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I was toying with not writing an official review for Deadpool & Wolverine until I could talk about all the fun spoilers that accompany the MCU’s golden anti-heroes. After all, to really express how much I enjoyed this entry as did the inner 10-year-old in me, it would bode well to convey all the shout out moments that director Shan Levy and stars Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman give us with what is without a doubt, the best MCU flick in years. Ever since Endgame, Marvel Studios has been desperately searching for the same success that came with the earlier phases of the MCU, and it certainly hasn’t been the recent output of flawed films and limited series that have flooded theaters and Disney+. Sometimes. more of something is not a good thing but Disney tends to milk a dead cow as much as possible like they also have with the Star Wars franchise leaving many diehard fans in a state of funk.
The cure for what ails you is bringing the two most popular characters and actors playing them together finally and unleash them to do their thing and do it all so well with healthy doses of fan service, surprise cameos, hyper-violent and stylized action set pieces and politically incorrect humor that sees Disney making fun of themselves. Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman have been the best of bubs ever since they starred in the much-maligned X-Men Origins: Wolverine and out of that fiasco (which I did like BTW) has come a blossoming friendship that translates to pure chemistry bliss onscreen. Putting these two together is the equivalent of paring Gibson with Glover and Stallone with Russell and having them be able to do what they do with a full-on R rating is the icing on the cake, and it looks like the MCU is back with a fever pitch this weekend.
Deadpool & Wolverine is like Zack Snyder’s Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. Bear with me and I’ll explain. BvS was essentially three films in one. It was a pseudo-sequel to Man of Steel. It was a Batman film that introduced Ben Affleck as The Caped Crusader and it was, of course, the beginning of the Justice League. Unlike Snyder’s effort, which is regarded as not that great (P.S., I like that one too), Levy delivers the adamantium clawed goods with this one as it is, you guessed it, a pseudo-sequel to the Deadpool franchise while at the same time propelling the defunct 20th Century Fox Marvel properties into the MCU while making a Wolverine/X-Men intro all rolled into one. If anyone was going to do this flawlessly, it would be the Merc with a Mouth and Reynolds accepts the mission and goes batshit ballistic breaking the 4th wall and slicing and dicing the competition while dropping toilet humor that hits the mark most of the time and poking all sorts of fun at Disney, Marvel and anyone that gets in his way.
Hugh Jackman is the perfect accompany to Reynolds as his Logan/Wolverine is not the same as the one from the Fox films. No, that Logan is sadly dead and that was a great call as if they were to bring that Logan back, it would have tainted the awesomeness that is James Mangold’s Logan. No sir, this Wolverine is embittered and a failure, having lost his entire team of X-Men and is now drinking himself into oblivion to dull the pain of failure. While Deadpool is a sarcastic wiseass that is as lethal with his tongue as he is with swords and guns, Wolverine is solemn and downtrodden and in need of retribution.
Phase V has been a Titanic sinking into the cold waters, i.e. a disaster, with Spider-Man: Now Way Home and Shang-Chi being the only shining lights for a few years now and Deadpool & Wolverine looks to be Marvel Studios way of saying sorry as they throw everything plus two kitchen sinks into the fray with in your face fan service, cameos that will make you yell, and R rated comic book thrill and chills that manage to outdo each other every chance they get.
The weakest part to this MCU installment lies in the plot and the villains with Deadpool taking on the Time Variance Authority and Professor X’s twisted twin sister played to devilish delight by Emma Corrin. I won’t go into plot details, you’ve seen the trailers, but they could have written the synopsis to have Wade and Logan opening a floral boutique and I would have still come on opening day as everything is just an excuse to get these two iconic anti-heroes together finally.
Reynolds is all in, Jackman is loving the fact that he unretired and audiences are treated with enough crowd pleasing and clapping moments to fill three movies. The action is plenty with this film containing some of the best and bloodiest action design with a hyper-kinetic dash of full throttle punishment although the cartoonish gore does downplay the ferocity a bit. Our two wayward heroes tangle more than once on their way to eventually teaming up to save the world. Their first altercation is a dream come true as Wade tells the audience to get your favorite sock ready because this fight is going to be good and good it is as we see them tussle with Logan encompassing some comic book accurate moves that made me smile with childhood glee.
The ensemble cast that accompanies Reynolds and Jackman is solid, all in and nonwavering although, like I said, this film suffers from a constant MCU problem in that the villains are weak and no match for Thanos. Matthew McFayden (Succession)’s Paradox is such a blundering buffoon, that one cannot take him seriously and he is in no way, shape, or form, a legit threat for our beloved bad asses. Emma Corrin’s Cassandra Nova looks fantastic, and she rocks her performance, but she isn’t given enough time to establish herself as a real threat although she has a few stomach-churning moments. The movie is so funny that any sense of dread falls by the wayside, but it doesn’t matter as we all came to see the same thing and you know what that is.
The worth the price of admission finale is broken into two parts, and I will say that I wanted more from the cameos and what they did in the first climax although seeing these particular characters in action again was almost worth the price of admission. Unfortunately, it cuts away to Logan and Wade to much as I just wanted a few minutes with these beloved superheroes. The second climax is all Wade and Logan, and it contains one hell of a street fight that encompasses a balls to the wall oner sequence involving a horde of Deadpool variants and a bus culminating with a slo-mo, f*ck yeah, money shot of our two heroes.
Overall, Deadpool and Wolverine gives fans what they want and even with the flaws, it’s a near perfect blend of slapstick humor, ferocious action and fandom that is unrivaled with Reynolds and Jackman delivering their best interpretation of an 80’s buddy cop movie and showing us that they are truly comic book gold on the highest level. Do yourself a huge favor and listen to no one and read no more as you should buy your ticket, sit in your seat and discover all that this MCU entry has to offer. Deadpool & Wolverine is pure, adulterated comic book bliss with its adamantium claws dipped in blood red fan service. Reynolds’ Deadpool humorously mentions that Disney brought Jackman back and they’re going to make him do this until he’s 90. I’m all for it as no one should ever play this character but Jackman. Last thing I’m going to say…Mary Poppins rocks!
VERDICT: 4 Out of 5
Deadpool & Wolverine is an MCU rejuvenator that throws all the fan service it can and then some at the audience while proclaiming loud and proud that comic book movies are alive and well!
My complete spoiler filled review drops next week so you have the weekend to see it. After that, all bets are off!
