Poor Man’s Airplane: Hear me out here. Deadpool is clearly a satire on the comic book genre. From what I understand, the character has always been a satire. Airplane did the same thing for disaster movies back in the seventies, they just did it better.
★★★☆☆
Around the time that Ant-Man came out, I swore off superhero movies. I had been ruminating over the travesty that is Avengers 2. I was not looking forward to the travesty that would be Batman V Superman. So, of course, I’ve been assigned Deadpool. I went into this movie unhappy. I have a problem with superhero movies. With the exception of Tim Burton’s Batman and Batman: The Animated Series, I didn’t watch superhero movies as a kid. I didn’t read the comics. I didn’t read the books. Are there books? I don’t even know. As I’ve grown older, I’ve been introduced to some of the finer graphic novels by good friends like Josh and Billy. I’ve read my Watchmen, Maus, Killing Joke, Long Halloween, Kingdom Come, From Hell, and Jimmy Corrigan. I’ve really come to enjoy the long-form graphic novel genre. But I still haven’t delved deeply into the compilations of weekly (monthly? Fuck, I don’t know.) comic books. Nor have I entered into the classic characters, again, with the exception of Batman. I think this lack of knowledge and history with the characters is where the angst against men in tights punching each other comes from, but it doesn’t end there.
1) The entire point of these movies is to make money, as such, no one is killing off The Hulk, Iron Man, or Captain America. Sure, War Machine might get injured or that fast guy from Avengers 2 might die, but the people who get hurt are so unimportant that you can’t even remember their name (see above). I don’t find any suspense from a movie where the fate of the world is at stake, but there’s no way the title character can die. Immortals don’t lose fights.
2) They miss the chance to ask actual good questions. Let’s spend an entire movie where Captain America deals with the fact that everyone he knows and loves is dead (except Bucky, cause plots). There’s a few moments in Avengers, where he’s like shit! Cell phones! But what if we actually talk about it. Or how about we actually deal with Stark’s PTSD? They touched on it a bit in Iron Man 3, but we could’ve had a whole movie of it, instead of just shoehorning it into the first act until he can get over it.
3) Inside jokes. Fucking inside jokes are the bane of my existence in comic book movies. Who the fuck is the purple guy in Avengers post-credits scene? Why is it interesting that the yellow guy and psychic girl [Billy’s Editor Note: David’s talking about Vision and Scarlet Witch] shared a moment in Avengers 2? I DON’T KNOW. I DIDN’T SPEND 6 MONTHS RESEARCHING EVERY IN AND OUT OF THE TWISTED MARVEL PLOTLINES IN PREPARATION FOR AN ACTION MOVIE! I TRIED! IT’S MORE CONFUSING THAN PRIMER FOR GOD’S SAKE!
4) The Marvel Cinematic Universe (sigh) is like a black hole for good actors. Here’s a list of the people who I love to see that have been wrapped up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (fucking sigh) in the past decade: Samuel L. Jackson, Joss Whedon, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Rudd, Ryan Coogler, Jon Favreau, Edward Norton, Tim Roth, Tim Blake Nelson, Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan, Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, and Stellan Skarsgard. [Josh’s Editor Note: Miles Teller and Kate Mara were in Fantastic Four which is technically not MCU. But the point stands] And these are just the people I really like! Have you seen Mark Ruffalo lately? He’s fucking killing it. He was great in Infinitely Polar Bear and Spotlight. He was the only thing that made Foxcatcher fun to watch. Side note: I saw a documentary about Foxcatcher (it’s on Netflix, check it out) and I’m even more impressed, Mark Ruffalo nailed his take on David Schultz. Chadwick Boseman was great in 42 and Get On Up and I was excited to see what he could do, but now he’s Black Panther, so I’ve probably gotta wait 5 fucking years. Miles Teller was great in my favorite movie of 2014, Whiplash, and I love him in Spectacular Now, but both he, Michael B. Jordan (Creed, Fruitvale Station), and Kate Mara (The Martian) got pulled into the shitty Fantastic Four. Fuck me, what would these people be doing if they weren’t wearing spandex and acting in movies that lack suspense or any real stakes….
