Deadpool & Wolverine

Deadpool & Wolverine

This is a film I would've overrated the hell out of in 2018. Back then I was like a lot of people and loved the the MCU, and I'd have call this one of the best comic book films of all time. I'd have argued it was a satirical masterpiece and believed it would fundamentally change the entire industry?

Now? It was basically Member Berries: The Movie.

That's not inherently a bad thing, and you can probably see that my rating for this film is really solid. For what the Deadpool series of films aim to be this is it at its best, but nowadays I've come to realise that the Deadpool films aren't half as clever as a lot of people - including myself - thought they were.

The film really is just Deadpool saying something and then looking at the camera and going "heh, you know what I'm talking about." It's a film with a lot of 4th wall-breaking jokes and nods to other franchises, internet speculation and even things happening to the actors in real life. Give Hugh Jackman some credit; there's one joke he really took on the chin for letting it be in this film.

Again, this isn't inherently bad and I think this film is that formula at its best, and Deadpool & Wolverine is a VERY fun film. Perhaps could've been tightened up pacing wise but it was never boring for me, and I was invested in Wade and Logan's relationship. I will admit though that the constant snide remarks Deadpool made did at times get a bit tiring, so either my tastes have changed or this film goes a bit too hard on the self-referential humour.

Ultimately though that is all the film is: very self-referential. There's no greater theme to the film, or at least one done particularly well. Yea the film references the exhaustion with multiverse stories and the MCU's general decline in mainstream interest, but that's all it does. On the former it still plays a very straightforward multiverse story, and it's telling that we can describe a multiverse story as being straightforward.

And with the latter, well, any comments on MCU's decline is rather offset by how much the film still wanks off the MCU. It's treated as the most important timeline of all, the one Deadpool desperately wants to be a part of and how being an Avenger is the "Big Leagues". Which is hilarious considering how much equity the MCU has lost in recent years.

Now obviously Marvel Studios aren't gonna admit to all that. This is their franchise and undeniably the most successful film franchise of all time, but it's more than a little bollocks when you consider that in 2024 the MCU needs Deadpool WAY MORE than Deadpool needs the MCU.

I do agree that the film is at its best and has the most pathos when it focuses on characters from previous non-MCU films (several of which I will not spoil). It does feel like a love letter to those forgotten films and if this film was a goodbye to the 20th Century Fox Marvel films then this film would have more emotional weight to it.

Except it's...not, is it? They're clearly gonna do more with the X-Men and frankly they're clearly gonna do more with Deadpool and Wolverine. Sorry if that's a spoiler but it was obvious from the get-go. Like I said the MCU needs Deadpool, and they probably need this version of Wolverine too. Fuck guys if they'd legitimately bring back Robert Downey Jr. despite his perfect send-off they'll absolutely do it to these two characters as well.

Phew, this review has been a bit negative, hasn't it? I do genuinely really like this film and had a great time, and this is the best MCU film since No Way Home (which did what this film tried to do a lot better personally). I'm just saying now that this film is not going to save or rejuvenate the franchise. Best case scenario this film was a one-off that looked lovingly back on the old 20th Century Fox comic book films.

Worst case scenario? The use of nostalgia and past favourites will become a crutch in which the MCU relies more and more on, and unfortunately I could very much see this happening.

P.S. I will say though I do kinda love how much this film shat on Logan. Not because I disliked that film but mainly because James Mangold bloody deserves it after some of his shit-talking last year. To say nothing of that abomination The Dial of Destiny.

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