Deadpool & Wolverine Review

The Good:

This was one of the most fun movies I’ve seen in a while. I don’t think I’ve laughed so much in a movie theater in ages. Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool relentlessly broke the fourth wall or made meta-references in a way that added some much comedy to the film without ever taking away from the larger plot.

In comparison to the first Deadpool, most of the meta-references felt a lot more obvious, and Deadpool is by no means a character of subtlety, so I felt like it added to his unhinged sense of humor.

Every joke and every cameo was so funny, and everything landed perfectly. The dynamic between Deadpool and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine was fantastic. I had originally thought that either Wolverine would come off as boring in comparison to Deadpool or that Deadpool would come across as incredibly annoying next to Wolverine, but they brought out the best in each other.

I have been quoting this movie with my family since seeing it, and I almost feel like I need to see it again to catch all the jokes I missed.

I have also particularly been enjoying the press tour. Since Avengers: Endgame, there as been what seems to be an oversaturation of comic book movies that seem to be looking for a buck rather than trying to be fun. Deadpool & Wolverine brings me back to all the excitement I felt as a teenager for Phase 1 & Phase 2. There is a focus again on how to bring characters to the screen in a way that is fun and satisfying for all those who were fans of them. In one interview with Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, and Shawn Levy, they mentioned that a hush fell over the set when Jackman walked out in Wolverine's iconic yellow suit. Whether or not they said that simply for promotion, I genuinely believe that reactions like that were their goals.

Things I would change:

I say this with love. The plot was stupid.

As with most superhero movies, having two villains meant that neither for the chance to develop into something formidable or at least memorable. It’s also been a long time since I saw Loki season 1, and I have not yet watched season 2, so I had to struggle to remember some things.

That being said. It felt like most of the purpose of the plot was to set up the team-up’s or the cameos, so it didn’t really matter if it was stupid because it allowed for the movie to make all of the references it wanted to.

SPOILERS

I spoke above about how Reynolds and Levy wanted justice done for these characters rather than making a movie to make some money, and one of the biggest way they demonstrated this was in the cameos. There were so many forgotten superheroes that got to return for a scene or two and bring their character back to life.

Some of my favorite cameos:

1. Obviously Chris Evans as Johnny Storm. The theater I was in gasped and screamed when he appeared.

2. Henry Cavill as The Cavillrene. It was so short, but completely unexpected, and I loved the fourth wall break joke about how they would treat him better than the people down the street.

3. Laura. This was a really sweet callback to Logan, and it made for a really satisfying end.

4. Azazel. Ok, I am fully aware that no one else cares about this character, but I loooved the X-men movies growing up, and I always thought his power was so cool. I squealed when I saw him.

5. Gambit. I loved Gambit in X-men Origins: Wolverine even though he might not have been the best. Channing Tatum as Gambit brought so much humor to an already funny movie. Someone said that the only thing that would have made it better was if there were incorrect subtitles when he spoke and I agree.

6. Blade and Electra. Personally, I did not see either or their movies, but I was very excited to see them.

7. WHY WAS THOR CRYING