Deadpool

Deadpool might just be the closest to source material comic book adaptation of recent times. It begins with comical credits and ends with the anti-hero breaking conventional superhero behaviour tropes. It's a thoroughly enjoyable mess and I'm happy to say Ryan Reynolds has redeemed himself. 

The comical credits and fourth wall breaks are consistent with the original Deadpool comics, just the first issue of the standalone series opens up with fourth wall breaking narration and odd-defying antics from the protagonist. The movie does a good job of hooking its audience in and then taking several long trips back in time to recap just how we got to this barbaric entrance. It's a Marvel story and the characters are pretty two-dimensional but even then they're pretty well fleshed out and consistent. Nobody grows, nobody shrinks, nobody reveals any great Buddhist secrets, but they all have a jolly good ass-kicking ride. 

As a Deadpool movie I think it is outstanding and pretty decent in its own right. It does have a certain degree of fanboy fodder and I think that uninitiated audiences may be a little put off by the fans, skewing their own views on the merc with a mouth. It's an anti-hero story with an anti-comic relief, high octane action and bundles of bad jokes - mostly good-bad. What I found particularly interesting was the display of teenage apathy accompanied by some of Wade's least risqué lines. It gave this air of "oh you're too young to understand me and find me funny, I'm full of mature irresponsibility!" Although I imagine Deadpool's relationship with the teenage mutant is supposed to serve as a metanarrative on the potential audiences' different takes on the character, I feel like it was one of the weaker parts. And I'm not a big fan of a daft Colossus; serious yes, daft no. 

Ultimately, Deadpool is a movie that delivers what it promises: writers who are the true heroes, a CGI character, a hot chick, a comic relief, all-out action and shameless humour. It's worth seeing it whether you're a fan or not. 

Vicious Cycles

Stuck in a cycle but out of the loop,
Part of a team but not part of the group,
Jack in a box but the thoughts well outside,
Fast asleep with eyes open wide,
Never done wrong but never knew any better,
Given no law followed it to the letter,
Ended up here but started much further,
No man's without fear, some just full of fervour.

Granted – 9-5 is how you survive,
7-5 is how you die slowly inside -
6-6 everyday I'm in shackles
Pushing boulders for peanuts while the wistful witch cackles.
It's a game of frequent shots and hard tackles,
Jackals all around, don't flaunt your hackles!
This life is but a mackle, take it or leave it,
If Plato told the truth, you wouldn't believe it.
Living in a sewer you wish but for clean water,
Living in a palace you demand your every order
Be followed as was told, your mould takes a hold
Of whoever wants the palace and would ever be so bold
As to live in it and work – mark my every word,
Those with a dream aren't easily deterred.
Watch your back as they climb on it,
Coz once it breaks, they will dine on it.

Stuck in a cycle but out of the loop,
Part of a team but not part of the group,
Jack in a box but the thoughts well outside,
Fast asleep with eyes open wide,
Never done wrong but never knew any better,
Given no law followed it to the letter,
Ended up here but started much further,
No man's without fear, some just full of fervour.

Too many cooks in the kitchen, too few critics at the table,
They all think they're keen and able but the food goes down the stable.
The whole system is unstable and the pillars slowly crumble,
People see and people gossip – whisper-whisper, mumble-mumble;
Be humble or be humbled, mountains can be levelled,
All of your rough edges can easily be bevelled.

When the nucleus implodes, strike a pose -
Many have been called but how many of them rose?
Get on the level, I'm in the same building,
On a different story, different floor, different feeling.
But differences apart, similarities together,
Why bleed in vain, instead of simply sever?

Gangrenous friends aren't even worth the tissue,
Cut them off! Cut them off! Don't ever think they'll miss you.
Maggots only eat dead flesh, so stay fresh,
Some would pay an arm and a leg to start afresh.
Right at the beginning, top of the first inning,
Nobody's losing and nobody is winning;
Does the glass even exist? Here, have the gist:
The water is poisoned and whoever drinks it pissed.

Stuck in a cycle but out of the loop,
Part of a team but not part of the group,
Jack in a box but the thoughts well outside,
Fast asleep with eyes open wide,
Never done wrong but never knew any better,
Given no law followed it to the letter,
Ended up here but started much further,
No man's without fear, some just full of fervour.

Sometimes I'm a winner and sometimes I'm a quitter;
Sweet ol' sour-puss is starting to turn bitter.

The details are fine, how do we differ from swine?

I see your trough is empty but stay the fuck out of mine.

You win some and you lose some, some you simply miss,
Fear of failure stops you and ignorance is bliss,

That's fine, grow a spine and walk the line, 
I see your trough is full so stay the fuck out of mine.