By Nancy Huang
I have to admit, I was a little wary of how much the brilliant advertising campaign for the new movie “Deadpool” would affect my expectations for the movie. As Marvel’s first rated-R foray, “Deadpool” will set a precedent for sexual humor, inappropriate jokes and graphically violent scenes, or else Marvel will chalk those things up as failures and never use them again.
Ryan Reynolds plays Wade Wilson, an ex-military specialist battling multiple forms of terminal cancer. When he is offered a chance to be cured, he leaves his girlfriend Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) behind and is experimented on by the movie’s main villain, Ajax (Ed Skrein). The experiments give him chronic pain and a scarred face, but also give him regenerative capabilities.
Wade manages to escape the lab, but when Ajax kidnaps Vanessa, it’s up to Deadpool to rescue her. With the help of two X-Men sent to bring him in, Colossus (Stefan Kapičić) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand), Deadpool plays out every superhero revenge fantasy cliche.
Though this is the first movie with Deadpool as the titular character, it’s not the first time he has been onscreen. In “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” he made an appearance that left die-hard comic fans dissatisfied with his inaccurate portrayal — his mouth was sewn shut and he inexplicably developed laser eyes. Reynolds claims he signed on as a producer for “Deadpool” to avoid another botched representation.
Reynolds succeeded in his role as producer, because “Deadpool” — though a little campy with its superhero origin story — is original, graphic and, as Deadpool himself claims, a touching love story.
The movie uses every rehashed plot device — kidnapped love interest, experimentation, gaining supernatural abilities — but still manages to stay fresh and witty. Reynolds’s acting performance, which included childish humor and breaking the fourth wall, was the highlight of the movie. The plot is predictable, but at least it’s entertaining.
Overall, I give “Deadpool” 4 out of 5 stars.
But it was (almost) more exciting to see the ads than the actual movie because of how dirty, weird, funny and original they are. In case you missed the guerrilla campaign, check out some of the best “Deadpool” trailers, posters and less traditional strategies below.
Deadpool wishes everyone a Happy Australia Day in this one.
He took up a Bachelor TV spot.
And a breast cancer one.
Last year, he spent Halloween berating children.
Those are just the videos. The Marvel team behind the creative marketing of this film is genius, because along with all of these TV spots, PSAs, and multiple trailers, they also created billboards, posters, a Tinder profile and Facebook clickbait articles, like 43 Facts You’ve Never Known About Kittens. Check some out below.
Check out that nice Stan Lee cameo at the right.
Ugly sweater season!
Trashing other superheroes’ ads (except Wonder Woman’s, who, as you can see, is drowning in red heart graffiti).
The “Deadpool” premier falls on Valentine’s Day weekend, so it makes sense to market it as a rom-com.
Having difficulty interpreting that last one? Don’t worry, they came up with this in response to people’s confusion.
Here’s a page of the movie script, edited by Deadpool himself.
And last but not least, a Tinder appearance.
Be honest. You’d totally swipe right.
“Deadpool” is in theaters today, and all the trailers, cancer PSAs, clickbait articles, and inappropriate billboard messages all point to one thing: go see the movie.
