Deadpool And Wolverine, the third installment of the Deadpool franchise that has spun out of 20th Century Fox’s X-Men series of films, is another one of those superhero films wherein a lot happens that the filmmakers have worked very hard to keep hidden from fans in order that they may enjoy the experience once they get to the theater. And I am fairly simpatico with that aim as I went into the theater for the advanced press screening of the film with not much being spoiled for me outside of what had already been released in promotional trailers. And the movie played like gangbusters, with crazy action sequences and a number of unexpected surprises that left me alternately laughing and cheering. So rest assured, there will be no big spoilers revealed in this review.
Suffice it to be said though, if you really enjoyed the first two Deadpool films in terms of action, borderline cartoonish violence, and adolescent humor (and I mean that in the best possible way) then you’ll find Deadpool And Wolverine do not only be more of the same but at a level ratcheted up from the previous two films. Where many sequels that attempt to amplify the elements that they thought made their preceding film so popular wind up getting the balance wrong in the upscale, Deadpool And Wolverine manages it without much of a hiccup.
And like the previous two films, this one also remembers to have a strong, emotional core in its storyline. If after nine appearances over the past 24 years, you would think that there may not be anything new to explore with Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine character, think again. While he was given a very definitive ending in 2017’s Logan, the screenplay finds a way to check in with the character at an earlier point to explore a new facet of him, and Jackman makes the most what it gives him.
If you’ve seen any of the trailers for the film, you know that the titular “Merc with a Mouth” (Ryan Reynolds, as if the franchise would ever let you forget it) comes out of superhero retirement to team up with the other titular X-Men hero when Deadpool’s loved ones are threatened. If you are well-versed in certain sectors of comic book movie lore, you can probably make a few educated guesses about where the story goes from there from clues visible in that trailer. And you most likely would be right. Plotwise there are not a lot of surprises in Deadpool And Wolverine. The surprises are reserved for the jokes, action beats in service to the plot and certain cameos that happen along the way.
As noted, the Deadpool movies have spun out of 20th Century Fox’s long run of films based on the X-Men comic book characters. Those rights were acquired from Marvel comics at a time when the publisher was fairly cash poor and selling movie rights options to keep themselves liquid. Now that both Marvel and 20th Century Fox have both been bought by Disney, all of those characters are now back to a point where they can be integrated at a future point into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With that future ahead of them, Deadpool And Wolverine functions not just as a love letter to that now ended era of comic book movies, but as a fun and loving goodbye to them as well.
Of course, Deadpool the character has had a certain bit of self-awareness that he is just a character in a movie, and frequently will break the fourth wall for witty asides to the audience. Here, though, the plot of the film itself becomes a meta commentary on comic book films, shared universes, and how business exigencies can shape those worlds. The references may sometimes get pretty deep – there is one in the second act that may leave those who don’t follow the minutia of the development phase of these films scratching their heads – and they fly by fairly quickly. And if one goes over your head, don’t worry. Another will be along momentarily.
The movie is even canny enough to concur with some fans that some of Marvel Studios’s more recent output has not been hitting as high of a standard as many of their films did previously. There are likely a number of reasons for this which we will leave for discussion on another day. Perhaps Deadpool And Wolverine will be the creative shot in the arm Marvel could use right about now. Lord knows the character has shot the dozens upon dozens of henchman he comes up against in this film in every other bodily part.
Excellent non spoiler recap Richj
Couldn’t agree more.