“Deadpool” gleefully slays the conventions of the superhero genre

Just when you think that Marvel can’t make a funnier superhero movie than Guardians of the Galaxy or Ant-Man along comes Deadpool. It pushes the envelope with its R-rated profanity, deviant humor, and narrative disruption more than any other franchise in the Marvel stable. If you thought Tony Stark was glib in the Iron Man movies, wait till you see Wade Wilson/ Deadpool here! First-time director Tim Miller and his screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick are clearly fans of the character, and they get everything right about what made his snarky style so appealing on the comic book page. Not only does the movie faithfully adapt his world and worldview, but the filmmakers ensure that every aspect of the film is coated with similar irreverence. It’s as meta as meta can be, lampooning the Marvel world with a running commentary by lead Ryan Reynolds as the film is playing. It plays as satire, DVD commentary, and Twitter trolling all rolled into one. This film gleefully screws with linear storytelling and just about any other convention of your typical action film. DC could learn a lot about how to adapt their top franchise characters for the Cineplex from Deadpool, as this one never takes itself too seriously. This film insults every screenwriting rule going, but it never insults its audience.