Deadpool & Wolverine Review

Cast – Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Morena Baccarin, Mathew McFayden, Brianna Hildebrand & others
Director – Shawn Levy
Producer – Kevin Feige, Lauren Shuler, Donner, Ryan Reynolds, Shawn Levy
Banner – Marvel Studios, Disney Studios
Music – Rob Simonsen
Runtime – 2 hrs 8 minutes
Genre – Action,Comedy
Release Date – 26-7-2024

The much awaited Deadpool & Wolverine film hits the theaters this week, bringing optimism and joy to cinema lovers and MCU fans worldwide. Deadpool & Wolverine is the sequel to Deadpool (2016) and Deadpool 2 (2018). This film integrates the storyline of the superhero/anti-hero Deadpool with the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), a move made after Disney (who owns Marvel) acquired 20th century Fox (which had previously owned Deadpool). Deadpool & Wolverine belongs to the ongoing Phase 5 of the MCU. The phase, starting from 2023 and extending till mid-2025, comprises films centered around the ‘multiverse’ theme. Deadpool & Wolverine also holds the distinction of being the first ever Marvel film to get an ‘R’ (restricted) rating by the American censor board, which is usually given to films with graphic content.

What is it about?

Deadpool & Wolverine takes Deadpool out of conventional, straightforward situations and puts him a story setup that involves multiverses and the time variance authority, which preserves the “sacred timeline” and controls interference & abuse from other timelines. The story opens at 2018, where Wade Wilson travels from his deteriorating timeline Earth-10005 to Earth-616 (sacred timeline), where he applies to joins the Avengers, only to get rejected.

He stops being a superhero and starts working as a salesman. Six years later, Wade Wilson has to step up and become a superhero again to save Earth-616, which also begins to deteriorate due to Logan aka Wolverine’s death. Wolverine is the “time anchor” of this particular universe and his universe will disintegrate without his existence. So, Wade Wilson recruits the services of Logan from another universe, but is immediately thrown into the void of all universes by The Paradox along with Logan, who wants to “mercy kill” all parallel universes using a machine called the “The time ripper”. How Wolverine & Deadpool get out of the void to save the universe from The Paradox’s evil plans forms the rest of the story.

Performances

Unlike the previous films, Ryan Reynolds is tasked with the responsibility of maintaining his own ground and thriving in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, amidst multiple characters. He is the main character, but he is not the only main character. There is definitely a clash of aesthetics & narrative sensibilities between Deadpool and the rest of MCU. Ryan Reynolds shines as a solo character, but the writing of the film does not hold up as a whole.

We do not see Logan in his previous glory. He is a sadder, more emotional character in this film. He is also disillusioned. All of this builds up for a redemption arc that materialises in the film’s latter portions.

It takes a while for us to warm up to Deadpool & Wolverine, but this is a great first film to establish their dynamic and chemistry for future films. The superheroes light up the screen in the action sequences.

Emma Corrin is delightful as the queen of the void universe and supervillain Cassandra Nova. She does full justice to her role & lives up to its potential.

Chris Evans gets a disappointing cameo as multiverse Captain America.

Laura (Dafne Keen), Elektra (Jennifer Garner), Blade (Wesley Snipes) & Gambit (Remy DeBleu) all get extended cameos as members of the resistance in The Void. Their performances will hold greater meaning to die-hard Marvel fans.

Vanessa (Morena Baccarin), Peter (Rob Delaney), Blind AI (Leslie Uggams) from the Deadpool-verse make their impact felt, despite their limited screen time.

Peggy, a dog dubbed by the Internet as “Britain’s ugliest dog” in 2022, gets a beautiful role as Deadpool & Nicepool’s pet Mary Poppins.

Technicalities

The biggest strength of the Deadpool films was its razor-sharp, funny writing that often broke the fourth wall. While that aspect is largely retained in Deadpool & Wolverine, the movie largely suffers from an overload of meta references.

Dialogues, which should ideally punctuate the film’s plot and emotions, end up puncturing their impact. Too much of anything — in this case, meta writing — is a bad thing.

The Telugu dubbing matches the humour & irreverence of the original material, but its non-stop meme/movie references get too much after a point.

The music & action sequences are good, but they only do so much to elevate a film with average writing.

Thumbs up

Action

Comedy

Deadpool & Wolverine’s combination scenes

Thumbs down

Writing

Over reliance on multiverse & extended cameo subplots

Analysis

Marvel has been struggling with its films lately after their next-big-thing- in-the-making Jonathan Majors fell from grace due to his sexual assault allegations. Their phase four have also disappointed fans, with their poor writing & production values.

It looks like Marvel just jumped into the whole Multiverse angle without proper planning. Even in Deadpool and Wolverine, the entire multiverse angle gives you a hangover of the Furiosa films while the whole Deadpool corps subplot reminds you of Spiderverse, and not in a good way. The story does not flow organically the way it should. These moments only work “moment”arily and do not leave a lasting impact on the audience. Marvel needs to work on its writing and on providing the audience full-scale entertainment, instead of resorting to cheap thrills.

Deadpool & Wolverine is the kind of films that is full of details that can be understood by die-hard fans and not the average viewer. But what is the point if you manage to polarize even your die-hard fans with a half-baked film? Meta references are done-to-death. Audience, fans or otherwise, are clearly craving for more substantial storytelling. Deadpool & Wolverine is entertaining for sure, but only at the surface level.

Verdict – Entertaining Deadpool