Movie Review: Deadpool and Wolverine (no plot spoilers)
Deadpool and Wolverine film poster. Image: Marvel
MOVIE REVIEW: DEADPOOL AND WOLVERINE (no plot spoilers)
The Marvel Studios summer film Deadpool and Wolverine opens today, starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman.
It is no surprise that this film has the requisite mindless, senseless, gratuitous violence and swearing you’ve come to expect. What is surprising is that you get it before the opening titles finish.
The storyline is, at best, thin. It is, in fact, incomprehensible, but fortunately, that’s inconsequential. Thankfully, there is little plot to get in the way of the action. And there is a lot of potty-mouth action. The action set pieces come fast and furious. Sorry, that’s a different franchise.
The film is also quite self-aware, indeed, self-consciously so. The characters, especially Deadpool, break the fourth wall often, even mentioning it as he’s doing it.
Cameo-o-rama
Wolverine. Image: Marvel Cinematic Universe
The movie begins to get traction just when the big cameos show up. I won’t spoil who shows up, but suffice it to say there are some welcome surprises and even some deceptive ones. But the nostalgia is a delight and a distraction to the otherwise thin story. Did I mention thin? Look for plenty of Easter eggs.
Taylor Swift does not cameo in the film, but she says the movie is “unspeakably awesome” and an “abs sandwich.” Jackman worked out and consumed 6,000 calories daily to achieve the look.
Wolverine vs. Deadpool
Pairing these two characters is a contrast of gravitas vs. wisecracks. As I’ve written elsewhere, Wolverine is a noble yet tragic character, especially in his later movies. Hugh Jackman has played this role since 2000 as part of the Fox X-Men film series.
Wolverine’s debut in The Incredible Hulk #181 (Nov. 1974). Image: Wikipedia
For you comic book historians, Wolverine first appeared in the second wave of the X-Men team in 1974 during what’s popularly known as the Bronze Age of Comic Books. As a tough, loner antihero, he was a fan favorite of the franchise, even though he was not the leader of the X-Men.
Deadpool appeared in 1990 with superhuman regenerative healing powers, like Wolverine. He is best known as a wisecracking antihero who breaks the fourth wall to humorous effect. With a mask reminiscent of Spider-Man‘s, Deadpool would make jokes while punching out criminals, like the original Spider-Man.
Pot shots
With Disney‘s acquisition of 21st Century Fox in 2019, the Intellectual property of X-Men can now be combined with that of Marvel Studios, which Disney acquired in 2009. (Sony still owns the Spider-Man movies.)
Deadpool. Image: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Deadpool has a running (into the ground) joke, making fun of Disney, Fox, and Marvel. And there are visual potshots for the eagle-eyed.
Some jokes require a bit of inside knowledge of these studios’ history. Indeed, a number of the jokes are meta-jokes. Deadpool might say,
“I never meta joke I didn’t like.”
Can You Say “Multiverse”?
Marvel’s ongoing multiverse obsession with the concept of the multiverse is foundational to Phase Six of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It’s not that it hasn’t been discussed in previous MCU phases like Doctor Strange and Avengers: Endgame. Without overusing the word “multiverse” this film centers on a single universe called the “Sacred Timeline,” which the Time Variance Authority (TVA) – a quasi-Men In Black type of organization – works to prevent any branching universes from forming. Marvel fans will have had to watch the Loki series on Disney+ to be clued into this.
One of the advantages of the multiverse conceit is that moviemakers are allowed to break the “superhero canon” of both the original comic book and even previous MCU movies. Heroes can fully and ultimately die, but that was in another part of the multiverse.
For those still with me, you may wonder about the difference between “metaverse” and multiverse.
Metaverse originally grew up in computer and console gaming. The term was introduced in the 1992 novel Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, referring to a single, interconnected virtual online world and economy.
Multiverse refers to multiple universes, parallel and tangentially adjacent, with separate physical realities. Think of how you exist as the same person on Facebook, X/Twitter, and game platforms. However, you cannot easily connect between these separate environments. They’re walled gardens.
By the way, the Omniverse contains both the metaverse and the multiverse.
Music Soundtrack
To say the soundtrack music was eclectic is an understatement. Music from The Platters (1955), *NSYNC, Huey Lewis and The News, Patsy Cline, The Greatest Show (featuring Hugh Jackman), John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, Aretha Franklin, and even Jimmy Durante are featured to great effect.
The Merc with the Merch
Deadpool is called the “Merc with a Mouth,” but the debut of this film also features merchandise in the theater—cups, caps, t-shirts, and more – available in the Disney store.
Deadpool and Wolverine merchandise. Image: Marvel
Conclusion
Will the movie make money?
Tons. It is a Marvel summer popcorn movie, in the glorious tradition of, of, well, nothing I can think of off-hand. It’s much better than the recent string of Marvel flops.
Is it enjoyable?
You bet your roots toots; it’s tons of fun! The jokes come fast, even if not all of them land. But that’s OK; if you miss one, another will come along in a millisecond.
Grade: C+
You’ll like it if: you have a short attention span; vulgar humor is your thing.
You won’t like it if: plot is something you believe is required in a movie, or your ears are sensitive to language that would make a sailor blush.
Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian
billpetro.com
