Heaps of fun and bloody hilarious, Deadpool & Wolverine is perhaps the best of the trilogy by virtue of having access to all the tools on offer by Marvel Studios and then going all out with it!
One of the major frustrations of the Deadpool films is that they gave carte blanche to Deadpool cosplayers all over the world to act like obnoxious tools at every convention in the following 24 months. Well, that and the audience perception that being “edgy” and R-Rated meant being “good” when in reality the true strength of those films was their humour and irreverence was in contrast to the more dour and lacklustre superhero output by the likes of Fox Studios over the years (with a few obvious exceptions). While the first Deadpool was genuinely enjoyable, its sequel barely left much of a mark.
Deadpool & Wolverine is a more memorable film as it’s a heap of fun and an absolutely hilarious good time. Some of that is by virtue of all it has access to thanks to Marvel Studios but also because it’s a cathartic experience considering all the baggage it carries with it into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Said baggage is both a blessing and a curse, as on the one hand it has channeled and transformed things like the aforementioned “edginess” into more of a jumping off point or “flavouring” rather than being over-reliant on it for its own sake. On the other hand, like Spider-Man: No Way Home, it does rely upon the nostalgia and attachment to the previous stuff in order to add some semblance of an emotional centre to the story.
Some have resorted to hyperbole saying this will “save the MCU” because of some false narrative that things “haven’t been good since Endgame” (completely ignoring that those films set the bar so very high and skewing our perspectives, that there have been plenty of great films in Phase 5, that rage-bait Youtubers are a thing, and also ignoring what we all went through a global pandemic affecting all sorts of creative industries that really has only recovered in the last year). In reality, this film is only as good as it is because of what Marvel Studios brings to the table. The often understated strength of Kevin Feige and Co over the last decade and a half is their ability to distil and filter what works (as well as the stuff fans love and remember) from the comic books and adapt it to the big screen. Marvel Studios is the high-end distillery while everyone else is making moonshine in their bathtubs. Granted, you’re not going to like everything they’ve made but that’s also the same way in which you were never going to enjoy, let alone read, every title or series Marvel COMICS publishes.
Besides, and people are overstating this part, Feige requested that Hugh Jackman finally wear the suit!
And that’s what has happened here in Deadpool & Wolverine, this collaboration (for a lack of a better term) has taken the best elements of the Fox-produced films and combined it with the sensibilities and access to the Disney-owned toy box, resulting in a highly-enjoyable film that ultimately doesn’t move the needle in any significant way. This is mid-tier MCU, which sounds like an insult but “mid-tier MCU” is a lot better than most of the Fox-produced films. It’s definitely not the best the MCU has to offer but to claim that it’s just okay or “disposable” undermines just how much of a good time the movie is.
Much of that good time comes thanks to what I mentioned earlier in that it’s a cathartic experience. Not only in the sense that it’s the third film and perhaps the climax (*giggle*) of the trilogy, not just that it also feels like a “welcome aboard/we have arrived” to the MCU victory lap of sorts, but also because of the wall-to-wall fan service. This film could easily have been retitled Fan-Service & References because they really did go all out as though this may be their last chance to do such. And while this may be a red flag criticism in any other movie, there is actual narrative context to all the call backs and cameos beyond the fourth-wall-breaking conceit. And for my money, it works because it’s balanced with a fun and (somewhat) compelling story.
The story itself isn’t particularly deep (it doesn’t need to be), there are no new revelations to discover or emotional depths to plunder (not necessary), no hints or any indication that there is any impact on the larger MCU (doesn’t always have to have them), it’s very basic: Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds), living a mundane life as a civilian, has to save his world and the people he loves, and ends up recruiting the help of a reluctant Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) from another timeline.
