3 Thoughts on Deadpool

1. Ryan Reynolds - To be honest, I'm not really a Ryan Reynolds fan. I never have been. He's not a great actor and I don't think he's hot at all. I think he just has a really great manager and publicist; somehow he was thrust into the spotlight without really deserving it. That's not to say that I haven't liked some of his films. Actually, I like most of them; I just find him "meh" in all of them. The first film that made me think differently was The Voices, which I saw at the end of last year. Reynolds was actually fantastic as a likable murderer. It was the first time I felt like he was attempting something different. And maybe this is his specialty - a likable bad guy. After all, Deadpool is certainly not your typical hero. He's an asshole, who is concerned with seeking revenge - not the usual "saving the world" superhero. As Deadpool, Reynolds is absolutely his very best. Perhaps it was his enthusiasm and investment in the movie itself, but he just really goes for it and it's a perfect performance.

2. Valentine's Day - Has there been a marketing campaign *this* good in recent years? Because nothing comes to mind. It's nothing short of genius. First, I feel like I've been hearing about this movie for YEARS. Second, they made an adult movie (rated R) and clearly marketed it as that. Third, they gave it a release date of Valentine's Day. This may seem odd, but when you think of the intended audience (adults), how do you make up for the "loss" of the teenage audience? You make sure that it is advertised to all adults. Capitalize on the Valentine's Day date movie. The odd part, though, is that it actually is the perfect Valentine's Day movie. It is a love story more than anything else, and it is romantic. It's also hilarious, which is always a good choice for a date movie.

3. The "game changer"? - There has been a lot of attention placed on the success of Deadpool and what it all means for the future of superhero movies. I don't really think it's going to change much. It's not as innovative as people are making it out to be. There have been several superhero movies that focused on humor (most recently Guardians of the Galaxy), and there have been ones that are rated R (Kick-Ass). The success of the movie is simply because they made a great movie. The pace was incredible, the dialogue was smart, the story was interesting, the characters were fully-developed and best of all (what is usually missing), the villain was a strong part of the story. Actually, no, the best part is definitely the jokes. It's joke after joke and 99% of them are hilarious. It's meta without being annoying or repetitive. It's vulgar without being offensive. If it has a flaw, I didn't see it.