My last visit to the cinema was to see yet another Marvel comics creation head to the big screen. I have to admit I am not a big comic book reader, but the films, in general, have been entertaining enough.
There seems to have been a bit of life put into them of late, Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man have even offered something a bit different to the genre. Even the poorest of recent entries, The Fantastic Four reboot certainly had some promise by starting out as an origins story but sadly when they got their powers, CGI took over and the film went downhill
However, from what started as a viral sensation when leaked test footage made it online, I, like everyone else could not wait to see a different version of the Wade Wilson/ Deadpool character that had first appeared, played by Ryan Reynolds, in X-Men spin off Wolverine.
Ryan would follow that comic book appearance in the disappointing Green Lantern & possibly even worse still R.I.P.D. Both seemed a waste of an actor that I find very likeable from the first time I saw him in gross-out comedy Van Wilder: Party Liaison but since then, has been solid in all sorts of genres: Horror with The Amityville Horror remake; RomCom’s Definitely, Maybe and The Proposal; Action with Smokin’Aces & Safe House; Animation with The Croods and Turbo; Comedy Horror with The Voices and definitely worth a mention, Buried, where he spends the whole film in a coffin.
Now, when we heard that he was going to make a Deadpool film, we were glad to see the character get another chance, but what intrigued us most was this would not be going for a family audience but would be a comic book hero aimed at the older audienceWe felt Ryan could do an excellent
We felt Ryan could do an excellent job, as he was one of the better things about the poorest Blade film, Blade: Trinity where he fought and swore and made wise cracks so almost a Deadpool rehearsal in fact!
The R rated comic film has done well previously with the likes of 300, Sin City, Watchmen and the aforementioned Blade trilogy doing well, the trouble is they don’t bring as much to the bank as say a Spiderman or a Thor film
Whilst money of course needs to be made, it is a shame that films are being watered down for it, Taken & Die Hard are two that started out as stronger films but had cuts made to make the lucrative 12a audience.
Deadpool it would appear is now a game changer, breaking box office records for an R rated film but also being critically and commercially adored and quite rightly too as I really enjoyed this film.
From the opening self aware credits, mocking its cast and crew, the very bad language, sex and violence, this is clearly a different Marvel film altogether and a much needed boost to the genre.
Sure, it has its faults, it is heavy on the CGI on places but does well given the low budget the film had for its nature but a career best performance from Ryan Reynolds, who clearly loves this character has made this one of the best films we’ve seen at the cinema in quite a while.
We have seen from darker comic adaptations on TV such as Daredevil; Gotham; Jessica Jones and of course, The Walking Dead, that these films have an audience and it will be interesting to see if studios look for their own ways on cashing in on the adult audience. We are particularly pleased that it would appear Spawn, a film which if any deserved a remake, was this one could be one of the first on the way!
For now, if you want to see something a bit different from all the other comic book films that have dominated our screens for a while now, you could do a lot worst than spend some time in the company of Deadpool
Are you a fan of Deadpool? Do you like the idea of more adult rated films? We would love to hear from you here at Barking Mad About Films!
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