By Michael Willson
He fights crime, has special powers and wears provocative red spandex. No, I’m not talking about Spiderman. I’m talking about the protagonist from Marvel’s newest film “Deadpool.” Let me tell you, if you could only see one movie this year, this is the one you would want to see.
“Deadpool,” based off of the Marvel comic from the 1990’s, tells the story of Wade Wilson, a wise talking ex-soldier who is diagnosed with terminal cancer. He goes to a special hospital to receive treatment, only to be experimented on and turned into a mutant. Now immortal, capable of healing himself and horribly disfigured, Wilson (Deadpool), seeks revenge on Francis, the man who made him this way. What makes this movie so good is not so much its plot, but the character of Deadpool, its advertising and controversy.
Deadpool is not your typical superhero. He even states in the film, “I’m super, but I’m no hero.” He fights crime, not so much for the good of humanity, but to get revenge. You could even argue that he does more harm than good. In the opening scene, he creates complete chaos in traffic when he overruns a car full of Francis’ henchman. You know how Batman doesn’t kill his enemies? If you told that to Deadpool, he would punch you in the face. Deadpool shows no mercy to his victims, killing them in the goriest way possible. The best thing about Deadpool is that he’s constantly breaking the fourth wall. He knows he’s in a movie and that doesn’t seem to bother him. He mainly uses it as an opportunity to make snarky comments at Marvel.
If this movie is remembered for nothing else, it will be remembered for its advertising. “Deadpool” had the typical previews, TV commercials and posters, but it did a majority of its advertising through the internet. Movies have used the internet for advertising before, but “Deadpool” took it to another level. They showed uncensored ads on their social media pages and YouTube channel. By having advertisement on the internet, they had no laws restricting them from profanity. That’s right, these advertisements made it clear that this movie was not for children. As a matter of fact, the film released memos through its social media pages telling parents not to bring their kids to see it. That decision took guts.
This brings me to my third point for why the film is so good. The Deadpool comics are not family friendly. They have profanity, nudity and gore. When it was announced that Deadpool would get his own film, a lot of fans were afraid that Marvel, which I would like to remind you is owned by Disney, would clean it up so they could sell more tickets. Fans made it clear that they did not want a PG-13 Deadpool. They wanted the Deadpool they knew and loved with lots of gore, sex and f-bombs. Marvel listened to its fans and gave Deadpool the movie he deserved. I would also like to note that the R rating did not hurt ticket sales at all. According to BoxOfficeMojo.com, the film made $132,434,639 its opening weekend. In comparison, the other movie starring the arguably more-famous superhero in a tight red suit, “Spiderman,” made $114,844,116 in its opening weekend.
I know it’s only February, but I think it’s safe to assume that “Deadpool” is the best movie of 2016. It has a great protagonist, a unique way of advertising and a bold script. I highly recommend it . . . just not for kids
