It’s immediately evident from Deadpool‘s opening title sequence that this film is not going to be your typical superhero movie—the opening credits include cast members like “A Hot Chick”, “A British Villain”, “The Comic Relief”, “A Moody Teen”, “A CGI Character”, etc and Juice Newton’s “Angel of the Morning” plays as the camera pans out revealing a still action shot of Deadpool in the middle of a massive car wreck. This pretty much sums up the theme of the film—lots of fun, sarcastic, self-referential humor and over-the-top action and destruction.

By jumping back and forth in time, the film not only gives viewers the origin story of this Marvel Comics character, but also lets us see him in action fighting his first villain. Former Special Forces officer-turned mercenary-for-hire Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds, Green Lantern) spends his days at Sister Margaret’s School For Wayward Girls—an underground hangout/bar for mercenaries, run by his best friend Weasel (T.J. Miller, Silicon Valley). One day Wade meets Vanessa (Morena Baccarin, Gotham) and the two hit it off right away—they really appreciate each other’s unique, twisted sense of humor. However, just as things between them are going great, Wade is diagnosed with cancer. The couple travels the globe looking for any possible treatments, and when it looks like they have run out of options, a man contacts Wade, offering an extremely experimental treatment that would not only cure him, but also turn him into a superhero. While this excruciating treatment to unlock his mutant genes does give ultimately give Wade accelerated healing powers, the process has also left him grotesquely deformed—so much so that he would rather Vanessa think he’s dead than see him like this. Wade dons a mask and gives himself the name Deadpool, and sets out on a mission to find Ajax (Ed Skrein, The Transporter Refueled), the man who did this to him, and force him to fix his appearance. Meanwhile, Deadpool’s mission is constantly being interrupted by mutant Colossus (Stefan Kapicic) and his trainee Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand), who are trying to recruit him to join the X-Men.

Deadpool has all of the elements that made a great Superhero movie—lots of action, a villain with an evil plan, and a team with interesting superpowers out to stop him. The film has some truly amazing action set pieces, starting with the visually-stunning car wreck/12-bullet sequence that opens the film (and is revisited many times throughout). The filmmakers have seamlessly blended live action, practical and CGI effects to create this spectacular action sequence that feels both impossible but realistic at the same time. Add to that a big dose of hilarious sarcastic banter, and you’ve got an extremely memorable movie scene. Over the course of the film, there are several other well choreographed fight and action scenes, plus Tan equally-impressive finale showdown to close out the film.

Despite having an injured character looking for revenge at the forefront, Deadpool doesn’t go the dark and broody route that seems to be the trend these days. Instead, the filmmakers constantly mix in humor along with the action to temper and ground the film. It’s so refreshing to watch a superhero movie that just has fun and doesn’t take itself too seriously! Deadpool knows that he’s a superhero and that he’s in a comic book film, and the character has a lot of fun breaking the fourth wall to let the viewer know what’s going on, make pop culture references, or comment on the film itself. One of my favorite moments is when he remarks that there are only two X-Men characters in the movie because the studio was too cheap to licence more. He also makes references to Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman and pokes fun of the Green Lantern film.

Deadpool is the “Merc with the Mouth”, and his constant yammering leads to some hilarious conversations—bantering with best friend Weasel, comparing life hardships with Vanessa, talking girls with taxi driver Dopinder (Karan Soni, Other Space), taunting villain Ajax about his name, and harassing roommate Blind Al (Leslie Uggams, Empire) about putting together IKEA furniture or trying to get a rise out of her out by talking about his masturbatory habits. I especially enjoyed the relationship between Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Deadpool—nothing he says manages to shock or phase her, or even illicit any reaction.

Deadpool is a highly-entertaining film but it certainly earns its R rating—whether it’s the over-the-top, gratuitous deaths, or Wade’s constant cursing and sex jokes. However, all of this feels quite natural for the character and not gratuitous just to get a specific rating. With the R rating, the filmmakers are able to give a more faithful portrayal of the comic book character. The writing is sharp and funny, and Ryan Reynolds is perfectly cast as Deadpool—it feels like he was born to play this role as he completely embodies the look of Wade Wilson and the sarcastic humor of Deadpool. The supporting cast also brings a lot of humor to the film—there’s not one performance or character I can think of that I didn’t enjoy.

TCFHE’s Blu-ray presentation is top notch. The pristine picture looks fantastic, capturing every detail beautifully—it is such a visually-stunning film and the effects are seamlessly blending into shots making it nearly impossible to tell what is real and what is computer generated. The disc’s soundtrack is equally-impressive, immersing the viewer in the action on-screen, making use of all of the audio channels to bring the film to life while also providing clear dialogue so you don’t miss any of Deadpool’s wisecracks. This Blu-ray disc also contains a solid selection of bonus material including deleted/extended scenes (with optional director commentary), a gag reel, an extensive five-part feature-length behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film, two audio commentaries, photo galleries, a whole host of promotional videos and more!