I feel I may have gotten off track here. I think we’re here to talk about Deadpool. Let’s all take a breath and refocus our energy, because I actually enjoyed Deadpool. I’m not going nuts about it, but it was fun. And, most importantly for me, it poked fun at itself. I do wish it had gone farther, the “ugliness” of Deadpool was played up a bit. I mean, I get that he no longer looks like a GQ cover model, but he’s not gonna be scaring children. At the end of the day, this is where I’m at on Deadpool- it was a fun watch, the action is good, and there are some real good jokes, even for a non-superhero fan. It’s also throws a few curves against the superhero mold. Not a lot, but enough to inject just a bit of suspense into the movie. I can say that there were times I enjoyed spending time with Ryan Reynold’s titular character. I also enjoyed the supporting cast and found them to be realistic and likeable: TJ Miller, Karan Soni, Brianna Hildebrand, Morena Baccarin, Stefan Kapicic, and Leslie Uggams all did a great job playing off of Deadpool’s sardonic humor. I’m also happy that the stakes in the movie were low. No one was threatening the world or New York City, it was just a battle between Deadpool and the villain, which was nice for a change. Of all the non-Batman superhero movies I’ve seen, I’d probably put this at my 2nd favorite, just below the first Iron Man.
Ok, back to superhero movies. At the risk of sounding like a flip-flopper, I understand why these movies are popular. They usually fill the fun action movie void that everyone has. I typically fill mine with The Rock, Air Force One, and James Bond, but everyone has their own taste. When I’m tied to a chair and forced to watch a Marvel movie, I know I’m guaranteed a two and a half star experience. Things will crash and explode, damsels saved, crises averted. And I’ll wonder if I could’ve learned a cool hobby in the last two hours. I guess what it really comes down to two things. The first is plain old jealousy. I don’t understand why this franchise is so big, so dominant. Marvel is everywhere: they’re on my Netflix, in my theaters, and on TV. I don’t mind a good silly action flick, but when it takes over everything I feel like Butters in the South Park episode about The Simpsons.
The second thing is more insidious. When the seventh Star Wars came out, I was excited and I loved it. I’m excited for the next installment too, but in the back of my mind there’s a growing worry that Star Wars is becoming a Marvel lookalike. What I think is great about the original trilogy is that it’s one storyline set in this great universe. They came, they lost limbs, they conquered. The world building is great, but I don’t necessarily want to see more of it. After watching Episode 7, Josh said that it’ll be great to have a Star Wars film every year so we can see a spy movie, or a war movie, or a heartfelt drama all set in the Star Wars universe. I can’t recall what I said at the time (it was 1 AM in an IHOP) but now I disagree. If someone has a great idea for a spy movie, or a war movie, or a heartfelt drama, just make it. Why does it need to be wrapped into the Star Wars universe where all the strings of fitting into a corporate money-making structure are attached? Where you can’t kill this guy because he’s got a contract for 5 more films. Where you can’t say this, because it contradicts what happened in the prequel. Where your story is great kid, but you gotta fit Chewbacca in there, otherwise hit the road. I love movies, but if the future theater becomes a place where every film is part of a money-making franchise, I think I’m gonna stick with TV.
Deadpool can be purchased on Amazon and at many other fine retailers. But do you really want to support our consumerist culture, man?
Next week I’ve assigned Josh an oldie that’s available on Netflix, The Day the Earth Stood Still from 1951! This movie is a great time-capsule and was a building block for the Sci-Fi we know and love today. Plus, it’s a great example of why I love science-fiction. It can take an outlandish scenario (literally) and use it highlight our human fears and emotions. In the current climate of fear, I doubt our response today would be any different if a flying saucer landed on the Washington Mall tomorrow.
cinemateur 
