Deadpool – Not the hero we deserve, but the hero we need

There has been a huge hype around the new Deadpool movie for months now. At first, I did not know what that was all about. Judging from the trailer, Deadpool seemed like just another branch of that endless stream of Marvel and DC superheroes polluting the arteries of pop culture for decades now. 

 

Don’t get me wrong, I like superheroes – from time to time. But in recent years, Hollywood became obsessed with them. Superhero movies had become the perfect cash cow, repeating the same formula ad nauseam. Then came the Avengers, a group of young men and one woman dressed in the tackiest outfits imaginable, and yet again, the world needed saving. But first, each and every time there are quarrels, an attempt at characterization, which always ends in our heroes overcoming their differences to fight a greater evil. The only deviation from this formula brings Loki (along with his stupid hat), who will reliably become a traitor.

 

Deadpool wants YOU to watch his movie. Also, he brought some friends. Source.

Those movies usually are accompanied by Terminator-inspried lines, because things are not supposed to get too serious but family friendly-serious, and no one who has seen The Avengers in their silly outfits can blame them for being humorous. 

 

At first glance, Deadpool just seems like another clone. There is a classical mix of cheesy lines and typical superhero stuff, saving the princess, the world, both – no surprises here. But I had to think again once I was watching the actual movie.  

 

Deadpool is well aware that he is a clone. But instead of being yet another tryhard, the movie openly ridicules superhero clichés and lets Deadpool have his moments of laughter, e. g. when he checks his watch from Adventure Time or explains his taxi driver how to disperse of his rival in the trunk. Deadpool’s lines are surprisingly on point and the movie enjoys delving into depths of irony and black humour which the sissy-hearted Avengers would never dare to explore. 

But being humorous does not mean that there can’t be tragedy. Wade, Deadpool’s former self, has a short but hilarious love story and is then forced to undergo a painful procedure to cure his fatal health problems and transform into a (kind of-) superhero. Deadpool may act in favour of the good, but his cause is primarily a personal one, and he is not interested in his morally superior superhero “friends” who constantly try to win him for their cause. Needless to say that the movie expresses its overall bad boy image by showing more violence than usual superhero movies.

What makes the movie so likeable is that it is consequent, at times rigorous. It is a perfect blend of superhero story and self-aware, intelligent cinema, and oh, God, is it a relief from all those that came before.