Deadpool and Wolverine Review
Bloody, violent, swear-word filled action that threads a barely there plot with constant and consistent laugh-out-loud moments.
Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) is lost. After the events of the last movie, his love Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) gave him an ultimatum to find some purpose, but after he is rejected from the Avengers, Deadpool winds up hanging up the suit and selling used cars; losing Vanessa in the process. When the TVA come knocking, however, and ask him to join them, he sees the chance for a new purpose. That is, until he learns that they are about to destroy his world because it lost it’s anchor-being, Logan aka The Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). Deadpool travels through universes to team up with a new anchor being, fight their way out of the void, and stop the TVA from destroying Deadpool’s homeworld; all while going up against the telekinetic Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin).
Directed by Shaun Levy, Deadpool & Wolverine brings Hugh Jackman out of three-clawed retirement and pits him with the ‘Merc with a Mouth’, in what winds up being a welcome return to form for Marvel Studios.
The film is, first and foremost, very, very funny. Perhaps even most so when it isn’t so obsessed with breaking the fourth wall - something that felt fresh in the first Deadpool, but less so now. Instead, it’s in the quippy back-and-forth between our two heroes (and the assembly of others down the line) that it really sings.
There are also a broad range of exciting cameos and characters, none of which will be revealed here, but trust us when we say this is an array of BIG cameos. Each one elicited cheers from the audience in the screening we attended.
The action can, at times, be a little dull. The initial shock and awe at the blood and gore fades quickly, and the fun of watching Wolverine and Deadpool fight similarly wears off rapidly as you realise neither can really be hurt by the proceedings. But Levy manages to keep things fresh and surprising throughout by continuously flipping the script and focussing on different elements.
One other key thing to praise is the CGI, which seems to finally be back on track for Marvel. Emma Corrin’s CG fingers through multiple characters faces and eye-sockets make for a wonderfully weird, and remarkably rendered visual.
Ultimately, this film winds up being let down only on plot - which is once again pretty threadbare, as it has to be to fit in so many extended asides, jokes and running gags. But the villain hits, the action and violence is there, and the laughs come. Most importantly, as superhero fatigue undoubtedly has fully set in, this film manages to feel at least a little bit fresh, and a whole lot fun, and that’s something to write home about.
