A lot of movies are made with the goal of appealing to the widest audience possible. “Deadpool & Wolverine” is not one of those movies.
This is a movie for the fans; the real-heads who have absorbed literally all of the comic-book-movie content from the past 30 years with at least some degree of enthusiasm.
Fortunately for me, I am one of those people; so I was thoroughly entertained by the bloody mayhem, raunchy humor and constant references to everything that has come before.
Could someone who couldn’t tell you the difference between an Ant-Man and an X-Man properly appreciate this movie? Probably not. In fact, it probably wouldn’t make a lick of sense.
But since superhero movies have been the dominate cinematic art form for the better part of the millennium, “Deadpool & Wolverine” will make a whole lot of people happy and rake in boatloads of money.
This movie is notable for a lot of reasons. Thanks to a lot of mergers and acquisitions, this is the third Deadpool movie, but the first in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and, because it is on brand with the first two films, it is also Marvel’s first R-rated movie as well.
The plot really doesn’t matter, as once again the perfectly-cast Ryan Reynolds plays Deadpool, a motor-mouthed agent of chaos who shatters the fourth wall and simultaneously glorifies and satirizes the comic-book B.S. we seemingly can’t get enough of.
We are also here to see Hugh Jackman reprise the role of Wolverine, the part that made him famous over 20 years ago and one that he touchingly said goodbye to in 2017, in “Logan.”
But thanks to some multi-verse mumbo-jumbo, he’s back! And, as Deadpool reminds him on multiple occasions, Disney will have him playing this part until he’s 90.
This is a movie of little consequence, packed with action, laughs and cameos. None of it really matters as characters are violently sliced and diced and reassembled for our amusement.
While “Deadpool & Wolverine” delivers on everything it promises, what remains unclear is what this movie’s inevitable success means for the superhero genre at large.
Deadpool astutely says the thing out loud when he points out that he and Wolverine are joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe at “a bit of a low point,” and that the whole multi-verse thing just isn’t working, with more misses than hits.
Time will tell if this is just a pause in superhero dominance, or if Deadpool is lovingly burying the genre the same way “Blazing Saddles” lovingly buried the Western.
But we can worry about that later. For now, “Deadpool & Wolverine” wants us to sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.
“Deadpool & Wolverine” is rated R for strong bloody violence and language throughout, gore and sexual references.
