Snow Screen: Deadpool

Since we were in Hollywood for Creed this past Thursday, it meant that a viewing of new flick Deadpool would have to wait until the weekend. Trekking back to Hwood to the Arclight, we dined and drank in the bar where they had pint glasses available to coincide with the movie. The early word on Deadpool had been positive and it would be a nice change of pace to see an R rated superhero flick with cursing, sex and violence. After Ryan Reynolds was introduced as Deadpool in the disastrous X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the road back to the big screen would take nearly 10 years and a leaked trailer to get there. As former special forces soldier turned low level criminal Wade Wilson, Reynolds brings his natural smarmy, almost douchebag charm to the big mouthed, smart ass'd role. Stricken with cancer, Wilson volunteers for a program run by the nefarious Francis aka Ajax (surprise Game of Thrones breakout Ed Skrein) where he'll be tortured and experimented on until his dormant mutation manifests. Wilson's powers turn out to be of the self healing kind and I don't think he feels much pain either.

Donning the red tights to cover up blood stains, Deadpool works his way up Ajax's cronie list on his way to a final confrontation with the guy who ruined his life. Oh all of this is for love, in a shoehorned relationship with working girl Vanessa (Morena Baccarin). X-Men Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) show up as does superpowered baddie Angel Dust (Gina Carano). The film starts off fantastically with a near Fox trademark opening of moving through trash or space in slow motion (seriously, Fight Club, X-Men and more, Fox loves their CGI breakdowns), funny credits and a shout out to co-creator Rob Liefeld. The Lie gets several acknowledgements including his name misspelled on a highway sign in the Tim Miller directed, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick scripted film. Opening action sequence gets split up into several scenes as a clunky origin story is shoved in. But the shooting, slashing, flipping and kicking action is well done and Deadpool going up against the metal Colossus is creative, funny and cringe worthy. Budgeted at under $60 million, you kind of feel it in what seemed like a lack of action. Or that the action scenes are always interrupted so it just feels short? Deadpool and Ajax fight it out on what looks like a decrepit SHIELD helicarrier at the end which is just one of many references to Marvel and it's cinematic universe.

Deadpool takes full advantage of it's R rating with violence, sex, nudity and cursing. I've never read any of his headlining comics so no clue if it's a truthful representation to the source material. The film opened up phenomenally over President's Day weekend with an ad campaign that seemed to be everywhere and effective without wearing you down. Grossing $150 million over four days and another $100 million plus overseas, the movie that nearly didn't happen grossed $264 million worldwide in under a week. A sequel has already been greenlit and is referred to in the film itself. Time traveling, cybernetic soldier Cable is touted to appear and hopefully that leads to an X-Force film. Stephen Lang wants the role while Tom Hardy and Jon Hamm are on Liefeld's wish list. But once again, I'm voting for Michael Biehn. His age probably takes him out of the running already but having played a time traveling resistance fighter in The Terminator and armor clad space marine in Aliens makes a nice through line to Cable.