(Image courtesy of 20th Century Fox)
Nate – Loved it, pre-ordered BluRay – Funny, original, fresh, entertaining, genuine. All describe the film that seems to have broken the increasingly stagnant ocean of “universe building” comic book movies. This movie, and Ryan Reynolds, capture the Merc with the Mouth almost perfectly, from his propensity to violence, sarcastic arrogance, and never ending, curse filled, external dialog. The action was fun and satisfying, the humor and jokes landed, and the cameos were funny and filled with promise for the already announce sequel. I defiantly left the theater wanting more, which is a good thing. My one complaint with the film was with Deadpool’s villain. While Ajax did not hurt the movie, with both an ambiguous motivation and power set, he could have been better.
All of that said, I am concerned that studios may take the wrong lesson away from Deadpool’s success. Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn said it best on Facebook, the lesson is not that audiences want R-rated, curse-filled, hyper-violent and sexualized superhero movie, but originality, quality, and not treating the audience as dumb resonates with movie-goers. Like with Gunn, I fear we will soon get a swath of R-rated movies adding cursing and extra violence that does not benefit the film. Deadpool, the film, benefits from the language and action used in the film because it fits with the character and is used to enhance the film. That said, I think the quality and originality of Deadpool have set a really high bar for Suicide Squad. Though not directly comparable, I think the tone of Suicide Squad may cause audiences to hold it against Deadpool, and that is a really high water mark to hit.
Nate’s Score: 5/5
(Originally published on Today's Geek Blog: http://www.todaysgeekblog.com/todays-geek/2016/3/8/oazr1inke0j6f4zmfxctrnh0l27mbd )