Deadpool & Wolverine: A Review (Review #1829)

DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE

I was pretty much appalled by Deadpool, snarky and violent. I was in the minority though, as millions loved it precisely for those qualities. I cannot remember if I saw Deadpool 2, but now we have Deadpool & Wolverine. It is what I figure Deadpool and Marvel Cinematic Universe fans wanted: the blending of the unserious Merc with a Mouth and the uber-serious Logan. If that appeals to you, then I figure Deadpool & Wolverine is right up your street. If you don't, and you don't keep up with every minute detail of the world's longest and most expensive soap opera, then there is nothing in Deadpool & Wolverine to convert you.

Wade Wilson/Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) is searching for Logan/Wolverine, but surprisingly finds him dead. That does not stop him from using Logan's remains to fight off a group of fighters while dancing to N*Sync's Bye Bye Bye. Why does Deadpool need Wolverine? Well, we have to back up a bit.

Deadpool wanted to join the Avengers but was rejected by Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau). Dejected by being rejected, Wade has been miserable working as a used car salesman with his friend Peter (Rob Delaney). His birthday party causes him no joy since his ex-girlfriend Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) is also there. Things pick up a bit when agents of the Time Variance Authority come in to take him to renegade TVA bureaucrat Mr. Paradox (Matthew Macfayden). 

Paradox tells Deadpool that the Sacred Timeline is being affected and that while he can remain, his own timeline has to be obliterated due to the death of Deadpool's anchor being. That anchor being is Logan. Rather than see his loved ones erased, Deadpool will find his anchor being and prevent him from dying.

That's thirty minutes before we go back to where we started and move forward. 

He does eventually find Logan (Hugh Jackman), though his Logan/Wolverine is the worst of all of them. Thrown into the Void, Logan and Wolverine must join forces to fight both Paradox and Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin), unofficial ruler of the Void and Charles Xavier/Professor X's twin sister. 

As a side note, is baldness both a hereditary trait and requirement in the Xavier family? 

From there, they meet various heroes and villains from past MCU movies, even those not from the official Marvel Cinematic Universe. There's Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Chris Evan), Elektra Natchios (Jennifer Garner), Gambit (Channing Tatum), Laura/X-23 (Dafne Keen) and Blade (Wesley Snipes). There are also villains such as Pyro (Aaron Stanford) working against the Resistance, as well as those in between such as the various Deadpools in other worlds. Nicepool (Reynolds in a dual role) is in the Void as well. Ultimately Deadpool & Wolverine must fight to keep all the timelines intact.

Deadpool & Wolverine has five credited screenwriters including both Reynolds and director Shawn Levy. I always take such a high number of credited screenwriters as a cause for alarm. It smacks of writing by committee; it suggests that there are too many cooks in the kitchen who couldn't form a unified vision. It also tells me that there were probably more hands on the project than people are willing to admit. 

With so many people hacking away at a script, it looks like Deadpool & Wolverine opted for a "more is more" plan. All kinds of fan service were thrown at the viewer (Chris Evans as the Human Torch from earlier Fantastic Four films! The original Blade is back! The Alabaman Channing Tatum as the Cajun Gambit!). Double, triple, quadruple down on all these callbacks and throw in some more. Shoutouts both metaphorical and literal to Furiosa and the demise of Twentieth Century-Fox. 

For me, a reason as to why I thoroughly disliked though not detested Deadpool & Wolverine is what so many people loved about it. The various callbacks, the fourth wall breaking, the "aren't we being clever" bits did not impress me. There were many people laughing at various parts, such as a major fight between Deadpool and Wolverine to Grease's You're the One That I Want. I do not take away from anyone's enjoyment of such things. I just want, for myself, something with a little more substance, even in a comic book film.

Pointing out things like montages or how a particular creature was in a Loki episode cuts no ice with me. In fact, it separates me from any serious stakes. Why Logan in particular is Wade's anchor being is unclear (and I think I'm being generous in using that word). The few times Deadpool & Logan pause to give Jackman a more dramatic moment seems jarringly at odds with all the craziness going on around here. Far be it for Wade/Deadpool to have a serious moment. I think the film tried, but no one would believe it. 

Moreover, since we have all these variants going on in multiple universes, there are no stakes to anything here. 

The various cameos did not impress me. I get that Tatum was always in the running for a separate Gambit film. However, separate from the fact that Taum has no acting skills or any real skills apart from taking his clothes off, the deliberately exaggerated Cajun accent was maddening. Pointing out that he was almost unintelligible is not clever. It only draws more attention to a gag that was not funny to start with. Having Snipes say, "There's only going to be one Blade!" could be mildly amusing. Having Reynolds as Deadpool face the camera to give us a knowing look is not. 

Also, why throw in a Furiosa reference when presumably in any of their worlds the Mad Max franchise would not necessarily exist. 

I don't think there were any performances here. People came, cashed their checks, and moved on. Taking jabs at the presumably high salaries is not impressive or clever. After Evans' Johnny Storm is killed, Reynolds' Deadpool tells Logan "Do you know what he was doing to the budget?". Sure, the audience laughed, but I did not. I did not laugh once at Deadpool & Wolverine, though did find myself nodding in agreement when Logan mocks Deadpool. Wolverine rants that Deadpool can't save the world, he couldn't even save his relationship with a stripper! Yet I digress.

I suppose it's nice for Jackman to show off his incredible physique at age 55, but it would be nice if he actually moved on in his career. The same for 47-year-old Reynolds, who has been doing the same snarky schtick since Two Guys, A Girl and a Pizza Place back in 1998. I liked the show, but how is he still doing a variation of Berg all these decades later. Jackman did best in the few dramatic scenes he was in. His Logan was fine, but I was not overwhelmed. Macfayden could have been fun as Paradox, but I wonder if he even knew what was going on. Tatum did not make clear whether Gambit was the joke or just in on it. Garner looked bored and almost desperate to get out of things. Snipes looked like was having a good time.

Oddly, I did not find Deadpool & Wolverine to be as violent as I thought it would be. Yes, you do get graphic depictions of all sorts of killings. However, I was curiously numb to it all. 

The entire premise of Deadpool & Wolverine (Deadpool doing what he can to save his friends) got a bit lost in the Paul Rudd jokes and shade throwing. I did not know those characters enough to make the stakes feel high. I just did not care for the film on any level. 

"I don't want to spend my life being an annoying one-trick pony," Wade Wilson tells Happy Hogan early in Deadpool & Wolverine. That's about the only funny thing in Deadpool & Wolverine since that's the only thing Deadpool has ever been. Deadpool & Wolverine sorely test whether it is better than Argylle. Very briefly, it was worse than Argylle. It is teetering on the edge, but Deadpool & Wolverine did not leave me in a state of shaking fury as Argylle did. It left me cold, which may be worse. 

DECISION: F