We all know that February is a dumping ground for movies. I try to temper my expectations for any film coming out right now because odds are…it’s gonna suck. There are those rare occasions though, when studios slip in a surprise and catch us all off guard. That would be the case for Deadpool. In fact, I can already hear the jokes Deadpool himself would make about that “slip in a surprise” comment.

Deadpool is technically a superhero, but one with a mean streak and a potty mouth. He was Wade Wilson, a special-forces operative until he was dishonorably discharged and later diagnosed with terminal cancer. Wilson tries an experimental treatment that kills the cancer AND gives him extraordinary powers, but it disfigures him in the process. Deadpool then spends the rest of the film tracking down the bad-guys who left him this way, and pining for one true love, Vanessa (played by the fabulous Morena Baccarin).

That sounds like essentially every other superhero plot EVER, but Deadpool is different because of the rules that it breaks. Deadpool kills and enjoys it. He cracks wise while blood and guts splatter across the screen. He even talks directly to the audience, which should be annoying…but it isn’t. Deadpool uses every inch of it’s R rating, and even ventures over into NC-17 territory, thanks to some fantastic sex scenes between Wade and Vanessa. There’s even a quick trip into a strip-club, where Stan Lee makes one of his BEST appearances yet.

It’s apparent that Director Tim Miller wants to turn the “Superhero Movie” on it’s ear, but it would take a deft touch to do so without going overboard and turning it into schlock. That was my biggest concern walking into Deadpool. Were they going to turn an interesting character into some wiseass we all ended up hating? Is it possible to walk the thin line between Good Guy and Bad Guy and make a truly relatable character?

YES.

I am so happy to say that Deadpool delivers. It’s even better than I thought it would be. Hell, I could sit down and watch it two more times right now and probably laugh even harder. Ryan Reynolds simply IS Deadpool. I’d also like to thank him for the countless nude scenes he delivers, though I’m not sure I’ll ever eat a ring-pop again.

Speaking of which, let’s talk about taking your kids to see Deadpool. I know my 11-year-old is already badgering me about it and more than one friend has asked if Deadpool is OK for kids. In a word, NO. No, you absolutely should NOT take your kids to see Deadpool. I guess you could take your older kids, but then you’d have to watch the above-mentioned sex-scenes (including that ring-pop trick) with them and nobody wants that. Get comfortable with the word NO because you’ll be saying it to them nonstop for a while (until they can figure out a way to see it without you).

I’d like to send out a special THANK YOU to Tim Miller and everyone else who made Deadpool, because they could have made it into a PG-13 movie. Writers could have cleaned up the language and deleted the gore. They could have rewritten that strip-club scene entirely and made Deadpool a Family Friendly picture. They probably would have made millions more in the process, but they didn’t. Tim Miller chose to make Deadpool as raunchy as possible and it’s a better movie because of it. That’s why I’m giving Deadpool an A+, which on his rating system would be more like 5 out of 5 ring-pops.