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The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Friday, March 29, 2024

Unconventional ‘Deadpool’ breathes new life into superhero genre

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Ryan Reynolds in "Deadpool."

For those who have not paid attention, Hollywood is in the midst of a superhero boom, as seven major superhero films are scheduled for release in 2016 aloneWith titles ranging from the cinematic “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” to the tumultuous “Captain America: Civil War” to the quite literally apocalyptic “X-Men Apocalypse,” the superhero genre is saturated, making it even harder for a superhero movie to stand out amid such formidable competition.

“Deadpool,” released on Feb. 12, is the first superhero film of the year, and it beats the expectations set by previous films in the genre by completely bucking the trends of big budgeted superhero releases. The film’s decidedly smaller focus makes for a tighter, more cohesive story coupled with ridiculous humor and brilliantly executed action sequences. While this shift in focus might be more due to the relatively smaller budget of “Deadpool,” it speaks to the quality of the film that a movie made with only $58 million is infinitely more enjoyable than the $279.9 million "Avengers: Age of Ultron" (2015).

Created by Rob Liefield and Fabian Nicieza at the height of the 1990s comic book boom, Deadpool — real name Wade Winston Wilson — was always an odd character in the Marvel Comics universe due to his crude, fourth wall-breaking humor and constant use of extreme violence. The outlandish antihero makes for a curious choice to star in a solo film, especially considering that the studio behind the film, 20th Century Fox, owns the cinematic rights to the X-Men franchise and all its mutants.

Because the film was stuck in development hell for many years, many doubted that “Deadpool” would even get off the ground, and the casting of Ryan Reynolds as the titular character did little to lessen this skepticism, due to his starring role in the superhero flop “Green Lantern” (2011).  But despite these doubts, “Deadpool” successfully embodies the essence of what has made Deadpool such an iconic character, even with his relatively short existence.

In fact, the best parts of “Deadpool” can be attributed to the finesse of Reynolds playing such a colorful character and the impressive decisions made by first-time director Tim Miller. Simply put, Reynolds does a fantastic job embodying the "Merc with a Mouth," capturing the character’s off-color charm, especially in moments when he breaks the fourth wall to poke fun at himself or the movie. Deadpool's dark sense of humor is reinforced by the directorial decisions of Miller, who devotes large chunks of the film to exaggerated fight scenes that the viewer cannot help but revel in their absurdity.

The film, however, gets bogged down in a fairly formulaic plot as Deadpool has to rescue Vanessa (Morena Baccarin), the woman of his dreams, from the people responsible for ruining his life. The fact that Deadpool also faces some terribly clichéd villains does not help the situation, with Ed Skrein and Gina Carano doing their best to elevate their characters, despite being given little material to work with. While these flaws normally might sink a movie such as “Deadpool,” the film rebounds quickly by making sure to point out the unoriginality of certain elements. A particularly endearing example is when Deadpool turns to the audience to ponder why the film only features two minor X-Men characters, Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (played by Stefan Kapičić and Brianna Hildebrand respectively), and he supposes that it is most likely due to financial concerns of the studio. With digs like these, it is much easier to look past the film's shortcomings.

With a public referendum on the film’s success already coming in the form of a $132.7 million opening weekend, there is a clear demand for less monolithic superhero films. Even though “Deadpool” may not always succeed in the quality department, its efforts in trying to chart a new course for the genre more than pay off. The film’s sharp juxtaposition of humor and violence is a welcome reprieve from the either overly dark or overly sugarcoated superhero blockbusters from the past couple years.

Summary “Deadpool” provides more than enough laughs and outbursts of violence to capture the audience’s attention in what is sure to be the year’s most audacious superhero film.
3.5 Stars