What’s Included:
Film: (1:48:06)

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Widescreen 2.40:1
• Audio: English DTS-HD MA 7.1, English Descriptive Audio 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French

DVD:

• 480p / Widescreen 2.40:1
• Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1, English Descriptive Audio 5.1, Spanish Surround Dolby Digital 2.0, French Surround Dolby Digital 2.0
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French

Digital Copy (Redemption Deadline 5/10/2019):

• Digital HD Copy redeemable via iTunes, Flixster (UltraViolet), Google Play or Vudu (UltraViolet)

Extras:

• Deleted/Extended Scenes (19:14)
  A collection of ten deleted/extended scenes. Play All or select from “Prison: The Raft”, “Cancer World Tour”, “Extended Freeway”, “Extended Workshop Fight”, “Morgue”, “5 Year Montage”, “No5 Bathroom”, “Extended Angel/NTW Fight”, “Extended Rubble Pile: Gratuitous Worth It”, “Alt Coda”. There is an optional commentary by Tim Miller, in which the director discusses each scene and explains why it didn’t make it into the final cut of the film. There is some really entertaining material here and it was interesting to hear about some of the different directions the film almost took.
• Gag Reel (6:12)
  Lots of fun alternate lines as the cast improvise their lines and have fun on set.
• From Comics to Screen…to Screen (1:20:00)
  A five-part behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film. Includes storyboards, concept art, clips, and behind-the-scenes, test, pre-vis and audition footage. Plus, there are interviews with executive producer Stan Lee, Deadpool co-creator/comic writer Fabian Nicieza, Deadpool co-creator/comic artist Rob Liefeld, producer Simon Kinberg, Deadpool comics writer Joe Kelly, director Tim Miller, co-screenwriters/executive producers Paul Wernick & Rhett Reese, executive producer Aditya Sood, specialty costume designer Russell Shinkle, make-up designer Bill Corso, production designer Sean Haworth, director of photography Ken Seng, executive producer/unit production manager John J. Kelly, previsualization supervisor Franck Balson, stunt coordinator Philip J Silvera, visual effects supervisors Jonathan Rothbart & Pauline Duvall, visual effects producer Annemarie Griggs, special effects coordinator Alex Burdett, utility stunts Regis Harrington, second unit director/stunt coordinator Robert Alonzo, composer Tom Holkenborg, and stars Ryan Reynolds (“Wade”/”Deadpool”/producer), T.J. Miller (“Weasel”), Brianna Hildebrand (“Negasonic Teenage Warhead”), Morena Baccarin (“Vanessa”), Leslie Uggams (“Blind Al”), Ed Skrein (“Ajax”) & Gina Carano (“Angel Dust”). Play All or select from:
  • “Origin..ier!” (14:28)
    A look at the origin of the Deadpool in the comics in 1991, keeping the character and tone consistent with the comics, selecting the right director, leaking the test footage and making an R-rated film.
  • “Peoples and Muties!” (15:09)
    A look at the characters and the cast behind them.
  • “Stylin’!” (13:44)
    Designing and creating the Deadpool costume, determining the look of disfigured Wade and applying the make-up and prosthetics, and finding locations and designing the sets.
  • “‘Splosions!” (13:31)
    A look at how the title and action sequences were conceptualized and shot.
  • “Magic!” (23:06)
    A look at the extensive visual effects used to enhance the film, including the movie magic used to bring Colossus to life. Plus a look at composing the film’s soundtrack.
• Audio Commentaries
  A pair of highly-entertaining and informative feature-length commentaries. In both of these, the participants provide a lot of interesting production tidbits, fun behind-the-scenes stories, and give a lot of insight into the process of making the movie, and why certain decisions were made.
  • “Wade”/”Deadpool”/Producer Ryan Reynolds and Screenwriters Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick
  • Director Tim Miller and Deadpool Co-Creator/Comics Artist Rob Liefeld
• Gallery
  A collection of still photos. Either manually step through each gallery, or have the slideshow auto-advance every five seconds.
  • Concept Art
    • Freeway (:20)
    • X-Mansion Hangar (:20)
    • Workshop (:55)
    • Shipyard (:35)
  • Costumes
    • Deadpool (:50)
    • Ajax (:15)
    • Colossus (:25)
    • Negasonic Teenage Warhead (:15)
    • Angel Dust (:15)
  • Storyboards
    • Freeway (16:56)
    • En Route to Shipyard (3:50)
    • Shipyard – Mercenary Fight (22:11)
    • Shipyard – Aftermath (11:00)
  • Pre-Vis (7:08)
    Animated previsualization sequences with sound. Play All or select between “Freeway Sequence” “Bullet Sequence”
  • Stunt-Vis Shipyard (2:03)
    Watch stunt performers act out the big shipyard fight between Deadpool and Ajax.
• Deadpool’s Fun Sack
  Check out the fun, creative promotional material for the film.
  • Videos (23:54)
    A collection of promotional videos and trailers. Play All or select from “April Fools’ Rating Announcement”, “Fantastic Four Deadpool Teaser”, “Trailer Trailer”, “Theatrical Trailer 1”, “Red Band Trailer 1”, “Happy Halloween”, “Brazil Comic-Con Greeting”, “#12DAYSOFDEADPOOL”, “Experience Me in IMAX”, “Deadpool’s Trailer’s Eve”, “Theatrical Trailer 2”, “Red Band Trailer 2”, “Blatant Bachelor Baiting TV Spot”, “Australia Day Greeting”, “Touch Yourself Tonight”, “Gentleman, Touch Yourself Tonight”, “Ladies, Touch Yourself Tonight”, “Chinese New Year Greeting”, and “Superb Owl TV Spot”.
  • Stills (00:40)
    Still photo gallery of the film’s promotional posters and photos. Either manually step through the gallery, or have the slideshow auto-advance every five seconds.

Final Thoughts:

Deadpool is a highly-entertaining film that breaks all of the conventions of a superhero movie. While the film includes lots of amazing action sequences, it is also loaded with humor. Ryan Reynolds was born to play this role and really delivers when it comes to the Merc with the Mouth’s rapid-fire sarcastic dialogue, pop culture references and fourth wall breaking. This film is highly re-watchable and the Blu-ray presentation looks fantastic. The disc is also loaded with many hours of bonus material. As long as you’re not easily offended, you will most certainly enjoy this film—I highly recommend adding this film to your collection!