The Hollywood Sign

 

The Hollywood Sign: Deadpool

 

Deadpool was released in 2016. At first sight, it is just another Marvel superhero movie.But Deadpool is not just another classic superhero, Deadpool differs from other heroes such as X-Man or Spiderman. Deadpool is not an intentional superhero, he does not do good by choice. In his own words: “I didn't ask to be super, and I'm no hero. But when you find out your worst enemy is after your best girl, the time has come to be a fucking superhero.” The success of the film is undoubtedly there, it is the 6th most successful R-rated movie of all times. So what is the appeal?

Firstly, we have a concept called spectacle. Deadpool/Wade Wilson is played by a successful and famous actor, Ryan Reynolds. Ryan is well known in the world, both because of his acting skills, but also unapologetic sense of humour. Truth be told, I am the first person to admit that I watched the movie solely because of him. After I finished watching the film, I talked about it with a few of my friends and we came to the conclusion that Ryan carried that movie and there is no way the movie would be as successful and as funny if anyone else played the protagonist. Ryan’s way of portraying the character of Deadpool made all the difference, his sense of humor radiates through Wade and his sarcastic remarks make you laugh your heart out, no matter the occasion.

Another thing that makes Deadpool one of the best movies ever made (in my humble opinion) is the use of archetype. Archetype in Deadpool would be the villain, Francis Freeman, or Ajax. Using a mad scientist/doctor as a villain is not a new thing and it is particularly popular in literature and comic books. Such bad guys are: Victor Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll, Bruce Banner (Hulk)... As it typically goes, the mad scientist wrongs the superhero and is a threat to the world. In Deadpool Francis says he will cure Wade’s cancer, but ends up ruining his looks and making him unable to die. Then Francis goes after Wade’s girlfriend, Vanessa. So, opposed to other heroes who are trying to save the world, Deadpool is a little more selfish, he is trying to save his girl. This is a new spin on superheroes, with Wade also being seen as an anti-hero. He has no desire to save the world, join the X-Men squad or even be a superhero. His motivation is revenge, which, in a standard superhero world, would make him more of a villain than a hero. This is attractive to the audience because people got bored of the goody-pants heroes that just want to save the day. It is not relatable, and the one thing Deadpool is is relatable.

Deadpool differs from more heroes because he is a regular dude. His life sucks, he is a sarcastic loser and he is raw. The appeal in Deadpool lies behind the fact we are all Wade Wilson. As he says: “Life is an endless series of trainwrecks with only brief commercial-like breaks of happiness.” We can all relate to that. Happiness is hard to reach and even harder to keep. He also makes popular culture remarks: “I swear to God, I’m gonna find you in the next life, and I’m gonna boombox Careless Whisper outside your window. Wham!” Wade also has a dark sense of humour: “Deadpool: You know what they call cancer in Spanish? Weasel: What do they call it? Deadpool: El cancer.” And lets not forget the thing that makes this movie R-rated, the sexual jokes and cursing: “I never say this, but don’t swallow.” Deadpool is audience friendly in a way that he talks directly to the audience and pokes fun at the very studio that made him: “It’s a big house. It’s weird I only ever see two of you. Almost like the studio couldn’t afford another X-Man.” These are just some of the instances of why this movie is absolute gold, because there is no such “hero” as Deadpool in the Marvel Universe.

Of course, even though Deadpool differs in many ways, the film still follows the structure of a typical Hero Story. Journey towards heroism is a process and in most hero movies it follows the next steps:

1.       Hero begins as a non hero- at the beginning of the movie we see Wade as a regular, nosuperpowerowning human. He fights the bad guys, but not for the good reasons, but for the money.

2.       Something enters his life- The girl,Vanessa. He meets Vanessa in the bar and they fall in love instantly (how very movie-like). Everything is going great, they have a lot of sex, spend holidays together and Wade even proposes. And then an inciting incident happens - Wade has cancer.

3.       Hero is reluctant, but then gets personally motivated- Wade does not want to help himself, he only seeks help because of Vanessa: “The worst part about cancer isn’t what it does to you. But what it does to the people you love. Who knew if this guy could save my life, but I knew there was only one way I could save hers.” So Wade goes to get help from Ajax, but only later realises he is not someone to be trusted. Wade’s appearance is ruined, but his cancer is gone, leaving Wade with superpowers (he cannot die). He believes he is a monster now and can never go back to Vanessa, deciding to pursue revenge on Francis.

4.       Receives help (helper)- X-Men squad, Colossus, Negasonic Teenage Warhead and taxi driver Dopinder are there to help him defeat the bad guy, even if Deadpool refuses to join X-Men squad: “If I ever decide to become a crime-fighting shit swizzler, who rooms with a bunch of other little whiners at Neverland Mansion with some creepy, old, bald, Heaven's Gate-looking motherf***er... on that day, I'll send your shiny, happy ass a friend request!” This makes him different from most heroes, who always rely heavily on their helpers.

5.       Changes from ordinary to extraordinary- At first, Deadpool only seeks revenge, but once Vanessa is kidnapped, he realises he needs to save her and all the other people that may fall victims to Ajax’ plans. Here we see him transforming and going from his selfish reasons to being fueled by the desire to save others as well.

6.       Testing and obstacles- He is constantly tested, he cannot go near Vanessa because of the fear of rejection due to his scary new appearance.Also, once the X-Men duo appeared, Ajax managed to get away from him and kidnap Vanessa.

7.       Hero hits rock bottom (the black moment) - “Rock meet bottom”, says Deadpool as he just cut off his hand and is lying on top of a rubbish. He lives with a blind, old lady, he does not have friends, he cannot approach his girlfriend and his enemy just got away.

8.       Takes charge, motivated - Once Vanessa is taken, Wade takes charge of his own life and becomes the hero he was meant to be. He even asks for help from the X-Men squad.

9.       Hero must change in the end, rewarded - As he defeats Francis with the help of his side-kicks, he got the girl, saved the world and realised he can and should do good. This is his metamorphosis moment, and he decides to fight for the good from then on.

To conclude, Deadpool is a different hero than we are used to and that is the main appeal of it. New generations rely on sarcasm as a coping mechanism, while being attracted to revenge, violence, bad language and sexual jokes, all that wrapped up in 2010’s sexiest man alive and one of the most hilarious people in Hollywood at the moment, Ryan Reynolds. Beside all of these differences, this superhero movie also follows some typical steps to a successful and profitable film, such as it being based on a comic book, attracting specific fans, following the usual Hero story and having an archetype villain. This balance between old tricks and a new kind of hero resulted in one of the best and most earning movies of all time.