alive she cried Posted October 14, 2010 Share Posted October 14, 2010 (edited) Deadpool Script Review cinemablend.com What you’re about to read is a review of the most recent draft of the script for 20th Century Fox’s upcoming superhero film Deadpool, a movie based on the comic book character first played by Ryan Reynolds in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. What you won’t read in the review that follows are a lot of spoilers. There will be a few minor ones, but don’t worry, our promise when doing any script review is that we will not the spoil the film by discussing major plot points, nor will we jump to any wild conclusions about the nature of the production. It’s just the script and that’s only part of the equation in making any movie. Anything I tell you here will not be anything you wouldn’t know from the movie’s trailers, should it ever get made. So unless you want to stay completely spoiler free, it’s safe to read on. The screenplay’s title page says it was written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, but if Quentin Tarantino wrote a superhero movie, it would be a lot like this script for Deadpool. In its best moments, Deadpool is like reading Van Wilder meets Kill Bill, a genius mix of insane dark comedy and ridiculous over the top violence the likes of which we’ve never seen in any other superhero movie before. As a character, Deadpool is kind of like The Bride, but with a Looney Tunes sense of humor. Till now, our superheroes have fallen into pretty much one of two categories. They’re either deadly serious and dark, like The Dark Knight, or they’re fun and light like Iron Man. If it gets made, Deadpool will be the first superhero movie to successfully be both styles all at once. It does it by taking everything to the extreme. All the darkness and despair of Batman is amped up and punctuated with brutal, almost horror movie like violence while all the humor and flat out charm of Iron Man is amped up as well, to create a dark and deeply violent superhero movie that’s also ridiculously funny and engaging in nearly every single moment and all at once. The thing is, it’ll only work with Ryan Reynolds. The character of Deadpool is written in his voice, his style, and when you read it, it’s impossible not to hear him talking in your head. It’d never work with anyone else but if Reynolds really steps up and takes on the role, it could be the defining moment of his career. Deadpool could become a pop culture icon; he could be Ryan’s Captain Jack Sparrow. He’s that good. Of course there’s a problem in turning Deadpool into a movie, it’s a problem caused by X-Men Origins: Wolverine where the character was first introduced, abused, ruined, and then killed. This script eliminates that problem brilliantly by, well, mocking it. The script never comes right out and mentions Wolverine, it’s all accomplished through one specific subtle reference, which says everything that needs to be said. It’s as though the character of Deadpool exists in a world where Wolverine is a movie that he’s seen, and hates. Deadpool literally throws everything Wolverine did to screw up this character in the trash can, and then spends the rest of the movie endlessly poking fun at the celebrity of Hugh Jackman. That’s not to say Deadpool is disconnected from the rest of the Marvel universe. It just distances itself from Wolverine because, well, there’s no other way to handle it after the way Jackman’s movie treated the character. But it’s still part of the Marvel world and there’s a huge role in this movie for Colossus, one of the most famous X-Men who has never really gotten a proper treatment on screen in any of the X-Men movies. Colossus had a cameo of sorts in X-Men 3, but here he gets a personality and plenty of fight scenes, at times serving as the straight man to Deadpool’s morally ambiguous hijinks. It’s a genius pairing; an indestructible superhero odd couple who work so well on the page that you’ll hope that the sequel will find a way to put them together permanently. With X-Men Origins: Wolverine out of the equation, the script approached everything as if you’ve never seen Deadpool before. That means including an origin story, but origin stories are boring and Deadpool doesn’t have time to be boring. So rather than dragging us through an endless opening sequence in which Deadpool is introduced, the entire movie takes place at the peak of Deadpool’s career and his origin is told in flashbacks, interspersed throughout the movie between breaks in the action. The script’s not really linear, not exactly, and that works perfectly for a movie with the comedic sensibilities of Family Guy and the kind of brutal violence that only works when it’s not thrown at you all at once. The result is a fairly well defined rhythm of insane, violence punctuated by weirdly hilarious flashbacks, which may not seem like they’re moving the story forward but eventually do. Stopping to watch the last time Deadpool ate carbs may not seem like an important part of this tale, but in the end it all comes together. Deadpool is funny and sarcastic and smart even when not engaged in random flashbacks. It contains a whole host of completely crazed pop culture references from Caddyshack to Amy Winehouse and everything in between. It tries to take place in the real world where Wade (Deadpool’s real name) sits around and watches Gallagher wielding his sledgomatic on television and in his apartment has his floors cleaned by a Roomba. It contains ruminations on everything from the titles of Steven Seagal movies to the potentially evil nature of IKEA. And it does all of that while telling what is almost without a doubt the darkest, most disturbed superhero story ever told. Deadpool isn’t even really a hero. He sneers at the notion of