The fourth most popular post at The Christian Nerd in 2016 was my review of Deadpool. I just reread this review and I still feel the same way. Deadpool was great for Deadpool fans and those who don’t really want their heroes to be heroes. I still want heroic heroes so I hope 2017 doesn’t bring us a bunch of Deadpool clones.
The first time I saw Deadpool was in X-Force #2. That issue came out in 1991, which means I’ve known about Deadpool longer than a lot of his fans have been alive. While I’ve known about Deadpool for years, I definitely wouldn’t call myself a fan. I’ve never read any Deadpool comics and only really know him from his appearance in the more recent X-Force run.
I knew enough about Deadpool, though, to know what to expect from his movie. I still haven’t seen X-Men Origins: Wolverine so I didn’t need Deadpool to scrub my memory of Wade Wilson’s first foray into film. And while I’m sure Deadpool is better than X-Men Origins, it left me feeling extremely indifferent.
Here are some thoughts I had while watching Deadpool, which will explain my indifference.
Love is Blind
Wilson’s blind roommate tells him that love is blind. While quite the colloquialism that statement still rings true. Love’s blindness really is the one positive theme that runs throughout the entire movie. Wade and Vanessa’s love is weird and nothing like what I want in my life. However, it works for them. But after he is experimented upon, Wilson wonders if his and Vanessa’s love is stronger than his disfiguration. Doubts about our appearance can often make us question whether or not we’re worthy of love. When we find someone who will love us no matter what, we should never let that go. And even if we can’t find that love in another person, we can always find it in our Heavenly Father.
Worse Guys
My biggest problem with Deadpool is the same reason why so many are drawn to him. In one of his many fourth wall-breaking speeches, Deadpool tells us that he’s not a hero; he may be super but he is no hero. That assessment of his character is definitely true. Deadpool fancies himself as a bad guy who goes after worse guys. Instead of taking steps to be better, to actually be a hero, he always chooses the less righteous path. I understand the appeal of an anti-hero like Deadpool, but I actually want my heroes to be heroes. Even though the movie takes constant shots at Hugh Jackman, Wolverine is the kind of hero I want; he actually has a character arc that takes him from the callous loner to the super hero. Deadpool’s character has no arc; he’s simply a straight line who ends the story the same way he began it.
X-Men
I love the X-Men; they’re easily my favorite team and I still read their comics today. I didn’t really like how Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead were shoehorned into this movie, much less how Negasonic’s powers were changed. Colossus was nothing more than a super hero stump speech for Deadpool to mock. Again, I understand that some people really want an anti-hero who mocks the establishment. But Colossus is one of the best X-Men ever, up there with Cyclops, Storm and Nightcrawler. He deserves a better fate than simply being the butt of Deadpool’s jokes.
As I was writing this review I realized that I sound like a grumpy old man. “In my day heroes were heroes!!!” But if wanting characters to grow, change and become heroes makes me old, then I must be old. Deadpool was exactly what I expected it to be. If you’re a huge fan of Deadpool then this movie was made for you; it’s violent, sophomoric, irreverent and definitely NSFC. If you want your comic book movies with some actual heroism, then you should probably wait for X-Men: Apocalypse or Captain America: Civil War.
What did you think of Deadpool?
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