Deadpool & Wolverine
This film begins with Deadpool immediately desecrating the corpse of the Wolverine from Logan. The ongoing fight sequence is backed by NSYNC’s “Bye Bye Bye,” as he slings around the adamantium bones of the dead character. This opening sequence starts the movie on a high note, the action is fun, the song is fun, and its full of Deadpool’s trademark witty banter. After this though, the film yearns to reach those heights, but it never does.
After failing to join the X-Men in previous films, and being rejected by the Avengers in this film, Wade Wilson has decided to live a quiet life as a used car salesman. His girlfriend has broken up with him, and he’s feeling a little down on his luck, that is until a TVA operative, Paradox, comes knocking on his door. He informs him that his universe is about to die, that without their “anchor being,” it will decay, and he intends on just killing it off altogether, but he sees something in Wade that he wants to give the opportunity to flee his dying universe. Wade takes this as an excuse to go around looking for Wolverine’s that are alive in other universes to save his own, until he finds one that is deemed, “the worst,” and the two get lost in the TVAs limbo, the void. With the help of some other recognizable characters, the two must get out of the void, hunt down Paradox, and stop the destruction of wade’s universe so he can hold onto everyone he loves.
Bogged down by not only a weak plot, but one that is fairly convoluted, because it expects viewers to have watched the slew of Marvel shows including Loki, while also contradicting the lore created in those shows, the film struggles with its pacing. The first third is fairly exciting, seeing Hugh Jackman back as Wolverine is fun! It’s clear that he cares a lot about this character, because despite playing a different version of Logan than we have seen before, aspects of the character ring true, and when given moments to shine Hugh Jackman delivers lines and monologues like he’s still on the Broadway stage. The cameos and jokes packed into the first third are fresh and fun, and genuinely garner some laughs from the audience. The second act of the film slows down a little bit as the characters get stuck in their predicament, but still, the cameos they use during this period are fun and entertaining enough. Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman are great with each other, and a couple of the fight sequences between the two are articulated well and add fresh ideas, like Wolverine’s animal like tactics from the comics. Sadly, the void is a pretty poor location to have these two fighting visually. The choreography might be fun, but the backdrop of a color neutral background wasteland doesn’t add much. While being given a bigger budget than the prior two films, it’s definitely missing a trademark style of them.
The last third of this film almost slows to a halt. With over two hours of run time, when the MacGuffin of the plot is finally reached the film still finds ways to elongate the time it takes for the characters to get to it, adding in some last minute action sequences. Levy has a good control over the one on one fights, but struggles with the group fighting sequences because of a lack of focus and interesting choreography that incorporates everyone in a way that is visually entertaining. While Hugh Jackman’s abs and Wolverines full suit, complete with cowl, are entertaining, the audience will probably become distinctly aware of how long the film is during the last thirty minutes which is never a fun feeling.
Besides Reynolds and Jackman, the most notable performance that doesn’t give spoilers away would be Matthew Macfadyen as Paradox. Sometimes he is having the time of his life, delivering lines with a sick egotism and childlike glee. Other times, they leave him to be the exposition dump of the film, and there really isn’t a lot he can do with that to make him any more interesting. But overall, he’s a fun addition to the cast of this movie, playing a cartoonish version of his character from HBO’s Succession.
As a comedic love letter and send off to the 20th Century Fox era of superheroes, it does half of its job. It’s clear that this was made with a lot of care and intent, but also it feels inherently hollow. Saying goodbye to some of these characters through a joke with a lack of sentimentality feels shallow, considering the impact some of them had on the superhero genre as a whole. It is a film that rewards people who have been heavily invested in not only the movies, but the news and rumors surrounding superhero films for the last twenty years. So at times, it is wildly fun and entertaining to be in on the joke, while other times I just wish there was a little more substance to what they were doing. It’s good to see these characters join the MCU and be back in the suits, but it might also be good if this is the last solo outing we get of Deadpool for the time being.