And that’s why it’s too easy for some to call it “disposable” because there is a complacency in thinking that every installment in the MCU has to move the needle or mean something for the next movie or series going forward. The reality is that some films can just be fun one-offs, elevated filler, or a good time in the cinema, and Marvel Studios has made quite a few of these whether fans and critics want to admit that or not. As I said before this film felt like a victory lap in surviving Disney’s acquisition of Fox and taking back all the Marvel movie properties. But it’s not without its attempt at creating some semblance of “heart” in the story.
At this point when Ryan Reynolds does Deadpool it feels like he is just being Ryan Reynolds yet in this case he’s definitely swinging for the fences because you can clearly see how much the character means to him. Of course much of the irreverent humour comes from him and it all mostly lands (some references are more obscure than others, and some jokes fly by far too quickly if you’re not paying attention). But Reynolds also gives a red hot go injecting humanity into Wade, offering motivations as to why he’s so desperate and in need of Logan’s help. I mean, did that in the previous films but it’s a very hard balance to get right and occasionally that earnestness doesn’t always come through when he also has to be “the merc with the mouth”. It works well enough here.
In stark contrast, much of that emotional gravitas is being carried by Hugh Jackman’s return as Wolverine. Playing mostly the straight man to Reynolds’ Deadpool, Jackman has a lot more to chew on and takes more than a passing inspiration from the highly-acclaimed Logan in this rendition rather than the black-leather X-Men trilogy. That emotional depth he brings really shows Jackman’s gratitude (more so than reverence) to the character than shot him to superstardom. Whatever else in the script that may feel “straightforward”, it’s this performance that feels compelling enough to want to know what happened to this version of Wolverine.
Major props go to Emma Corrin playing the film’s villain, Cassandra Nova. Their performance works very well opposite our heroes, balancing a good level of detachment, superiority, and vindictiveness without being cartoonish and dispensing with need to explore Nova’s motivations or backstory (and it’s a COMPLICATED backstory in the comics). It makes even more sense when Corrin said they took inspiration from Willy Wonka and Inglorious Basterds. There is a part of me that hopes Corrin returns for the MCU proper when mutants are properly introduced because they left an impression on me but who knows and that’s probably way down the track.
Both Reynolds and Jackman also play the double act of the fool & straight man extremely well, which carries this movie along with all the humour, references, and cameos. I’m not going to spoil any of them nor will I go into the ones that were already revealed in the trailers and marketing. But there’s so much going on in this movie that many of the original characters from the previous films also feel like cameos to an extent, perhaps part of that Marvel Studios “distillation process” and honestly that’s probably for the best in this instance.
Visual effects are pretty much what you would expect for such a movie, some of it is okay but most of it is excellent. The action is very cool from the constantly telegraphed fights between Deadpool and Wolverine, to the all out battle royale, it’s all very stylistic and inventive as well as appropriate dashes of fan service and humour for good measure. Being R-rated of course there’s quite a bit of gore, most of it played for laughs rather than being disgusting about it. And the overall aesthetic feels like it belongs in the MCU, which of course it does but one of the things people forget is that the MCU isn’t just one style, it’s various styles used appropriately that blend from one project to the next. However, their consistency comes from fidelity to the source material and recognising what is iconic and adapting that to three dimensions.
Technically, there isn’t a traditional mid-credits scene but there is something to enjoy during the credits. And there is a hilarious post-credits sequence.
The character of Deadpool has its limits and can often out stay his welcome as he’s a lot to take in. He’s a little like wasabi: known for one thing and that thing is rather potent and best taken in small portions with something else.
And that’s what Deadpool & Wolverine delivers on to create this great time and fun experience, without necessarily having too much of an impact on the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe. It balances irreverence and humour with a gratitude of what came before and where they are now. The Merc with the Mouth only works as well as he does here because he’s paired with the more dour (albeit slightly watered down) popular version of the most over-exposed X-Man in the past two decades. And it works well enough to carry a movie that is not only a fun romp but a victory party making it to the MCU.
Deadpool & Wolverine is out now in theatres.
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