Deadpool

After seeing Deadpool, I am willing to forgive Ryan Reynolds for making The Green Lantern (but I can never forgive him for stealing Blake Lively from me).

In case you haven’t seen any of the commercials or nonstop promotional interviews he has been conducting to drum up business, Reynolds stars as Wade Wilson - a special ops guy with a dishonorable discharge and a bad attitude (no, he’s not the former football player).

Wilson wanders through life as a mercenary with a bit of a heart, but life takes a major swing upwards when he meets his soul mate, Vanessa (Morena Baccarin).

Of course, his is a tortured life, and Wilson discovers he has late stage cancer just as true love is becoming stronger by the day. Desperate to find some way to survive the inevitable, he accepts an offer to undergo an experimental surgery.

It’s a procedure that leaves Wilson hideously disfigured, but gives him the ability to heal from any wound or physical damage, so he sets off to get revenge and win back his lady.

While it is an action movie at heart, Deadpool is funnier than Zoolander 2, and probably every comedy you have seen in the last six months as we become familiar with a character who always has a lightning fast quip and a writing team willing to mock everything it should hold near and dear to its heart. Right from the opening credits, the audience realizes they are in for something a bit twisted and lacking any reverence (and that’s a good thing).

Deadpool is a wonderfully written movie from Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. A lesser film would have a director relying on the graphic violence to dominate the film and make up for all shortcomings, but director Tim Miller is smart enough to recognize he has a strong script which expertly defines the characters, delivers some of the snappiest dialogue around and brings a sense of humor to Deadpool that sets it apart from most movies.

Sure, Deadpool is set in the same style and tone as The Avengers or Guardians of the Galaxy, but, instead of being a lame copy, it feels like it belongs.

Much of this is because of Reynolds. He is the perfect mix of traditional leading man good looks and sassy comedian. His spirit makes the movie fascinating and entertaining instead of grating as the script allows our hero to be as bitter as he should be, and never sappy when things get serious.

Be warned, Deadpool is super violent with some explicit sex stuff. It is so violent, Deadpool has been banned in China, and I had to show identification to prove I was over the age of 17 to get into the theater. Parents beware, and teens trying to sneak in might want to make other plans.

Deadpool is rated R for strong violence and language throughout, sexual content and graphic nudity.

108 Minutes