Having said that, I think that this movie falls just short of being good. It isn't doing anything that we haven't seen before. Though, obviously, this isn't breaking new ground. Lethal Weapon really did change the game in a lot of ways and its influence is still being felt to this day. And they definitely have some great chemistry in that banter-y, Lethal Weapon sort of way. These two sure do like to talk a lot, so I imagine that they'd play off very well off each other. It's Ryan Reynolds and Samuel Jackson teaming up in an action-comedy. Regardless, how about we move on to this movie shall we? In spite of all the negative reviews, though I'd say it was more middle-of-the-road reviews than full-on negative ones, I was actually looking forward to this movie. There's my Ryan Reynolds appreciation "essay".
It's almost like the character itself was created FOR him, complete with an early reference, by Deadpool himself, in the second issue of the Deadpool and Cable comics, that he looked like Ryan Reynolds with the skin of a shar pei. That's why, now, we all now that Deadpool is the role he was meant to play. I'll be honest, I thought he was a great choice for the character from the start, but I didn't know just how good he'd actually be as Deadpool.
It was so significant that I remember there being fan complaints (when aren't there fan complaints, really, when it comes to geek culture) when Reynolds was cast as Deadpool because of how bad The Green Lantern is perceived to have been. I don't know how good or bad Ryan was in that movie, but I remember there being such a blowback to that movie. I'll be honest, I have very little interest in that movie and I haven't seen it and I don't plan on it. And, of course, that one big flop that has always hung over his head, one that's a running joke in the Deadpool series, The Green Lantern. He's been very good in movies that I didn't think were good to begin with, like The Proposal and The Captive. That he's had a few missteps is to be expected, not every actor has a perfect record.
In short, he's been very good in almost everything I've seen him in. He's been great in Adventureland, Buried, The Voices, Deadpool (obviously).
That has obviously been proven false and, really, I knew it way back in the day, even dating back to his Van Wilder days, which is what put him on the map. Feeling that he was just another pretty face with no real talent. Maybe it's because there's some much emphasis placed on how handsome he is, particularly earlier in his career, that certain people resented that. There was a period of time where, for some reason, a lot of people didn't like him and I simply did not understand why, because I've always found him to be incredibly talented, charming, clever and quick-witted. I think we need to, finally, take a moment and appreciate how good Ryan Reynolds actually is.