Deadpool: Marvel Makes Merry

From the grim ghastliness of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, we come to the marvelous merriment of Deadpool. Marvel has a reputation for making fun superhero movies that don't take themselves too seriously, but Deadpool is in a class all its own. A self-referential, fourth-wall-breaking piece of comic wizardry, this movie is not as concerned with plot as it is with making sure you are laughing every second.

The movie begins mid-action and then is one long flashback to give us Deadpool's origin story. And what a raucous tale it is. Ryan Reynolds stars as Wade Wilson, an ex-special forces operative, currently working as a mercenary in New York City. He falls in love with the beautiful and sassy Vanessa Carlyle (the inimitable Morena Baccarin), they get engaged, then he finds out he has terminal cancer. He decides to try an experimental treatment to save his life, and ends up becoming an indestructible superhero. Unfortunately, while saving his life, the treatment also left him horrifically disfigured, so he runs around as a vigilante in his spandex Deadpool costume that covers him up completely and lets his fiancee think he is dead and gone. Hey, no one said superheroes can't be vain.

As that description might illustrate, this is a pretty thin premise, and frankly, I didn't pay any attention to this movie's plot. Instead, I was riveted by the joke density and the sheer joy of watching Reynolds and Baccarin banter (and more) on screen. This movie delights in its filthy silliness, and doesn't let any scene play out for too long because there are too many jokes to cram into the tight 108-minute runtime. Of course, there are many action sequences, villains who have to get their comeuppance, and peripheral X-men characters who show up to populate the ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe. They are all funny and entertaining, but this is really a one-man show with Reynolds never letting up for one instant.

Director, Tim Miller, and writers, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, have taken something that doesn't seem like it would work on paper and made it sizzle on the screen. While I think voiceovers and breaking the fourth wall can be entertaining when used sparingly, I never imagined a movie that talks to the audience the entire time could be this much fun. And yet it never feels gimmicky. You are simply included in the proceedings and have full license to laugh at the goings-on without feeling like you need to suspend your disbelief and clap if you belive in superheroes. Deadpool is a movie that fully acknowledges that this is an escapist fantasy genre, not a serious moral fable. It is irreverent and wonderful, an R-rated piece of rowdy ridiculousness. Turns out, if you make the movie the fans were clamoring for, it will be a crowd-pleaser. Who knew?