Yesterday was my sister’s birthday. She hates it because of the whole “fighting huge crowds to do fun things on [my] birthday” business, which I can’t say I blame her for. So we did what we always do – went out to an early dinner (and still had to wait 45 minutes). But this year was different because she wanted to go to the movies, too, which we almost never do. I don’t know why. And because she’s a comic nerd and it looked funny, she wanted to see Deadpool.
(Full disclosure: I’m not big on comic book movies. I know, I KNOW – I’m just not! I haven’t seen ANY of the X-Men movies, the Avengers movies, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises – you get the idea. It’s just not my thing. Plus Deadpool seemed a little too reminiscent of KickAss, costume-wise.)
So after our Grand Slammy dinner time, we headed out to the nice theater nearby (the one with the reclining seats) to see the show, an hour early with pre-paid tickets. Good thing they were pre-paid because the 8PM show was sold out. We were about 30 people back in the line, too. And we got the nice theater within the nice theater (so meta!) because ALL of the seats reclined! SCORE!
On to the movie!
I’m going to try to talk about this as best as I can and still keep it spoiler-free.
I. LOVED. IT! A lot. From the very first chords of Angel of the Morning during the opening credits. I mean, who doesn’t love this damn song, right?
An odd song choice for a superhero/anti-hero theme, but strangely fitting. I giggled like a little girl and sang along as it played over still drawings of fight scenes with cast introductions such as: “Starring God’s Perfect Idiot”, “A Hot Chick”, “A British Villain”, “The Comic Relief”,”A CGI Character”, A Moody Teen”, “A Gratuitous Cameo”, “Produced by Asshats”, “Directed by an Overpaid Tool”, “Written by the Real Heroes Here.” (YES! ACKNOWLEDGING THE WRITERS AS HEROES!)
That’s when I knew this would be different. Not some overindulgent studio machine. This had sass. Self-deprecating humor. It wasn’t taking itself too seriously. This is the thing that’s been missing in the time I haven’t been going to the movies so I was instantly excited.
Deadpool is the story of a man on a mission. A man desperate for revenge against the man who ruined his life (and not in an emo sort of way). A man who is essentially indestructible, killing all kinds of people with minimal effort while having a good laugh and there are no shortages of those. He often wisecracks mid-fight, sometimes stopping motion to speak to the camera, and has a little fun with the audience because we’re in on the joke.
(This is the trailer that semi-sold me)
I wasn’t sure about Ryan Reynolds. I’ve always liked him, but I was worried that boring was sexually transmitted. Nope. He’s the Ryan of old, and thank goodness for that! He delivers in ways that, in my warped little mind, only he can in this particular role. For that, he didn’t play Deadpool – he IS Deadpool.
One of the most brilliant things about this film (I can’t speak to the comic because I know nothing about it!) is the subtle references to other superhero franchises, the X-Men, and (as my sister so astutely pointed out) that it seems like it was tailor-made for people around our age and a little bit older. Juice Newton, Wham!, Weird Science, Say Anything, Ferris Bueller, and Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret. I was disappointed at how few people got the Margaret joke, though. There are a lot more and way more spoily- ones here.
Go see it before you DO get spoiled and it’s worth the extra few dollars to get the cushy seats if you can, but don’t bring your kids. Well, it’s up to you, but you’d have to explain a lot. No really – A LOT. And it won’t be comfortable, either. That and Calendar Girl will never be the same.
To me, the greatest, most feel good story surrounding this whole vehicle is this one. Congrats, Tim Miller. Breaking records and kicking ass in your Directorial debut. Proof positive that dedication, passion, and persistence pay off. I feel inspired.
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