Deadpool's peaceful existence comes crashing down when the Time Variance Authority recruits him to help safeguard the multiverse. He soon unites with his would-be pal, Wolverine, to complete the mission and save his world from an existential threat.
Deadpool & Wolverine is directed by Shawn Levy director of Free Guy (2021), The Adam Project (2022), Real Steal (2011), Date Night (2010), Night At The Museum (2006) and many others. Deadpool & Wolverine is the 34th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and serves as a sequel to Deadpool (2016) and Deadpool 2 (2018).
A Deadpool 3 was inevitable it was just a matter of when it was going to release especially due to Disney buying 20th Century Studios, some people thought it would never come out and some people thought Disney would tone it down. I actually liked the last two Deadpool films, am I as crazy about them as I was back when they first came out? Not at all, but for what they were they were fun enough films that had a lot of positives. Deadpool & Wolverine I would say is around the same although I do think it's not as good as the first film.
Before I start I do want to put a spoiler warning as there are going to be spoilers so be aware!
So for starters the biggest positive of the film and the one who steals the show is Hugh Jackman who returns to play Wolverine from the X-Men films and the Wolverine films, he's just as a great as he was in those films and shows that he still has it. There's a few scenes in particular that standout quite well, Jackman adds some much needed emotional depth to the film. Granted it's not anything mind blowing but it's something and Jackman's great acting is able to get the viewer invested which was part of Jackman's portrayal of Logan/Wolverine in the first place. Ryan Reynolds is perfectly fine here, he isn't anything special. But he works well with Hugh Jackman and there's some comedic bits that do work between two, but then there are moments that are eye roll worthy that do end up hurting the movie in the long run.
The cameos I have to say this time around were actually fun, usually with a lot of the recent Marvel films it really does feel like they are shoving cameos in just for the audience to point and say "oh my god I know that guy." While yes that argument can be used here, at the very least the cameos themselves are given more to do rather than blink at the camera, say a one liner and then leave. They actually tie into the story decently well and while some are definitely better handled than others I do think for the most part the movie does a decent job with them.
I'm not going to name every single cameo as there are quite a few of them and some of them such as Sabertooth who's played by Tyler Mane (from X-Men (200)), really only serve as henchmen for the main villain Cassandra Nova (played by Emma Corrin) and then quickly get disposed of, sure it's really cool to see that he's here but that's really all you can really say about him.
The main ones worth mentioning here are Chris Evans as Johnny Storm from Fantastic Four (2005) and it's sequel Rise Of The Silver Surfer (2007), Jennifer Garner as Elektra from Daredevil (2003) and Elektra (2005), Wesley Snipes from the Blade trilogy (1998-2004), Dafne Keen as Laura/X-23 from Logan (2017) and finally the biggest surprise which I will say was quite clever of the film Channing Tatum as Gambit from the Gambit film that was planned but never ended up coming out. All of these performances at least contribute something to the film, Dafne Keen in particular shows some really great acting here especially the bonding moments between her character Laura and Wolverine. It's some of the best moments of the movie with some nice character development that was very needed. Channing Tatum is a delight to see even if Gambit is given the least to do out of the bunch, Tatum is clearly having a blast doing this performance which in turn makes it a lot of fun to watch.
As far as everything else goes it's pretty alright, the action scenes combined with some of the song choices are quite fun, one of the biggest standouts being Bye Bye Bye by NSYNC which happens to be the opening of the movie. So it does start out with a huge bang. The humor is definitely one of the weaker parts about this movie, while there are some hilarious moments a lot of it is the exact same thing from the previous two movies. Which I get it the movie is pulling from the source material and that's just how Deadpool's personality is but it really is a bit repetitive at this point and does start to really to become incredibly noticeable very quickly.
I will say the end credits combined with clips of the old 20th Century Studios Marvel films and behind the scenes footage of those films while using Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) by Green Day (I'm surprised it took a film from the MCU this long to use a Green Day song) is actually quite nice. Does it scream graduation slideshow? Absolutely but growing up with these movies despite the wide range of quality and seeing them go like this is decently touching.
Overall Deadpool & Wolverine is fine for what it is, a lot of it is the same thing the MCU has been doing for the last couple years. But at the very least this one is entertaining, I'm probably not going to ever revisit it this movie but it made for a satisfying watch.
Deadpool & Wolverine is currently in theaters
6/10 C+
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