Deadpool Movie Review Roundup

Marvel superhero movie Deadpool, starring Ryan Reynolds as the "merc with a mouth," comes to theaters this Friday, February 12. Ahead of its theatrical release, reviews for the film have started to come online.

We've now collected some reviews to help you get an idea if it's worth your time and money.

Scroll down to see the scores and editor opinions, while you can also visit GameSpot sister site Metacritic to learn even more about the film's critical reception.

Deadpool stars Reynolds as mercenary Wade Wilson, who is given superhuman healing powers after undergoing experimental treatment for a terminal illness. Adopting a distinctive suit, the disfigured, fast-talking anti-hero seeks violent revenge on the men responsible for his condition.

The movie sits within Fox's X-Men universe. Reynolds played the character briefly in 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine, although this version is much closer to its comic book origins. Deadpool is the directorial debut of visual effects artist Tim Miller. It also stars Morena Baccarin, Ed Skrein, and Gina Carano.

• Film: Deadpool
• Distributor: 20th Century Fox
• Release Date: February 12
• Rating: R

GameSpot

"There are issues, sure. It's still an origin story, and you'll get your obligatory navel-gazing until Wade finally cowboys up and goes after the girl. Two mostly forgettable villains. A whole pack of jokes about pooping. But the movie is just so fun that you won't care about them. For better or worse, this is the best Deadpool movie anyone could have asked for. Just make sure you really understand what you're asking for." - Luke Lancaster [Full review]

Variety

The movie exists entirely as a star vehicle for Reynolds, and perhaps its canniest stroke is the way it both conceals and demolishes his physical beauty--a small price to pay when an actor's tongue is this gloriously sharp. 'I look like a testicle with teeth,' Deadpool snarls. And as long as he's around, you’ll have a ball." - Justin Chang [Full review]

Entertainment Weekly

The jokes in Deadpool are delivered with such a sly, smart-aleck wink that it takes a while to figure out that it’s selling a jokey tone rather than actual jokes half the time. But it’s got the perfect salesman in Reynolds. Even with a face that’s been horrifically crispified into what his pal (Silicon Valley’s T.J. Miller) likens to the offspring of an avocado that had sex with an older avocado, Reynolds and his character are a blast of laughing gas in a genre that tends to take itself way too seriously. Deadpool may not be a cutting-edge comedy, but it is a cutting-edge Marvel movie. And right now, that’s something." - Chris Nashawaty [Full review]

IGN

"Wade Wilson has been successfully revived on the big screen in a movie that's full of amusing one-liners, stylish action, and heaps of fan service. Weak villains and an unsatisfying revenge plot ultimately hold it back from being something more distinctive, but Deadpool delivers a large dose of unwholesome fun." - Daniel Krupa [Full review]

The Hollywood Reporter

"Beyond even what Robert Downey Jr. has done in the Iron Man series, Reynolds lets fly here in a manic, sly, self-conscious way that leaves you not quite knowing what hit you; the irreverence slides quickly into lewd comic territory, the inside jokes about Marvel in particular and pop culture in general come fast and furious, the fourth-wall breakage is disarming and the actor's occasional fey, high-pitched voicings add yet another strange element. As in the presence of motor-mouthed comedians, you either sit there stone-faced or eventually capitulate to the cascade of weirdness and the fertility of wayward minds unleashed." - Todd McCarthy [Full review]

The Telegraph

"Yet much like Matthew Vaughn's Kingsman, the film's bludgeoning enthusiasm for itself goes a long way. I chuckled along with its lavatorial riffs and winced at its butcherings and impalements, which are inevitably carried off with an incongruous soundtrack from Neil Sedaka or Wham! This isn't the future of superhero movies, but it's an enjoyably obnoxious detour." - Robbie Collin [Full review]