"Time to make the Chimi-f*cking-changas" - Deadpool Review

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The Deadpool movie has been a long-time coming, and after his disastrous interpretation in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, many fans - including myself and Ryan Reynolds - long to see the character done right. It is with great pleasure that I can announce that Deadpool hits all the right notes, and is a must see for any comic book fan.

Let's get this out of the way for starters - Deadpool is not a film for kids. Its one of the reasons I hope it won't be introduced into the larger universe of either the X-Men franchise, or the MCU (although given the appearance of Colossus, I'm doubtful about the latter). Whilst it remains a standalone franchise, Deadpool is free to pack as much gore, profanity and yes, nudity into his movies as director Tim Miller desires. Bringing him into the folds of the more PG movies would force his personality to be watered down, which we just don't want.

That's because the majority of the film's entertainment comes from Deadpool's crude, foul-mouthed attitude, and Ryan Reynolds does a fine job on his second outing in the role. Every line out of his mouth is golden, and Reynolds delivers childish humour (there are dick jokes galore!) in a way that could force a smile out of the most miserbale of cinema-goers.

It's actually quite hard to believe that an origin story involving a man being diagnosed with cancer can be made fun to watch. Even when T.J Miller's character is making jokes about Wade being dead soon, the writing manages to just balance on the edge of offensive, without going too far.

That's not to say the film is family friendly. Good lord no. As mentioned earlier, Deadpool is a foul mouthed anti-hero, and for the most part he's a bad guy. The first time we see him (chronologically), he's threatening a pizza guy with a knife. Not your typical hero. But you can't help but root for him. He's a douche, but he's loveable, which is another testament to Reynold's performance.

I specified the term "chronologically", because the film isn't told in order. We start of on a highway, where Wade has tracked down the villain and is giving his goons some punishment, but then we flashback, and the origin story begins. This allows the flashback sequences to slow down, and deliver a few (comparitively) quiet moments, before flashing back to the highway to watch Deadpool kick some ass again.

Which brings me to my next point. The film is violent, gory, well choreographed and stylish. Limbs are severed, men are impaled, shot, and otherwise dispatched in some creative ways which I won't spoil for you. All the action scenes are on point, with the final showdown between Wade and the movie's villain Ajax being fast paced and thrilling, but the standout is actually within the first fifteen minutes. With just twelve bullets and a whole load of bad guys, Wade counts down how many shots he has, as he gracefully (and hilariously) wipes them out.

Just a few points to wrap up:

-The fourth-wall breaking is fantastic, with Wade actually referencing Ryan Reynolds as an actor and commenting on his own good looks - loved it.

- Team mates Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (great name - Deadpool agrees) are entertaining, but a little underused

-My only criticism is that the story is a little to by-the-numbers. Its a standard revenge tale with a fairly bland villain who gives awesome fight scenes, but not much as a character.

Deadpool revels in it's own self-awareness. Commenting on the emptiness of Xavier's school being a result of a low budget ("Could they only afford two X-Men?") is just one example of the on-point meta-humour. Combine this with some stylish action and a gleefully hilarious performance from Ryan Reynolds, and it's easy to look past one or two shortcomings when it comes to villains and predictable storytelling. In a way, this could be considered as one of Marvel's best outings.