So I Went to See Deadpool

Last night was a trip to see Deadpool at my local theater with an IMax screen.

And it was amazing.
Now, let me start with this: They are NOT kidding about that R rating. Ignore the man with the Hello Kitty backpack and the occasional shots of a sullen teenage girl. This movie is not for:
A) Children. No, really. Don’t bring your kids. Go to the theater. Watch the movie. And then, if you’re that kind of parent/guardian (and my Dad was) let the kids watch it when it comes out on DVD/Blu ray, streaming service of your choice. But not in the theater.
B) People bothered by excessive, occasionally cartoon violence. Imagine that the things that happen in a Wile E. Coyote cartoon actually had physical consequences. It’s kind of like that.
C) People bothered by nudity, foul language, off-color jokes. And they are off-color. Some of them are probably offensive. I didn’t take offense, but I’m not in any of the target groups, so that doesn’t mean much.

The Deadpool in this movie seems to be a pretty good rendition of what I know about the character in comics. He doesn’t have any puppies or Hello Kitty bandaids, but he has an unending sense of humor, really great timing, and a playfulness that’s rarely seen in superhero movies. Ryan Reynolds does an amazing job. But we knew he would, that’s why we’ve been asking for a  Deadpool movie since X-Men Orignis: Wolverine. And we got one. Wade Wilson is a little mean, a lot crazy, and also surprisingly sweet sometimes. You probably don’t want to actually date him, but you don’t worry about the woman who does.
Who, by the way, is played by the amazing Morena Baccarin. If you liked her in Firefly, you don’t have to worry. I’m pretty sure Vanessa and Inara would get along. Vanessa is not a damsel, even if she is both in distress and in a dress on occasion. She’s pretty awesome and just as weird as Wade/Deadpool. As he puts in in the Valentine’s Day trailer, “Your crazy matches my crazy,” which is the thing many of us hope for.
The other characters were also fun. I always like to see Colossus and then there was the character I knew nothing about; Negasonic Teenage Warhead.  Wikipedia tells me that she’s a fairly minor character in the Marvel universe, who bears basically no resemblance to the girl on the screen. I’m surprisingly ok with that and I enjoyed Brianna Hildebrand in the part.

So, one thing to know going in, this is not a superhero movie. Yes, Deadpool has powers, but he is not a hero. He’ll tell you that himself. This is pretty much a revenge movie. Think Payback or Kill Bill, not Ironman. I feel like this is going to be the kind of movie you either love or hate. It’s not going to be easy to ride the fence on this one. I happen to come down on the side of love. From the opening credits to the post-credit scene, I loved it. There were moments I couldn’t watch because they squicked me out, but I’m ready to go back right now.