A former Special Forces operative turned mercenary is subjected to a rogue experiment that leaves him with accelerated healing powers, adopting the alter ego Deadpool.
When Tony Stark and Bruce Banner try to jump-start a dormant peacekeeping program called Ultron, things go horribly wrong and it's up to Earth's Mightiest Heroes to stop the villainous Ultron from enacting his terrible plans.
Director:
Joss Whedon
Stars:
Robert Downey Jr.,
Chris Evans,
Mark Ruffalo
Focuses on time-traveling rogue Rip Hunter, who has to recruit a rag-tag team of heroes and villains to help prevent an apocalypse that could impact not only Earth, but all of time.
As Steve Rogers struggles to embrace his role in the modern world, he teams up with another super soldier, the Black Widow, to battle a new threat from history: an assassin known as the Winter Soldier.
Directors:
Anthony Russo,
Joe Russo
Stars:
Chris Evans,
Samuel L. Jackson,
Scarlett Johansson
Three decades after the defeat of the Galactic Empire, a new threat arises. The First Order attempts to rule the galaxy and only a ragtag group of heroes can stop them, along with the help of the Resistance.
Reckless test pilot Hal Jordan is granted an alien ring that bestows him with otherworldly powers that inducts him into an intergalactic police force, the Green Lantern Corps.
Director:
Martin Campbell
Stars:
Ryan Reynolds,
Blake Lively,
Peter Sarsgaard
Earth's mightiest heroes must come together and learn to fight as a team if they are to stop the mischievous Loki and his alien army from enslaving humanity.
Director:
Joss Whedon
Stars:
Robert Downey Jr.,
Chris Evans,
Scarlett Johansson
Right before his wedding, an uptight guy is tricked into driving his grandfather, a lecherous former Army Lieutenant-Colonel, to Florida for spring break.
This is the origin story of former Special Forces operative turned mercenary Wade Wilson, who after being subjected to a rogue experiment that leaves him with accelerated healing powers, adopts the alter ego Deadpool. Armed with his new abilities and a dark, twisted sense of humor, Deadpool hunts down the man who nearly destroyed his life. Written by
20th Century Fox
Originally the script was to feature the mutant Garrison Kane, but he was removed from the story due to his VFX power being too unrealistic (his arms are artificial and stuffed with futuristic tech). See more »
Goofs
After his final fight with Ajax with Deadpool on top of him and beating him up the face of Ajax is full of blood. In the next shot most of it is gone. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Deadpool:
It's kind of lonesome back here.
[wedges himself through the Plexiglas opening between the back seat and the front]
Deadpool:
A little help here.
See more »
Crazy Credits
The scene after the credits shows Deadpool in a bathrobe, making fun of you, the viewer, for sticking around for so long. He also talks about the sequel, and says it will feature Cable. Then he makes a few jokes about the casting, and pokes at other movies that usually tease future movies in these scenes. See more »
I really, really liked Deadpool. And you know what? I didn't expect to. Seriously, I was never a fan of the character (in the sense that I hardly knew anything about him) and the humor as well as the violence seemed forced and overdone in the trailers. Still, I remained interested in the film, I just never expected it to actually be good - until the reviews arrived. After most critics unexpectedly showered this newest superhero movie with praise, I went in cautiously optimistic (but still fully prepared to hate the film).
The first thing I noticed was how inventive the storytelling is. The film throws you into the action from the first moment (literally: the very first moment) and then it goes back and forth in brilliant and unexpected ways to slowly unspool the story of this insane - but oddly charming - antihero. Flashbacks and fast-forwards can be annoying as hell, but when done right, they can help render even a somewhat simple story fresh and exciting. And that's exactly how Deadpool felt to me right from the start: like a fresh (if somewhat dirty) jolt of energy.
The action itself is beautifully designed, employing playful visuals and using pretty much every camera technique available; it never feels repetitive and the pacing is close to perfection. But, and that was probably the key to me liking the film so much, there's a beating heart underneath all the action and carnage, and that has a lot to do with how brilliantly Ryan Reynolds portrays the character and the great chemistry he has with co-star Morena Baccarin. What came as a complete surprise to me was how unabashedly romantic Deadpool is. The love story in this film is probably the most sincere I've ever seen in a superhero movie and it gives the film the strong emotional core which so many of these movies lack.
The humor, which I initially feared would just be non-stop juvenile wisecracks and soon become distracting, also works surprisingly well. Not every line or every joke lands - but that's the beauty of this character: they don't really need to. Deadpool can't help himself; as long as he's able to breathe he'll crack wise and make fun of himself and those around him. It's a clinical condition; he's not a stand-up comedian whose jokes need to land: he's a madman (albeit a very entertaining one) and the comedy in his case was born out of tragedy.
