Rating: 3/5
Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman’s Deadpool-meets-Wolverine mustard-and-ketchup combo is full of gore, violence, action and dirty jokes. Despite the lack of a real storyline, I still enjoyed laughing at this insane, nonsensical comedy romp. The movie comes after a string of flops in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and is trying to revamp the course of this superhero era where almost every film since Avengers: Endgame has failed to live up to expectations.
Shawn Levy’s Deadpool & Wolverine is, for better or worse, a salve in the MCU’s deteriorating state, but most importantly, it’s entertaining. The foul-mouthed mercenary’s criticism of his creators, Fox and Disney, has you laughing from the get-go. The juxtaposition of jokes about 21st Century Fox being bought by Disney and offhand comments on sensual innuendos is vulgar, even trashy, but you’ll have to succumb to it.
With the TVA (Time Variation Authority) chasing him across timelines, the movie begins with Ryan Reynolds searching for Wolverine to save his universe from annihilation. Unfortunately, he finds the worst claw mutant in his reality who turned the whole world against the X-Men. Deadpool calls him the “fork-handed guy” – an alcoholic, depressed and apathetic, hardly the best kind of superhero to save the universe, but they make do as a team.
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Reynolds keeps breaking the fourth wall by commenting in foul language about everything, swearing at each other, and even unleashing his Wolverine claws on multiple occasions. Watching them turn on each other is a visual spectacle and the well-designed fight scenes are commendable.
As you start watching the movie, you hope that the story will reveal hints about their future in the MCU, or at least find some synchronization between the crossovers, but the more you watch, the more you realize that this movie doesn’t make sense, it doesn’t have a particularly good story, but it does hook you with constant puns and beat you into submission by laughter.
Yes, the fight scenes, visual satisfaction, special effects and all the other standard perks that come with Marvel movies are there. To say it will have laughs in the cinema is an understatement. But behind that, it lacks substance; an honest plot; a wellspring of some good storytelling. That being said, I am still surprised at how satisfying this movie is. I laughed, marveled, cheered and enjoyed it just like the rest of the audience in the cinema. The chemistry and bromance between the titular heroes is charming and makes for a good time, and will make you want to watch the movie again just for the fun of it.
Mr. Paradox (played by Matthew Macfadyen) isn’t a big villain, and neither is Cassandra Nova (played by Emma Corrin), but they get their due. It’s the villains that make hero stories memorable, but sadly, they aren’t given much volume here. Nova is the twisted sister of Professor Charles Xavier, who previously appeared in an X-Men movie, and was thrust into the Void dimension even before she was born. (Side note: the Void is a dimension, a kind of purgatory reality, where TVA is populated by rebellious superheroes).
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Nova’s powerful telepathic abilities are only highlighted in dialogue and never actually put to use. We get to see Deadpool and Wolverine fight an army of Deadpools from alternate realities. We don’t see an all-out war between the titular hero and the main villain. Lives, human and superheroic, are shown to be in danger, but we don’t know what they’re in danger for. In a mind-boggling multiverse, defending a sacred timeline and annihilating a single universe is just too far-fetched a concept to comprehend.
The story is full of loopholes and some elements are just used for convenience, as the idea of the multiverse allows it without logic, such as the appearance of Doctor Strange’s ring. There are a ton of X-Men cameos in the foreground, but again, what are they for? They don’t make sense to the story and don’t add any substance. The only reason they added multiple cameos is because Marvel had the budget.
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Some of the special appearances can be a little suspenseful at times, but would have been much more entertaining if they had been better integrated into the story, while the special effects and music departments are up to Marvel standards.
Final thoughts:
“Deadpool & Wolverine” is perfect for Marvel fans who want to enjoy a good superhero movie without worrying about plot holes. There are gory action scenes, well-choreographed stunts, Dogpool, Nicepool, Peterpool, Honda Odyssey, Dwarf Wolverine, “Take my name out of my mouth” jokes, and their craziness matches our craziness. The movie entertains and plays with expectations, but asks the audience to abandon logic and expect a believable storyline.
Still, you’ll have fun, laugh hard and laugh some more, crave shawarma by the end, and the biggest cameo of all is: hint: Flame On.
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