Deadpool is puerile, but in a very good way: Lotte and I enjoyed it immensely. In fact, I'm thinking of taking it as model of how to be in contemporary academia: Dr Deadpool - Russell Group beware! I think the rest of the audience enjoyed Deadpool too, though it was hard judge their reactions behind tower block containers of popcorn. It certainly didn't divert a good number of people from texting, tweeting and checking FB during the movie. Unrelentingly smutty and humorous, Deadpool is also gory in a Tarantino stylee. Noting how young some of the audience actually were, I admit I did check the 15 certification of the film. If these kids aren’t seriously disturbed after seeing Deadpool, they should be: what do the censors do for their money? Are they also off their tits on a sugar rush and too busy tweeting to watch the movies? (I am getting so old!).
Aesthetically, Deadpool is a complete contrast to last year’s Ant Man, which came with a wholesome 1950s superhero feel. Deadpool has a distinctly postmodern aesthetic, it is self-knowing and so self-mocking. Any movie that tries to pull off a comedy skit about IKEA culture is definitely pushing the boundaries of meaning. Despite asides to the camera about the movie being a movie, though, the drama is somehow sustained. At no point is the tension uncomfortable, however. We know what’s going to happen – beat the baddy (to a pulp), save the girl (who these days does a little to help herself but still needs the help of an almost sentient six-pack macho man), get the girl (back). It all very familiar and comforting in spite of itself. Maybe it wouldn’t have worked for this audience but if Deadpool had pulled off a tragic ending, it might have been a more profoundly disturbing film. The perverse relationship between Deadpool and his girlfriend, the lovely Vanessa, thik Pretty Woman with mega attitude, reminded me of a wonderful Anais Nin story where a flasher, tormented by guilt and on the verge of an ashamed suicide, succumbs to one final act of exposure – which is returned by the woman opposite him on the tram! And they live happily ever after. (Spoiler alert) At the end of the movie when Deadpool reveals his horrifically ravaged visage to Vanessa, she recoils, considers and then pronounces ‘That’s a face I could learn to… Sit on.’
You have to love it. Now, pass the Quinoderm, my i-phone and more calories.