Wade was Military Special Ops until he was dishonorably discharged and then he just became dishonorable as a thug for hire. However, things changed when he fell in love and then found out he had terminal cancer. Approached by a mysterious man offering to "cure" him, Wade was at first skeptical but then interested. Ultimately, he became a guinea pig for a privately funded organization which did actually cure him but then mutated him, making him basically immortal.
Reynolds was a great casting choice for this role because he does sarcasm so well while hiding behind a smooth voice and boyish good looks. One almost doesn't mind being insulted by him, he's so good at it. His Wade is a subtle combination of snarky one-liners layered with some gooey emotion hidden deep down inside.
Surrounding him is a great cast including Morena Baccarin (Gotham) as Wade's equally snarky girlfriend, Ed Skrein (Transporter: Refueled) as Francis the villain, Leslie Uggams (Nurse Jackie) as Blind Al, Wade's obnoxious roommate, and Karan Soni (Blunt Talk)as Dopinder, the taxi driver who is fodder for Wade's sarcasm. My only question with the casting was T.J.Miller (Gravity Falls) as Weasel, Wade's best friend. While I loved him, and felt he was a good match for Reynolds, I wondered how he managed to keep the not so savory patrons of the bar he ran in check. I would have thought they could have beaten him to a bloody pulp at any point in time, but they never seemed to.
The real stars of Deadpool, though, are director Tim Miller, making his first feature debut, and screenplay writers Rhett Reese (Zombieland) and Paul Wernick (Zombieland). Miller keeps the pace even and blends action sequences nicely with the more dramatic moments. The action was wasn't overdone and tiresome like some of the other super hero movies we've seen lately, but the special effects and choreography for those scenes were masterfully shot.
Reese and Wernick did a phenomenal job of peppering the script with hilarity and not-so-subtle jabs at other works in the Comic Book Universe. Their words didn't seem forced or hokey and they told the story succinctly, without getting bogged down in back story or explanation much of the time.
This is certainly not the typical Marvel/DC comic fare we've seen of late. Much like its main character, Deadpool sets itself apart from the rest. It was seriously funny, politically incorrect, and simply a fun movie to watch. It has a little bit of everything for everyone and regardless of age, gender, or race, its appeal is uniform across the board. I enjoyed it for so many reasons and am looking forward to a sequel.
Grade: A-
