MOVIE OF THE WEEK (7/25/24): DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE
| "All right -–don't make me come back up there!" Wade Wilson – a.k.a. Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) – gets ready to introduce his new friend Logan to the business end of his baby knife in a scene from director Jeff Shawn Levy's DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE. Credit: © Disney. All Rights Reserved. |
WATCH THE TRAILER HERE:
DIRECTOR: Shawn Levy
THE BACK STORY: Oh the Sacred Timeline ... In the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), it's literally everything. It's how the Multiverse exists, how characters can travel from one universe to another and how - thanks to a couple dozen films and TV shows, how Disney will rake in dough for eons.
It's also a problem for Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds), better known to enemies and frienemies alike as Deadpool, a.k.a. "The Merc(enary) with a Mouth." Long wanting his chance to be a hero that matters and join the MCU, he is beyond excited when a gentleman that is so British he makes Hugh Grant seem like Eminem, Mr. Paradox (Matthew MacFadyen), meets with him. It seems that Mr. Paradox, a member of The Variance Authority (TVA, see the Disney+ series Loki, seasons 1 and 2) Time is ready to give Wade a chance to prove he is special ...
... By destroying the rest of his universe quickly as possible.
You see, a central iconic figure has died in Wade's universe, which means the rest of it is going to cease to exist. Mr. Paradox does not want to wait, however, wish is why he's ready to enlist Wade to do the dirty work. But since Wade has people that truly care about him and vice-versa, he finds himself in a bit of a moral crisis: Should he go for the thing he's always wanted and have a true purpose as an agent of the TVA, or try to save his dying universe from doom. If you know anything about Deadpool, you already know which choice he's going to make ...
But to save his world, Wade realizes that he needs to replace the iconic member of his universe – Logan, a.k.a. Weapon X, a.k.a. the X-Men member known best as Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). But just since Wade is ready to scour the multiverse to find another Wolverine, that doesn't mean any Logan is ready to just come with him. Throw in some complications in the form of unforeseen adversaries, challenges and traveling across universes and this journey isn't going to be easy by any means.
And if you've been paying attention, you should know that as Wolverine himself says, "Sometimes when you cage the beast, the beast gets angry" – and Deadpool is about to make his new friend very, very, VERY angry ...
THE REVIEW: Given how much talking Deadpool does, I'll keep this brief: DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE is the best film in the trilogy, delivering all the extremely dirty jokes, insane, violent action sequences and unexpected cameos even the most cynical Marvel fan could want ... All while maintaining a sense of earnestness and heart underneath it all.
Reynolds hasn't lost a step as Deadpool nor Wilson. That should come as no surprise. What may be surprising, however, is just how excellent Jackman still is as Logan/Wolverine, flexing (literally) the acting muscle (emphasis on muscle) that has made the role an iconic one without pigeonholing him in it. There hasn't been a better duo that loves to hate each other to the audience's delight since Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte teamed up in the 1980s for 96 total hours. But Jackman's ability to be physical, deeply emotional and comical as a character as nuanced as Wolverine after all these years is something special.
At this point, it's necessary to stop here because going into more detail would spoil too many"Wait, is that who I think it is?!" reveal, ruin the rapid fire funnies and the "Oh wow!" moments. Likewise, it would detract from catching some of the easter eggs, hidden jokes, seeing how the characters and moments that don't seem like a big deal at first notice comes together to become major ones.
Save for bringing someone who will hate the veracity of the violence and/or the way Reynolds is Pablo Picasso with profanity (not that Jackman is a slouch by any means) and DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE is two hours+ of pure comic book joy. Director Shawn Levy and company have delivered what some may find to be their favorite Marvel movie release since Avengers: Endgame, a fact that will have many fans excited in their spandex.
Who knows? Maybe we'll get a Thor and Hulk team-up adventure next. But regardless of what duo steps up next, their really going to have to dig their claws into it to match this one, bub.
OVERALL RATING (OUT OF FOUR POSSIBLE BUCKETS OF POPCORN):
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