At this point, what’s there to say about the wildly successful Deadpool franchise, and superstar / driving force Ryan Reynolds, that hasn’t all been spat out before!? The dude is a Canadian treasure and we up here in the Frozen White North hold him in deservedly high regard…and this flick is yet another example of Why.
The man seemingly has The Touch and, in his particular fields, he’s come to rule through a winning combination of devilish sexy-dude good-looks, a lightning-fast wit and a keen business sense…and Deadpool & Wolverine is no exception.
In fact, I may even go as far as to say that this entry into the hilariously profane series MAY arguably be the MOST ‘Reynolds’ of the three flicks. And that’s an awesome thing!
Another ‘awesome thing’ is the fact that Mr. Hugh Jackman, not three days after announcing his retirement from playing the now-classic character of ‘James Logan’/ ‘Wolverine’, as shown in James Mangold’s appropriately dour Logan (2017), agreeing whole-heartedly to join this particular project, which he’d apparently been interested in since first seeing Deadpool (2016). It pays off in spades here! His chemistry with Reynolds is spot-on, with him playing the ‘straight man’ in their buddy cop-like adventure through time and space.
*check out the Ryan Reynolds & Hugh Jackman episode of Hot Ones. Hilarious shit and you can see how their natural chemistry and friendship would easily translate to The Big Screen.
This time around, as ‘Wade Wilson’ / ‘Deadpool’ (Ryan Reynolds) is working his way through the beginnings of a mid-life crisis, he finds himself facing the knowledge that his timeline, and that of his friends / ‘family’, is on the cusp of temporal extinction. He learns that this is coming due to the time-shaking death of a key ‘time anchor’, via the Time Variance Authority (as introduced in Season One of Loki)…and that anchor is / was ‘Logan’.
In true Deadpool meta fashion, it’s revealed that since ‘Logan’s dramatic self-sacrifice at the end of Logan (*SPOILERS*), the timeline…*cough* aka Marvel output*cough*….has been fading from existence / public consciousness. ‘Deadpool’ ain’t having any of that shit and sets out to find a ‘Wolverine’ (Hugh Jackman) that can help restore the balance. After many a comedic and bloody episode, he locates a disgraced yellow-costumed variant…and much spraying blood and hilarity ensue.
My wife and I had a blast with this one!
We don’t normally do the couple thing for flicks (that’s more of a solo deal for me, creepy middle-age nerd that I am), but this one leaped out as a Must See…and we’re super glad we did. We literally laughed, often out loud, for about 75% of the 2 hour run-time and both walked out grinning like idiots.
The jokes were constant and clever and when they weren’t, the gleeful level of over-the-top blood-letting filled in the gaps. Some of the kills were absolutely brutal, yet somehow beautiful in their creativity, often leading to guffaws of either the “Holy shit, did they just do THAT?!” or the “Holy shit, who the hell thinks THIS shit up?!” varieties. A terrific example of this is the insane and somehow deeply satisfying opening credit scene. I was in awe of what was transpiring before my eyes, and the work and creativity (not to mention the gallons of blood!) that helped bring it to life / crazy brutal death.
Since this movie is absolutely chock-full of surprises and, more importantly, cameos (some of which are so fucking awesome I wouldn’t dream of spoiling them here, Dear Reader!), there’s not a ton that I can readily dive into.
*I will say that some of these cameos do awesome things for select past characters / actors that have gotten shafted over the years, and they were heart-warming to behold on that level, coupled with the legitimately surprising first reveals.
What I CAN dive into are the following facts – Deadpool & Wolverine was great in almost every way!
Reynolds and Jackman were awesome, the supporting cast (mostly returning from the previous two flicks) were solid, even in limited roles, the action was hard-hitting, brutal and often a lot funnier than it should’ve been. The ‘part n parcel’ edgy 4th Wall-breaking meta-humor, especially if you’ve been following the Marvel behind-the-scenes drama of the last decade, landed almost every time (at least for me).
Strangely, like the previous two DP flicks, this one also coasts along on a sizeable dose of heart and charm. There are feels in this crazy flick…and we felt em!
On top of those, the music picks were also great (often used to absurd perfection – big shout-out to Madonna!), the effects, both CG and practical, were impressive and the cameos…oh those cameos!
I don’t often care too much about mentioning gratuitous walk-ons in my reviews, but this one took it to another level and the scenes added to the fun. We caught ourselves gawking at the screen and pointing like idiots more than once!
The same behaviour was also prompted by the amusingly effective 3D conversion, the technology for which seems to have come a fair way in the last ten or so years. The first Act made gang-buster use of the tech, really causing many of the environments and set-pieces to *pop*, with the effect ‘dimming’ as we were pulled into the gnarly, twisted story.
As mentioned earlier, the opening credit sequence is absolutely rad and when I wasn’t laughing my ass off, I was flinching away from slo-mo blood and viscera bursting out at us. Great use of the third dimension and if you have any appreciation for 3D, I’d recommend giving this a look in the format.
As with all Marvel flicks, this one also boasts the now-expected post-credit stinger (after a surprisingly touching montage of BTS footage from past Marvel / 20th Century Fox flicks, that strangely reminded me of Lethal Weapon 4’s end credits) that features one of these surprise actor appearances and I think it’s legitimately the funniest shit I’ve EVER heard this particular celebrity spew. Pure comedy gold! That sequence will become a fucking Youtube darling, mark my words!
As you can see, I had a great time at the movies with Deadpool & Wolverine and so did my wife. If you’ve dug the previous two flicks and are hungry for more, you will be WELL served with this glorious entry. The rights owners may have changed…but the franchise is still very much the Deadpool vibe we’ve come to love. That’s all you need, really.
This is a terrifically entertaining franchise that I PRAY doesn’t somehow manage to outstay it’s welcome. If this flick is any indicator, Deadpool is alive and well…and kicking Box Office ass for our immature pleasure!
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