doing the right thing. He doesn’t care about justice or really much of anything beyond this hooker he fell for once and his own, prideful, vanity. If he has any redeeming qualities there’s no sign of them in this script, other than a wicked sense of humor. In fact the script goes out of its way to paint him as sort of a scumbag. But he’s so well written and so incredibly likeable, that you’ll love him anyway. Non-fans will eat this up and existing fans of the character will probably douse themselves in gasoline and set themselves on fire in celebration over just how faithful this is. All the Deadpool staples are here, right down to his non-stop motormouth, those hideous scars, his hilarious penchant for breaking the fourth wall, and Blind Al as Deadpool’s roommate (who never leaves their apartment and hilariously, spends all her time attempting to construct IKEA furniture). The costume is the one fans know from the comics, mask and all, red because it hides the blood. Deadpool wears the mask for much of the movie, but early on we see the vicious scars hidden beneath it. It’s not until much later on in the screenplay that their origin is explained, but those scars end up being the lynchpin in his whole story. You have to wonder if it was written that way, to keep some nervous studio exec, from taking the scars off. If so, well done. Deadpool’s face could have been a real problem, since it’s obscured a lot, which would mean seeing very little of Ryan Reynolds’ ticket-selling face. But the script, like just about every problem it encounters, gets around that brilliantly through all those flashbacks which tell the story of his origins before he was scarred. Reynolds gets plenty of visible face time, enough to sell tickets to his perpetually swooning fans. What I’m getting at here is that this is a killer script and more than that, it’s a well-thought out story, which fills in every plot hole and solves every problem that could have been encountered with the character. I can’t imagine anyone doing this any better, and it’s a movie which deserves to be made the right way by the right people. Right now there’s no way to know if that will happen. Reynolds is busy filming Green Lantern and his commitment to Deadpool remains up in the air. Without Reynolds there is no movie here, Deadpool is Ryan Reynolds and Ryan Reynolds is Deadpool. At one point Robert Rodriguez was in negotiations to direct and short of actually getting Quentin Tarantino he’d be perfect. Like Reynolds this movie could make his career, but Rodriguez now seems to be doing other things. With the right director and Reynolds in the lead, this script has the potential to be the Dark Knight of R-rated superhero movies. Edited February 12, 2015 by alive she cried 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lycaon Posted October 14, 2010 Share Posted October 14, 2010 That sounds awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The NZA Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 source Liefeld and Scott Lobdell participated in a panel at the Amazing Arizona Comic Con last weekend, and Liefeld had the following to say about Deadpool: “They’ve got a great director on the movie, they’ve got a great script. I may or may have not seen some sort of test of footage that would blow your mind if you saw it and go holy crap and that’s Deadpool in costume. Katana swords, guns, shooting people’s faces off and making me laugh. And I may or may not have seen something that looks just like that. And you’ve got what would amount to the first R-rated X-Men movie. Because that script is R-rated. They may or may not have wanted to shoot eight minutes to see how it would play. And all I can tell you, it’s close. It’s closer that it’s even been to going, or going Naaah, that’s too scary a proposition to make an R-rated Deadpool movie.” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Hakujin Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 The screenplay’s title page says it was written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, but if Quentin Tarantino wrote a superhero movie, it would be a lot like this script for Deadpool... Didn't Tarantino say that Kill Bill was his superhero film? Anyway, splitting hairs here. I never really got into the character in the comics and really didn't care for how they made him at the end of the Wolverine film, but Ryan Reynolds was memorable in the roll. The script review makes it sound like it could be a fun film. Hopefully it will be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The NZA Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 also A Deadpool spin-off movie has been in the works at Fox for some time now, and Zombieland screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick have taken time out to give Collider an update on how the project is progressing. What we know so far is that a script exists and that Fox has commissioned some test footage, of which Reese sounds extremely positive. “We have a phenomenal director in Tim Miller, who did about a 3-minute test for Fox, and Ryan [Reynolds] came in to do the mo-cap for it and the voice,” says Reese. “And it’s like the greatest three minutes ever. I look at the three minutes and I’m like, ‘That’s the movie, and it has to get made.’ “I think the biggest hurdle right now is convincing the-powers-that-be that it’s okay to have a hard-R rated movie within the Marvel Universe,” he continues. “I think there just has to be a tolerance for the outlier. There has to be a tolerance for this one project that’s not like all the other Marvel projects. “Iron Man was like that when it came out,” aggress Wernick. “Tony Stark the hard drinking, fast-talking billionaire was very different from all the other Marvel characters. And look what it became. We feel that way about Deadpool.” A script was leaked earlier this year, which generated positive reactions among fans, and Reese is taking encouragement from that that they’re approach to the property is the right one. “The Deadpool fans who found it think that it’s right in the wheelhouse of what a Deadpool movie should be,” says Reese. “And so again, we’re just fighting that uphill battle to convince people, and be positive.” Over to you, Fox… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keth Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 Deadpool moving forward: Release date February 12, 2016 A February release shows just how much faith they have in this movie. I really hope the studios can be proven wrong though (and the movie is actually as good as that test footage was). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keth Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Ryan Reynolds has signed on! As if there was any doubt, Deadline reports that Ryan Reynolds is closing a deal to return as the Merc with the Mouth in 20th Century Fox’s upcoming Deadpool feature film. The outlet also reports that a March start date is being planned for the production. Reynolds took to Twitter this afternoon to tease his return which you can read below. Though Reynolds previously appeared as the character in 2009′s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, given how that film was received (and the ending to this year’s X-Men: Days of Future Past), it’s possible that film will not be acknowledged at all in the 2016 release. Tim Miller is set to helm the film from a script by Zombieland writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. Deadpool is currently set for a release on February 12, 2016. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alive she cried Posted January 28, 2015 Author Share Posted January 28, 2015 Reynolds confirms low budget for Deadpool and that they're being allowed to "make the movie we want to make". <div style="background-color:#000000;width:520px;"><div style="padding:4px;"><p style="text-align:left;background-color:#FFFFFF;padding:4px;margin-top:4px;margin-bottom:0px;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;">Get More: <a href="http://www.mtv.com/movies/trailer_park/" style="color:#439CD8;" target="_blank">Movie Trailers</a>, <a href="http://www.mtv.com/news/celebrity/" style="color:#439CD8;" target="_blank">Celebrity News</a></p></div></div> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keth Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 (edited) Time for a thread title change. This shit is happning. Sepia tone disguises the fact the mask is ballerina pink. It's early. 365 sleeps early. #deadpool #prototypes huh didn't know hashtags translated to hotlinks Edited February 12, 2015 by Axels Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keth Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alive she cried Posted March 27, 2015 Author Share Posted March 27, 2015 Just to clarify. That is an official image. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The NZA Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 ...my brain keeps telling me that's CG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keth Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 I think maybe that face is for the eyes. But he'a supposed to be in that suit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alive she cried Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 PG13 confirmed. What a fucking missed opportunity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keth Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 (edited) Not that it matters. They could do a perfectly good Deadpool flick that's PG-13. It would make for some great jokes at it's expense. It should be noted that's actually Ryan Reynolds in costume. I clearly keep forgetting what fucking day this is. Edited April 2, 2015 by Axels Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keth Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 Looks like they're actually filming that scene from the test footage. I know Fox is hit or miss on their respective Marvel adaptations, but I'm excited for this. Trying not to hype myself up too much, but it's hard not to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Da Cap'n 2099 Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 Agreed. Still, they're hittin all the right strides as far as I can see so far. This may very well be awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keth Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 (edited) Costume looks damn good. Looks like they have some sort of motion mapping dots on there for the eyes. Edited April 7, 2015 by Axels Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alive she cried Posted April 7, 2015 Author Share Posted April 7, 2015 I honestly can't find a fault. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keth Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 It's so pouchful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Da Cap'n 2099 Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keth Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 Yet an even better view. Dat belt, yo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Visitant Posted April 8, 2015 Share Posted April 8, 2015 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alive she cried Posted April 8, 2015 Author Share Posted April 8, 2015 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alive she cried Posted April 9, 2015 Author Share Posted April 9, 2015 Ryan Reynolds ✔ @VancityReynoldsFollow Smells like someone died up in here. #alivepool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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