Then he makes a few jokes about the casting, and pokes at other movies that usually tease future movies in these scenes.

Overall, Deadpool is an entertaining film that maybe works better with people who are not really hardcore fans of the character. I for one, left the theater with mixed feelings because I know my Deadpool, the film could have been way wilder. 

Do you like Tabasco sauce? the hell I do! I love Chili! and my favorite Tabasco is the hottest one: "Habanero". Well, Deadpool was only the "Mild Tabasco"

Here's the movie trailer:

And if you're too lazy to find the easter eggs yourself, here some guy saved you time: