Deadpool & Wolverine Movie Review
Wolverine and Deadpool share similar origins, both gaining their powers from the Weapon X project. Logan was endowed with an Adamantium skeleton, while Wade Wilson, battling cancer, had Wolverine’s healing factor spliced into his DNA. Ryan Reynolds first portrayed the Merc with a Mouth in the contentious film X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009). The backlash against the movie inspired Reynolds to champion a standalone Deadpool series, a role he has embraced with humour and self-awareness. In a post-credits scene from Deadpool 2, the character humorously time-travels to eliminate his flawed cinematic self from the earlier film. Fans and Ryan Reynolds himself have been clamouring for a dream team-up between Wolverine and Deadpool and the present film is a wish-fulfilment of sorts.
Though, the question is, whether we should call it a film or producer Kevin Feige’s greatest gamble to resurrect the Marvel empire. Their last three-four projects have all tanked badly and they really needed something big to bring the fans back to the fold. So Deadpool & Wolverine serves as a vital piece of cog in the sense that it gives the studio a chance to say goodbye to some much-loved characters and also make way for future avatars of the characters, which the film hints might be played by other stars than the original cast. Also the clever use of TVA really gives them a chance to play around different timelines and team-ups. So we might, in future, see a possible Avengers and X-Men crossover and possibly a Fantastic Four team-up as well with the other superheroes of the Marvel universe.
Ryan Reynolds has made it his life’s mission to make Deadpool as irreverent and self-aware as possible. And it’s good to know that Marvel and more importantly, its parent company Disney has allowed him exactly that in the third film of the Deadpool franchise. So expect plenty of profanity throughout the film. And the way the fourth wall has been broken so many times, they might have shot the film in front of a live audience. Reynolds even makes a joke about misusing the device at one time, a hilarious piece of writing that’ll strike home more if you know his filmography. He doesn’t spare himself the roast and neither does he spare the others. Everyone, from Disney, Marvel, his co-star Hugh Jackman, the whole Marvel obsession with character resurrection, Hollywood politics, even the Mad Max franchise, is fair game. And don’t miss the end credits scene because that’s where Reynolds gets his greatest wish of all.
Jokes fly faster than bullets in this film. And there’s plenty of gory action to satisfy the most rabid action fans. And there are cameos galore to make the fans go hoarse with shouting. Comic book geeks will have a gala time counting all the character cameos for sure.
Hugh Jackman gets a good redemption arc here, which goes with the broody persona of his character. Logan was arguably his best Wolverine avatar. He’s come close to touching it here as a stranger in a strange land, fighting his inner demons and finally succeeding. Though the film’s comic treatment isn’t at par with the more serious brand of acting associated with Jackman. Reynolds again seems to be having the time of his life playing a character he revived out of thin air and made it the counterpart to everything Marvel stood for. The gags keep coming thick and fast but there’s a tragic vein running underneath as well, which pops up once in a while.
Watch the film for the excellent chemistry between the two leads. And for counting all the cameos. And for the gratuitous violence of course. Deadpool & Wolverine shows what films based on comic books can be. Now, it’s up to the makers to learn the lesson and reshape the Marvel universe.
