Tree Base’ing: Vermont’s Logging Industry – Past, Present and Future
March 18, 2016Are Vermonters Suffering From Our “Normalcy Bias”?
March 19, 2016
Debut director Tim Miller’s new superhero flick “Deadpool” is a case study in super hero split personality. Critics and audiences love this film, but truthfully, I’m not quite sure why. True, there’s a few things to like about this fast-paced rule-breaking action adventure. Start with actor Ryan Reynolds, who plays the lead with reckless energetic abandon. As former mercenary and cancer victim Wade Wilson, Reynolds plays “Deadpool,” his nuked-and-transformed superhero, as a snarky, jawboning comedian/avenger with a taste for bad 90s pop culture references and a festive red suit. Throw in a solid set of supporting actors – the mesmerizingly sexy Morena Baccarin (see “Homeland” – those eye brows!) as Wilson’s love interest, Deadpool wing man Weasel (T.J. Miller, of “Silicon Valley” fame), competently acted villains Ajax (Ed Skrein) and his side kick Angel Dust (Gina Carano), and best of all, his blind black old lady roommate (who doesn’t get enough action is this action film).
And yes, Deadpool features the much-discussed fun surrounding Reynolds’ character’s ongoing willingness to break “the fourth wall” of film – talking back to the camera, the audience, and providing a steady stream of self-referential observations about movies generally, the super hero genre specifically, and yes, bad 90s pop culture references. (Sinead O’Connor gets put through the ringer.)
The problem with Deadpool is this. Director Miller takes a potentially extraordinary character, and gives him nothing out of the ordinary to do. The plot, which is more or less a flashback from a climactic Deadpool/Ajax confrontational movement that kicks off the action (and is a sight to behold – high energy, gory, and funny in equal measure), quickly takes some predictable twists and turns that leave us, the audience, wondering what all the fuss is about. Wilson meets a girl, is diagnosed with cancer (no laughing matter, though the film tries to make it so), is mysteriously healed/nuked by a mysterious cabal of baddies, takes his revenge and saves his love with the help of two other X-Men’like sidekicks, and then, cue the credits. That’s all.
Which is a shame. Deadpool has promise, and Reynolds acts his ass off, but the film ultimately leaves him high and dry without much to do other than flap his gums, off a few bad guys, and show off his suit. Deadpool 2, anyone?
