The cinematic superhero genre needed a kick in the balls, and Deadpool, Marvel’s sadistic Merc with a Mouth, is happy to provide it. Armed with numerous guns and two swords, Deadpool is a red-spandex-clad hired murderer with a mutant healing factor not unlike the popular X-Man Wolverine. An origin story recounted so as to not seem like an origin story, Deadpool begins in medias res as wisecracking Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) has already become a horribly disfigured not-quite-superhero. 

Chasing the man who scarred him (Ed Skrein, The Transporter Refueled) and the woman he loves (Morena Baccarin), Deadpool seeks help from the only two X-Men the film could afford: metal-skinned Russian Colossus and a newbie who first appeared in 2001 named Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand). He also gets made fun of by T.J. Miller as Wade’s pal Weasel. All in all, the movie is filled with offensive gags and ultraviolent action. It is a more successful superhero deconstruction than the movie made of Mark Millar’s ultimate superhero deconstruction, Kick-Ass. Hopefully a toned-down ‘Pool will become a fixture in the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

Reynolds more than makes up for the character’s ill-conceived first appearance in X-Men Origins: Wolverine and for his poor casting as Green Lantern; fewer actors have been more perfectly paired with a character than Reynolds and Deadpool. Thanks, Deadpool, for showing that comic book movies don’t have to be brooding character studies to be good; sometimes, they can just be fun.