Deadpool (Review)
Deadpool is a 2016 superhero action/comedy directed by Tim Miller and written by duo Paul Wernick/Rhett Reese. The film was, and still is, huge among audiences and critics, surpassing Passion of the Christ as the highest grossing R-rated film ever made.
Story
The plot, for the most part, is a simple revenge story. Somebody kidnaps Deadpool's girlfriend and now Deadpool has to find and kill the bad guy and save the hot chick. What makes it work, though, is that the movie knows it's simple, so that's not what the focus is on. The focus is on the character of Deadpool himself and the screenplay.
Deadpool is a full ant-hero through and through: he only cares about getting his revenge, not helping people or fighting bad guys for any other reason. You're able to route for him, though, because they spent time setting up Deadpool's back story and why we're supposed to care about him. This is helped by the fact that the character is consistently funny. The other characters are great, as well. Colossus as the boy scout constantly has great moments bouncing off of Deadpool because their ideologies are always clashing; the foulmouthed, irreverent mercenary and the golden boy X-Man are a perfect comedic combination. I guess a lot of people really liked Negasonic Teenage Warhead, but I'm not gonna be totally crushed if I never see her in another Deadpool movie. She was a funny satire of teenage girls, but she wasn't really a character. She works for the film, but isn't very memorable.
The screenplay, however, is extremely memorable. You can quote this movie from dusk til dawn. The screenplay is chock full of great jokes that I won't dare spoil for you. The screenplay really does fit the Deadpool character perfectly: vulgar, no desire for heroics and no concern for the fourth wall.
Technical
I believe there are three important elements of filming action.
The first is the editing. If the continuity within an action scene is shoddily handled, the scene will come out one of two ways: sloppy (where the audience can't understand or see what happened in the fight) or slow (the fight feels dragged out and meticulous). It's even more important in a movie like Deadpool, because it's a fast-paced, out of control, fourth wall-breaking comedy that relies on good edit timing for its jokes. The editing in this film is spot-on, with fast cuts and excellently cut together fight scenes.
The second important element is the choreography. If you want good choreography, make the fights fast. If you want great choreography, make the fights creative. If you want to blow your audience away, do both, which Deadpool does. The choreography in the fights is almost pitch perfect: it's fast paced, but combines with the editing to make sure you can still comprehend what's happening. It totally takes advantage of the fact it's a dark comedy; it's crude and offers some great visual humor.
The third element is cinematography. This is especially important because if it sucks, the action is indistinguishable. Techniques like shaky cam have, unfortunately, become very popular in action movies today, making a lot action scenes unobservable. Deadpool doesn't suffer from anything of the sort, with great wide shots that allow us to see every bit of the glorious blood bath that unfolds before us.
The acting is good. Ryan Reynolds practically plays a foul-mouthed version of himself and steals every scene he's in, like the main character is supposed to. The other actors are ok, but aren't given that much time to shine.
Whoever did the costume design for the movie did a great job. They were very careful about sticking as close to the comic as possible when designing Deadpool's outfit. It's simple and looks cool, and that's what the costume is supposed to be. The only other costume of note is Negasonic Teenage Warhead's super suit, which I think is supposed to be an homage to the yellow spandex of the 90's X-Men cartoon..
Summary: This was very difficult to assess as the film doesn't try to be any more than it's supposed to be: an irreverent action-comedy meant to give the audience a good time.
A
Story
The plot, for the most part, is a simple revenge story. Somebody kidnaps Deadpool's girlfriend and now Deadpool has to find and kill the bad guy and save the hot chick. What makes it work, though, is that the movie knows it's simple, so that's not what the focus is on. The focus is on the character of Deadpool himself and the screenplay.
Deadpool is a full ant-hero through and through: he only cares about getting his revenge, not helping people or fighting bad guys for any other reason. You're able to route for him, though, because they spent time setting up Deadpool's back story and why we're supposed to care about him. This is helped by the fact that the character is consistently funny. The other characters are great, as well. Colossus as the boy scout constantly has great moments bouncing off of Deadpool because their ideologies are always clashing; the foulmouthed, irreverent mercenary and the golden boy X-Man are a perfect comedic combination. I guess a lot of people really liked Negasonic Teenage Warhead, but I'm not gonna be totally crushed if I never see her in another Deadpool movie. She was a funny satire of teenage girls, but she wasn't really a character. She works for the film, but isn't very memorable.
The screenplay, however, is extremely memorable. You can quote this movie from dusk til dawn. The screenplay is chock full of great jokes that I won't dare spoil for you. The screenplay really does fit the Deadpool character perfectly: vulgar, no desire for heroics and no concern for the fourth wall.
Technical
I believe there are three important elements of filming action.
The first is the editing. If the continuity within an action scene is shoddily handled, the scene will come out one of two ways: sloppy (where the audience can't understand or see what happened in the fight) or slow (the fight feels dragged out and meticulous). It's even more important in a movie like Deadpool, because it's a fast-paced, out of control, fourth wall-breaking comedy that relies on good edit timing for its jokes. The editing in this film is spot-on, with fast cuts and excellently cut together fight scenes.
The second important element is the choreography. If you want good choreography, make the fights fast. If you want great choreography, make the fights creative. If you want to blow your audience away, do both, which Deadpool does. The choreography in the fights is almost pitch perfect: it's fast paced, but combines with the editing to make sure you can still comprehend what's happening. It totally takes advantage of the fact it's a dark comedy; it's crude and offers some great visual humor.
The third element is cinematography. This is especially important because if it sucks, the action is indistinguishable. Techniques like shaky cam have, unfortunately, become very popular in action movies today, making a lot action scenes unobservable. Deadpool doesn't suffer from anything of the sort, with great wide shots that allow us to see every bit of the glorious blood bath that unfolds before us.
The acting is good. Ryan Reynolds practically plays a foul-mouthed version of himself and steals every scene he's in, like the main character is supposed to. The other actors are ok, but aren't given that much time to shine.
Whoever did the costume design for the movie did a great job. They were very careful about sticking as close to the comic as possible when designing Deadpool's outfit. It's simple and looks cool, and that's what the costume is supposed to be. The only other costume of note is Negasonic Teenage Warhead's super suit, which I think is supposed to be an homage to the yellow spandex of the 90's X-Men cartoon..
Summary: This was very difficult to assess as the film doesn't try to be any more than it's supposed to be: an irreverent action-comedy meant to give the audience a good time.
A
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