Deadpool | Film review - Ryan Reynolds' antihero is snide, snarky and wickedly funny

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(Image credit: Joe Lederer)

Bursting at the seams with dick jokes, boob shots and larky splatter, Deadpool is simultaneously the most ‘adult’ Marvel movie to date and the most supremely juvenile. Like a smart-ass teenager, this is a movie that revels in its snarky irreverence.

Ryan Reynolds does glib and snarky better than most, which makes him a perfect fit for the lead role of former Special Forces operative turned disfigured mercenary Wade Wilson, aka “the Merc with a Mouth”, aka Deadpool.

The character was briefly glimpsed in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine , but this solo outing couldn’t be more different from that ponderous flop. It’s snide, scabrous, gleefully twisted and violent, and wickedly funny, with Reynolds’ wisecracking, fourth-wall breaking, morally and sexually ambiguous antihero delivering a running commentary on the action, his pop culture patter name dropping everyone from Liam Neeson in the Taken films to Sinead O’Connor and Wham!

Certificate 15. Runtime 108 mins. Director Tim Miller

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xithigfg7dA

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Jason Best
Jason Best

A film critic for over 25 years, Jason admits the job can occasionally be glamorous – sitting on a film festival jury in Portugal; hanging out with Baz Luhrmann at the Chateau Marmont; chatting with Sigourney Weaver about The Archers – but he mostly spends his time in darkened rooms watching films. He’s also written theatre and opera reviews, two guide books on Rome, and competed in a race for Yachting World, whose great wheeze it was to send a seasick film critic to write about his time on the ocean waves. But Jason is happiest on dry land with a classic screwball comedy or Hitchcock thriller.