The creative team behind this reboot of the Deadpool character from Marvel Comics — director Tim Miller and screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick of Zombieland and GI Joe: Retaliation fame — has channeled the raw spontaneity and manic energy of the fourth-wall-breaking figure and, in the form of Ryan Reynolds, comes as close as humanly possible to breathing life into comic book frames. The wise-cracking “Merc with a Mouth” might not be much more than a bad guy going after worse guys, but he’s willing and able to take audiences on a crazy ride of an origin story that is gloriously self-referential. Be prepared to see this flick more than once; there is next to no down time in the whole affair since the quips fly at lightning pace. (Opens wide Friday) (R) Grade: B+
This article appears in Feb 10-17, 2016.