Deadpool Review - The Superhero Genre Is In Trouble

Now you could say that that's really all you can expect from the first Deadpool. It has to set all the lewd, alternative, challenging stuff up first and then the sequel will pay it all off. Well, in a bit of my own breaking of the proverbial wall, f*ck you.

When was it decided we had to have entire movies of set up before getting to the good stuff?Did the Zuckers and Abrahamsneed to spend a movie introducing us to Ted Striker before we got the relentless gags of Airplane? Was Raiders Of The Lost Ark weakened because we didn't see Indy at developing a love of archaeology college? I know the MCU took its time, but that was a hinging of a billion dollar franchise on a host of culturally unknown characters. This is a movie that cost a fraction of the price and needed only the fans on board to make a profit. I'd be lying if I wasn't looking forward to Deadpool 2, but when I see it next year (oh yeah, a release date is already mooted) I just know I'll be wishing I had gotten the full-onoff-kilter approachthe first time around.

I know what's happened here - director Tim Miller and Reynolds have (rightly I might add) asked Fox for an R-rating, which they've been granted, only with the proviso of a smallerbudget. Thus their options are limited and all they can really afford to show is the standard story set in bars and basements, with a couple of big set pieces (there's even an extended bit in the middle where Wade is costume-less, probably because the cost of animating his masked face was too high). No matter what assurances they may have given to fans, this is a studio production and there's the aversion that comes with it; Messrs Miller and Reynolds have been let off the leash, but they're only allowed as far as the other end of the yard.

Deadpool is a confident movie. It is entertaining and it is hilarious. It has whatever the cinematic equivalent of swagger is. I had a fun time, for the most part, and if it had maintained the balls-out ridiculousness of the opening twenty minutes this could have been a landmark. But when you take away the incredibly superficial trappings of breaking the fourth wall (and, being honest, it's to an extent that doesn't far exceed Ferris Beuller) and being R-rated, there'snothing more here than exactly what we've come to expect from the genre.

2016 will offer us superhero movies that pit heroes against heroes, see a team of villains become unexpected saviours and one of thebiggest actors alive turn into a magician, but such surface-level alterations mean nothing if they are following the same well-worn, decade-old formula. And if Deadpool can't break from it, what will?

Deadpool is in cinema from 10th February.