There's a lot to say about this movie. I think they used the R-rating really well (even though many parents did NOT take that into consideration when bringing their kids to this movie) and one of my main objectives-- to support R-rated Marvel movies-- was totally successful. I really want more movies like this.
I really enjoyed seeing Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Kolossus in the movie but, in the words of my roommate, Kolossus is so ineffective. I was a little unbelievable.
- Believability
Batman. Wolverine. Mystique. Star-Lord. What do all these characters have in common? Their motivations for being who they are, I think, are totally unbelievable. I was so impressed with how believable Deadpool's character was. It was totally selfish. The things he had experienced and his target in this movie made total sense to me. In many superhero movies where the origin story is explained I almost always think how much escalates from a "broken background" to an "I need to save/destroy the world" persona. I don't get it. I really find the motivations for superhero action are almost always quite a stretch. This made sense to me. Humanity wasn't at risk. It was a totally selfish motivation and I really loved it. - Opening credits
This is a pretty obvious one, but for those of you who haven't seen Deadpool, during the opening credits it accredits the writers and director not to the actual people but to descriptions of the people. It does things like naming the writers "The Real Heroes" or naming the producing "Some Corporate Assholes"-- things like that. It was entertaining and funny.
There was also the way the opening credits scene was a 3D tracking shot through a freeze frame action shot. A car was in the middle of flipping over and the scene was frozen and the credits where popping up as the camera was tracking through was happening within this frozen moment in time. It was a really interesting and original way to introduce the opening (and possibly most important) fight scene, and it was a way to introduce this movie as a comic book movie; it was very reminiscent of a comic block which was a really visually captivating way to introduce the situation. - Best Fourth Wall Breaks
Beyond the bits of the movie when Ryan Reynolds directly addresses the camera, which I did not think were the best fourth wall breaks, there were some really cool moments within the movie where, if you weren't paying attention or if you don't have that much knowledge about comic movie lore, you'll miss it. There's a part where Kolossus tells Deadpool that he's taking Deadpool to see professor X (because Deadpool exists in the X-Men universe) and Deadpool asks Kolossus "McAvoy or Stewart--the timelines are so confusing" which is 1. so true and 2. so self aware. Another X-Men joke that's made is when Deadpool points out that even when they visit the X-Men school, there are only ever the two X-Men that we ever see and he says something along the lines of "the studio couldn't afford more X-Men".
One of the parts where having comic movie knowledge is helpful is when Wade Wilson (Deadpool's human name) is talking about a Wham! album and as he's picking it up there's an action figure of his character "Deadpool" from the movie Wolverine: Origins. For those of you that haven't seen it, Ryan Reynolds played Deadpool in the Wolverine: Origins movie but it wasn't really Deadpool. And you can google that yourself but be warned it was absolutely shameful.
Two little ones that I personally love are 1. when Wade Wilson realizes his regenerative powers have made him super ugly he says "Do you think Ryan Reynolds got where he is today with his incredible acting?" referring to how attractive he is. 2. I really loved when the spy guy came into the bar that T.J. Miller runs and he tells Ryan Reynolds' character that this spy guy was looking for him and as a suggestion to go see what he wants T.J Miller says "I don't know, maybe it will advance the plot". The parts of the movie that I took the most joy out of is being rewarded for paying attention and having prior knowledge. They're super clever-- totally unlike anything I've ever seen before and it kept me super engaged when I didn't think I wasn't going to really like it. - Selling Crazy
I thought Ryan Reynolds really sold the fact that the mutation process turns Wade Wilson thoroughly insane and I think it was a super "natural" transformation into Deadpool. Beyond believing he would turn to this anti-hero, I really bought that he was crazy. There's a part in the opening fight scene and he only has 12 bullets left so he has to use them sparingly. So he shoots at a guy on a motorcycle and misses several times and is just yelling curse words and also counting down how many bullets he has left. He also gets frustrated with a guy and shoots him twice more after he was already dead and he yells at himself "NO" and then he whispers to himself right after "worth it". When he shoots at a guy and misses he yells "Bad Deadpool!" and when he shoots again and hits the guy he goes "Good Deadpool". Its these little things he says when he is fighting that make it really believable that he is genuinely insane. His comments to himself and how he perceives himself as part of the audience is a really smart way to show his instability. - Serious parts that weren't forced
Despite just how ridiculous this movie is, the parts that needed to be serious, specifically the part when he's being transformed, were actually very serious without seeming forced at all and actually very meaningful. I cried at this movie. That was thanks to how genuine Wade Wilson was struggling in the facility he was in. I really appreciated how this movie did funny action well, but it also did serious action well-- and there's a balance. Without the serious parts the movie would just have been too goofy. - How much was actually Ryan Reynolds
A question I had about the movie was how much of it was actually Ryan Reynolds. I think it's pretty obvious he wasn't doing the barrel flips in the air or all of that extreme martial arts stuff, but that was a good portion of the movie. And when it did break for him to throw in a one liner, was that even him? Because he's wearing the suit and the face of the suit is clearly computer edited to give the eyes specifically, but also the rest of the face, expression. I would say for more of the movie than not, he is in the suit. The whole second half he's in the suit! So I would like to know how much did Ryan Reynolds' body actually appear in this movie. - Plot
A really big falter of this movie is that for how out of the ordinary it is, and for how individual it is, it 1. did not follow the original origin story for Deadpool and 2. had a very typical plot arc. I was wondering the whole movie how it was going to end because I was thinking that it couldn't just end how every other superhero movie ends, but in fact, it does. **SPOILER ALERT he gets the girl and defeats his enemy after a big destructive battle**. But that's actually how every other superhero movie, and just movies in general, end. I was disappointed because for such a creative movie, it lacked a unique plot arc. - What does Deapool do next?
My roommate was the one to ask me this and it's a really good question. His motivations in this movie are 1. he wants to be pretty again and 2. this guy kidnapped his (ex?)girlfriend. Those two issues are resolved in this movie. He isn't inclined to just help people for the good of helping people, and in his comic book most of what he does is be a "good" hit-man. So I'm really curious to see what comes next.
Deadpool has got some really cool elements to it. The action scenes are crazy intricate and really well shot and edited and the movie is put together really nicely. I think it's pretty funny but you do have to be prepared for a few raunchy jokes because almost nothing in this movie is tasteful. The only thing typical about this movie is the plot but even that didn't ruin this experience for me. It's definitely worth seeing if only to support R-rated Marvel movies because this movie really used it's R-rating to the fullest. An actually realistic strip club scene, actually bloody and gory kills, real gritty cursing, actually funny jokes-- all things really meant for an R-rated movie are here and it's great.
No comments:
Post a Comment