'Deadpool' is less irreverent than self-congratulatory

The superhero film stars Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson, also known as Deadpool, who is a fighter incapable of dying. It's weirdly funny at best but exhaustingly weird most of the time.

“Deadpool” isn’t exactly dead in the water, but it’s strictly for Marvel Comics fans who like their characters sloshing in R-rated territory. Weirdly funny at best, it’s just exhaustingly weird most of the time.

Ryan Reynolds is Wade Wilson/Deadpool, a mercenary who is bioengineered by big bad guy Ajax (Ed Skrein) into a fighter incapable of dying. Whenever he is shot or maimed or de-limbed, Deadpool, costumed in red-and-black spandex to resemble a cut-rate Spider-Man, simply heals himself. He doesn’t like to call himself a superhero, but what else would you call him? Super-anti-hero, I guess.

Reynolds brings a lewd flippancy to the role, and director Tim Miller and his writers, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, have some fun at Marvel’s expense. But this fun is a essentially a rebranding of the brand; it seems less irreverent than self-congratulatory. Grade: C+ (Rated R for strong violence and language throughout, sexual content and graphic nudity.)