Out this week in Irish cinemas is Deadpool & Wolverine. Starring Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman and a messy menagerie of Marvel cameos this film is the third in the Deadpool franchise.
It’s been a minute since we last saw Wade Wilson aka Deadpool. He saved his friends, saved the future and after a failed attempt at joining the Avengers, he is just coasting. Then destiny comes knocking in the form of the TVA, they’re looking for a Marvel Messiah and Deadpool and his tight pants may just fit the bill. Along the way though he has to team up with the legendary Wolverine (Jackman) and together, they may just save the MCU from its worst enemy, stagnation.
Let’s go
Deadpool & Wolverine is barely a film, it is a collection of cameos that are tied together loosely by Shawn Levy as he tries and give love to everything Marvel. Unfortunately, in doing so there is nothing to emotionally attach yourself to in this film. Both Logan and Wade are given reasons why they’re doing what they’re doing, but neither is fully explored to its fullest extent.
Logan has a dark secret that he is ashamed of and it supposedly is holding him back. When the secret is finally revealed it’s actually not that bad. It’s in keeping with every version of Wolverine that has been seen on the big screen. If the film had pushed this narrative harder, properly combining it with Wade’s desperate attempt to save his family it could have worked wonders. Sadly it wasn’t to be.
Thankfully both Jackman and Reynolds are giving their all to their roles. This is to be expected since they are both synonymous with each character. When the scene calls for it, Jackman retains that X-factor that has made him iconic as Wolverine. Ryan is less lucky, with all his supporting cast gone he is a machine gun of jokes. When he hits he usually hits hard, but when he misses he also misses hard.
Another notable actor in the film is its villain Cassandra Nova played by Emma Corrin. They play an interesting figure in this film, given an interesting set of powers that are visually thrilling. When Cassandra plunges her fingers into her victims there is a genuine sense of horror. She is violating them, which is a worrying-running theme in this film. Though her story isn’t given enough time for you to feel for her truly, Emma pulls out everything they need from the role and it is commendable.
I’ve waited a long time for this team-up
This brings me to what is ultimately the problem of Deadpool & Wolverine. The film is trying so hard to have Deadpool and Wolverine in the MCU, that it forgets why we love them in the first place. Their stories are interesting. Wade’s first film is a surprisingly bloody romcom at its core. While Wolverine’s films, and let’s face it the majority of X-Men films are his films, were about his growth and his journey. This film has none of that, relying instead on nostalgia.
This film crams itself with useless cameos that take up almost all the emotional bandwidth. And though the film has some commendable action scenes, the film doesn’t know how to use them to full effect. An example is Wolverine fighting Deadpool. They fight several times throughout the course of the film, and there is no pomp or circumstance. There should have been a buildup to their clash, but it’s just not there.
On top of that, there are several universe-sized plotholes dotted around Deadpool & Wolverine. Ultimately Deadpool & Wolverine is an average film further shackled by the MCU. It’s called a love letter to the Marvel films that came before, in my opinion, it couldn’t be further from it.
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