Despite all my praise, it's not a perfect film. The villain in this revenge tale could have been more memorable and the story itself is a bit too derivative to really do its highly unconventional protagonist (he insists he's not a hero) justice: but it's a damn good first entry in a franchise that will hopefully explore the character and his world to a much larger extent in the sequel(s). And it's actually a very important film for another reason. If Deadpool is a financial success - which at this point is already clear it will be - this could play a vital role in how studios henceforth view the financial prospects of R-rated superhero films, and we'll hopefully see more of them in the future.
Many people might feel different - and I respect their opinion - but I've grown tired of the entirely bloodless CGI overkill in all those 200 million productions where even the most terrible villains talk like Mormon schoolgirls. I mean: there's a gigantic audience out there that is over the age of 18, loves to read comic books and can absolutely handle real-world language, real-world sex and real-world violence in superhero movies. This genre is so diverse; it's ridiculous to believe just because comic books have pictures in them all film adaptations - regardless of the material - must automatically be made for kids in order to be successful.
As it is, I think Deadpool - a dirty, funny, sexy and violent film which is decidedly NOT for kids - just proved my point perfectly. 9 stars out of 10.
I really, really liked Deadpool. And you know what? I didn't expect to. Seriously, I was never a fan of the character (in the sense that I hardly knew anything about him) and the humor as well as the violence seemed forced and overdone in the trailers. Still, I remained interested in the film, I just never expected it to actually be good - until the reviews arrived. After most critics unexpectedly showered this newest superhero movie with praise, I went in cautiously optimistic (but still fully prepared to hate the film).
The first thing I noticed was how inventive the storytelling is. The film throws you into the action from the first moment (literally: the very first moment) and then it goes back and forth in brilliant and unexpected ways to slowly unspool the story of this insane - but oddly charming - antihero. Flashbacks and fast-forwards can be annoying as hell, but when done right, they can help render even a somewhat simple story fresh and exciting. And that's exactly how Deadpool felt to me right from the start: like a fresh (if somewhat dirty) jolt of energy.
The action itself is beautifully designed, employing playful visuals and using pretty much every camera technique available; it never feels repetitive and the pacing is close to perfection. But, and that was probably the key to me liking the film so much, there's a beating heart underneath all the action and carnage, and that has a lot to do with how brilliantly Ryan Reynolds portrays the character and the great chemistry he has with co-star Morena Baccarin. What came as a complete surprise to me was how unabashedly romantic Deadpool is. The love story in this film is probably the most sincere I've ever seen in a superhero movie and it gives the film the strong emotional core which so many of these movies lack.
The humor, which I initially feared would just be non-stop juvenile wisecracks and soon become distracting, also works surprisingly well. Not every line or every joke lands - but that's the beauty of this character: they don't really need to. Deadpool can't help himself; as long as he's able to breathe he'll crack wise and make fun of himself and those around him. It's a clinical condition; he's not a stand-up comedian whose jokes need to land: he's a madman (albeit a very entertaining one) and the comedy in his case was born out of tragedy.
Despite all my praise, it's not a perfect film. The villain in this revenge tale could have been more memorable and the story itself is a bit too derivative to really do its highly unconventional protagonist (he insists he's not a hero) justice: but it's a damn good first entry in a franchise that will hopefully explore the character and his world to a much larger extent in the sequel(s). And it's actually a very important film for another reason. If Deadpool is a financial success - which at this point is already clear it will be - this could play a vital role in how studios henceforth view the financial prospects of R-rated superhero films, and we'll hopefully see more of them in the future.
Many people might feel different - and I respect their opinion - but I've grown tired of the entirely bloodless CGI overkill in all those 200 million productions where even the most terrible villains talk like Mormon schoolgirls. I mean: there's a gigantic audience out there that is over the age of 18, loves to read comic books and can absolutely handle real-world language, real-world sex and real-world violence in superhero movies. This genre is so diverse; it's ridiculous to believe just because comic books have pictures in them all film adaptations - regardless of the material - must automatically be made for kids in order to be successful.
As it is, I think Deadpool - a dirty, funny, sexy and violent film which is decidedly NOT for kids - just proved my point perfectly. 9 stars out of 10.
Favorite films: http://www.IMDb.com/list/mkjOKvqlSBs/
Lesser-Known Masterpieces: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls070242495/
Favorite Low-Budget and B-Movies: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls054808375/