Deadpool Blu-Ray Review

It’s quite likely that you saw Deadpool at the cinema, given its status as a surprise box office hit. As of writing the box office for the film is pegged at $760 million USD. This for a film that is about a character that really very few non-fans had heard of until Ryan Reynolds got into his full marketing swing. Many have erroneously suggested that it was the first R-rated (in the US system) comic book film. Actually there’s plenty of others Kingsman: The Secret Service, The Punisher, Kick-Ass, 30 Days of Night, Blade, Watchmen, 300, Dredd and Sin City, six of which I would heartily recommend to anyone (possibly not my mother though).

It is, in a very theoretical sense, not even the first time Ryan Reynolds has portrayed Deadpool. You could argue that he played him in X-Men Origins: Wolverine but this film is generally regarded as a dirty great steaming pile of really badly wasted film stock. Just mentioning it as a Deadpool film is likely to be greeted with shudders of horror in some circles (quite right too, it’s a terrible film).

Deadpool is often described as ‘the merc with a mouth’ and in the thoroughly dire Wolverine incarnation, they sewed his mouth shut and gave him all sorts of abilities he doesn’t normally have. If you want to understand just how poorly this was received pop into your local comic book shop when it’s reasonably busy and say out loud ‘I thought the version of Deadpool in Wolverine was much better!’ just don’t blame me for the results.

I cannot stress strongly enough how good Deadpool is and how refreshing it was to watch. If you’re looking for a comparison think the first time you saw Scott Pilgrim, Fight Club or more recently, Guardians of the Galaxy. What’s so great about it? Frankly, it’s the passion with which the team approached the material. You won’t find that many films or TV shows that have the same level of commitment behind them. It was considered a huge risk for Fox to make this film in this way (hence the first appealing version of the character). Deadpool is vulgar, he’s violent, he’s hideous to behold and he breaks a cardinal rule of film and routinely breaks the fourth wall (he talks to the audience directly). That’s not easy to do well but you’ll see it done in House of Cards, Ferris Bueller and High Fidelity. In the case of Deadpool, though it’s a fundamental aspect of the character that he is self-aware, he talks to the reader in the comics and not only that he understands that he’s a comic book character or in this case, in a film.

Without going into too much detail Deadpool is told largely in flashback, even during the opening credits you’re already in a flashback to the first scene in the film and it’s during those credits that the cinema audience began laughing. It’s not often that people pay much attention to the credits of a film unless they’re the end credits of a Marvel cinematic universe film or they’ve forgotten that they’re not and they’re likely isn’t an end credits scene after all. After a frankly stunning action sequence involving Deadpool tombstoning into a moving SUV full of bad guys and taking them on in hysterical style, he immediately advises the audience that the story did not start at this point.

We find out that Wade Wilson is a mercenary who makes his living beating up stalkers and otherwise behaving like the Equalizer but without the deep concern for humanity. He’s clearly got an adorably childish streak and even whilst dealing with what could be a rather disturbed individual he’s constantly cracking wise. Shortly after that little bit of exposition he encounters the woman of his dreams, Morena Baccarin on fine form as working girl Vanessa who we find, shares the exact same sense of humour. During the marketing campaign they joked that Deadpool was a new romantic comedy starring heartthrob Ryan Reynolds about a boy who meets a girl and gets cancer then goes to great lengths to get a cure so he can be with that girl.

Sounds like a great Valentines day date film, right? Actually yes. If you took a date to this film and they didn’t like it, you’ve done what you need to do on a first date and established that this person is not for you. Of course if neither of you like it then I can really only suggest you get some kind of therapy for whatever it is that ails you or perhaps you’ve had a sense of humour bypass. Shortly after they meet they fall madly in love at which point, Wade is struck down with late stage cancer. A mysterious stranger offers him a potential treatment plan  that will also make him a superhero. Naturally he’s sceptical but eventually he decides to give it a go as it’s that or rapidly run out of chances to be with Vanessa.

Unfortunately for Wade, this does not go according to his hopes but rather is much more like his worst fears come true. He does indeed get cured of his cancer and gains a healing factor akin to Wolverines but he retains his memory and sense of humour. Slight wrinkles exist in that they don’t want him to be a superhero and his treatment has the side effect of making him look like a heavily scarred prune (there’s a number of inventive descriptions for this that are in the film and extras all of which are worth watching). Unable to face going back to Vanessa looking like a cross between a dried fruit and a tedious, unkillable stripe wearing villain from a second rate 80’s slasher flick he instead spends his time trying to find the villain who ran the laboratory in the hopes of getting a cure for his new look.

Lets assume then that you’ve either seen Deadpool at the cinema by this point or you’re wondering whether you should buy it or wait for it to appear on your favourite streaming service. The answer to that is yes, buy it on Blu-ray or DVD if you’re the type of person who will re-watch a film and wants to listen to the commentary or adding extras.

I can think of only one other film that’s got the quality of additional content that this came with and that’s Peter Jacksons Lord of the Rings trilogy. I purchased the Blu-ray version of Deadpool and there’s a number of positives that are worth taking note of. Firstly the menu system on the Blu-ray is not actually too cumbersome. This may seem like a minor thing but to me, it’s quite important, may releases come with overly complicated, slow, heavily animated menu systems that make it hard to get to the content quickly. Deadpool is uncluttered and easy to use. More importantly, you get a tonne of extra content on the Blu-ray which is what we’re really looking for. If you don’t have excellent extras it’s far less appealing to pay full whack for a physical copy of a film or TV show.

There are several deleted or extended scenes, commentaries from Ryan Reynolds and the screenwriters and from the director Tim Mill and Rob Liefield (co-creator of the Deadpool comics). You’ll also find (in Deadpool’s Fun Sack) a load of promotional spots recorded by Deadpool in character for various markets around the world. That’s not normally something you’d care about watching but just try a few of the clips on YouTube and you’ll see why it’s worth your time (in as much as any DVD extras are). Overall I found the Blu-ray well worth the extra money and I’m sure any fan will be happy to have it in their collection. If you’ve run out of space you could always get rid of your copy of X-Men Origins: Wolverine (not The Wolverine which is an entirely different and actually awesome film that you should keep).