Deadpool

★★★★★ | A Review by Cameron Kanachki

"Daddy needs to express some rage!" That's only one of at least 20 quotable lines from Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool, one of the best superhero movies of all time. Reynolds plays Wade Wilson, a mercenary who protects teenage girls from stalkers. One night, he meets escort Vanessa Carlysle (played by Morena Baccarin) & their relationship eventually quickly goes from sexual to romantic. Just after he proposes to her, Wade suddenly collapses, & it turns out he has terminal cancer. He is met one night by a recruiter who says that he can cure his cancer through an experimental procedure. At first, Wade rebuffs the offer, then accepts. The procedure is run by Francis Freeman (played by Ed Skrein), who Wade makes fun of due to his name. Wade is put in an airtight chamber, which causes a drop in oxygen that creates a healing factor that causes a severe disfiguration of his face & skin, but rendering him immortal. 

After escaping the chamber, he tracks Vanessa down, but cannot gain the courage to see her due to his complexion. He then moves in with a blind woman named Al (played by Leslie Uggams), & with the help of his friend Weasel (played by T.J. Miller), he becomes a vigilante named Deadpool, trying to hunt Francis down. After getting his hands on Francis (& attacking a group of cars), Deadpool is met by Colossus (played by Stefan Kapicic) & Negasonic Teenage Warhead (played by Brianna Hildebrand), who try to get him to join the X-Men; however, due to their intervention, Francis disappears. Sometime later, Francis kidnaps Vanessa, & now Deadpool is going to team up with Colossus & Negasonic Teenage Warhead to get her back.

The film is mind-blowingly awesome. Ryan Reynolds is excellent as Deadpool, perfectly bringing Deadpool's foul-mouthed fourth-wall breaks & meta-humor to the screen. Ed Skrein is maniacally excellent as Francis Freeman, being a perfect villain for the movie. But the real star here is Brianna Hildebrand, who, in her feature film debut, gave an excellent performance as Negasonic Teenage Warhead. The direction & screenplay from first-timer Tim Miller is brilliant. The action sequences are also amazing. Overall, this is definitely one of the best superhero films of the 21st century, & possibly of all time.