Deadpool is a filthy, riotous return for Ryan Reynolds, says CBC's Eli Glasner

Who is Deadpool?The Merc with the Mouth?The best thing to come out of Rob Liefeld's pencil?The bastard love child of Spider-Man and Snake Eyes?

Something incredible has happened.Ryan Reynolds has finally found a vehicle worth his smartass talents: bringingDeadpool to life andgivingthe superhero genre just the rightsmackit needs.

Whatmakes thisDeadpool different?He's Canadian (even Regina gets a shout-out). He has a mutant healing power and likes to kill people which makes him Wolverine in a Santa suit.

But the film'sreal super power is itshard-fought-for R rating(18A in Canada).It'swell deserved.This is a movie with more dick jokes than an Andrew Dice Clay marathon. But it's alsomore than just potty-mouth machismo.(For that,go seeKick-Ass. No, wait. Don't.)

This R-rating is a symbol of a film franchise taking chances.In the superhero movie world, PG-ratings are shackles of oppression. Paired with a $200 million US-plusbudget, The Avengers, The X-Men, etc. are forced to play it safe.

Witha budget hovering around $50 million, however, Deadpool is considereda boutique operation. The expectations are lower and theleash is looser. 20th Century Foxclearly understood how they fumbled the character'sfirst big screenappearancein 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Here, under the helm ofvisualeffectsartist-turned-director Tim Miller and the screenwriting duo behind Zombieland, the irreverent chimichanga-gobbling clown prince from the comics is back and his timing couldn't be better.

WithCaptain America: Civil War and Superman v. Batmanloomingon the horizon, we're heading into another wave of Comic Book MoviesGet Dark and Serious. But as Zack Snyder and co. prepare the next chest-thrusting faceoff,Deadpool skewers the competition.

Withquips as pointed as katanas, Deadpoolflays everything from the tangled continuity of theX-Men filmsto Reynold's own cinematic stumbles.True to the comic, the title charactergleefully smashes the fourth wall with abandon.The film is so consistently irreverent, the only disappointingmoments are when Deadpool succumbs to the obligatory origin story:Mercenary falls in love. Hegets cancer. Evil British villain gives him powers andscars hisface.

Deadpool sets the tone early on with ahilarious opening credit scene thatlists the generic characters we're about to meet (i.e.The sexy chick. The funny friend.)The movietries to have it both ways mock the cake and eat it,too. Or shoot it. Or eatit, shoot it a little, smear it on the lens and then do a dance while listening to Salt 'n Pepa.

What ultimatelyholds Deadpool together is itsgigglyenergy. Our hero isa little deranged, very angry and kind to the right people. Add in Morena Baccarin as one of the more sexually liberated girlfriends in Marvel Comics-inspired movie history, Leslie Uggams as the blind roommate who keeps 'Pool in his place and Brianna Hildebrand as the sneer-powered Negasonic Teenage Warhead and theresult is a freshsuperhero flick in an increasingly stale genre.

RATING: 4 out of5 stars