He wasn't a martyr, in the traditional sense of the term, but his death was very heroic. I will be honest: I was very, very disappointed in him and always felt that he could have done more to stem the tide of heresy and evil that swept the Church during his pontificate, but he was obviously a good and devout person and I never thought he was on the side of the heretics and evil ones.
However, for a media person like JPII, letting himself be shown in extremis, dying quite unglamorously on TV, was a truly heroic thing and I think it probably made many people rethink their lives and recall to mind the Four Last Things. Well, maybe recall isn't the right word, since most people no longer konw them (Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell), but it certainly was a powerful statement about life, death and faith in an age that doesn't understand any of them. From my point of view, this alone would be cause for canonization.
I don't believe in coincidences. Consider, then, the fact that as JPII's condition deteriorated, his medical team adivsed that a feeding tube be inserted around the same time that a feeding tube was removed from Terri Schiavo. The media caught it.
Then there was the morning of his Sunday address when he opened his mouth and nothing came out. The media caught that too. The image of the Holy Father, framed in the window of his appartments, mouth agape and a look of great consternation on his face, will remain with me forever.
He preached what he lived and died as he preached. Though some may disagree with his policies on ecumenism, this humble servant of God did his best to follow his beliefs and lead the church home to their Lord and Savior. I have no doubt that he is reaping the rewards of his ministry in heaven, seated beside the woman he most adored, our Blessed Mother.