A week has passed since I first saw Deadpool and Wolverine and due to a litany of reasons, this is the earliest I could have penned this review. I say this to say that in some ways my opinion of the film has been tempered and not actually in the way that one would first think. One would presume I would hazard that due to my largely negative opinions of the MCU, that a week following the initial buzz of seeing a few familiar faces I would be more negative, but I actually think as time goes by I grow wearily more positive on certain elements. But then I remember the cringe, then I remember the shameless commodification, then I recall the heartless and empty way the film masquerades its fun and the exposition I drowned in for the very dry first forty minutes and I end up somewhere around 5/10.
Middle of the road and not even in a way where I’m sitting on the fence, simply middle of the road in all the worst ways one can imagine, where a film’s highs balance out it’s lows and leave one wondering less so about the quality of the film and instead about the qualities of it. The qualities of how it presents itself and what it reflects and what it represents, which may be an unfair weight to put upon a film that is of course for the most part a huge budget comedy spoof within its own genre rather than standing outside of it to mock inward. There are a few hands steering this vehicle that I think are almost at odds with one another; Ryan Reynolds for instance I feel genuinely cares and I mean that. There is something about his devotion to this character and these films that is nowhere to be found in so many of his other current projects that is refreshing, but this third entry feels almost firmly separate from the others in regards to just what level of irreverence has been allowed.
The humorous credits from the previous two films where the stars and actors and writers are all credited with the same sort of irreverent humour that the rest of the film features are now gone, replaced by simple standard credits – so from the off I got the sense that something was slightly off. This then continues for the rest of the film and although I would still say overall that the film feels in line and tone with the prior two entries, there is here a serious sense of drama and depth that has been forced upon the whole procedure that simultaneously works far better than this film needs and on the other hand doesn’t work for me in any way shape or form. This is to say that the first forty intolerable minutes of this film work with very little panache or effect at all, bar an opening that comments upon how the film will or for that matter will not deal with the satisfaction of the finale of Logan (a perfect film that I’m sorry, still kind of feels meaningless now to me – but anyhow). This forty minutes sets up an ungodly amount of exposition plagued upon Mathew Macfadyen’s shoulders that drown him and make his performance seem quite terrible, even if I feel it’s more so just what he is hampered with. This forty minutes also fails to make the ham-fisted motivation of Deadpool in this movie ring in any way true and the whole thing reeks of far too little and far too strained from what these movies do well. On the other hand once we get the dramatic stakes of Wolverine in this film and we get Hugh Jackman back in the fold delivering another genuinely sensational turn as Logan, we are back on track and the film is too for the most part.
The whole film
however is plagued with bizarre contradictions on many levels, perhaps the most
glaring being the weird reverence it has for the 20th Century Fox
era of Marvel and the way the film then will often directly juxtapose this with
direct jabs at its expense, before concluding with a credits montage set to
Green Day as if it was literally an end of college video. The film also time
after time has this horrible habit of having the character of Deadpool proclaim
out load as his character is one to do that something amazing is going to happen
or that we are about to witness something never seen before on screen – often in
the vein of “let’s give these f*ckers what they came to see!”. Then what they
show is underwhelming and flat action, mostly CGI and mostly unfunny only made
worse by the intense set-up it received and didn’t warrant. Reynolds and
Jackman are both on top form here and for the most part I do not feel that the
film’s failures are in any way on their heads. Reynolds has a clear admiration
and passion for the character and this passion seeps through and makes this
film feel like the first original and organic marvel film in some time, but
this is in direct juxtaposition with the flat filmmaking of Shawn Levy and the overall
Marvel sheen that swamps the film. But cameos are cameos and for the most part
the film did an exciting and interesting way of balancing them with the plot
whilst managing to infuse them organically unlike so many films of its ilk, in particular
introducing humorous alternate versions of characters that never made it to
screen. But then we get to the more negative side of things which is of course
that the target is so narrow now that the audience needs to not only have watched
thirty years of superhero movies, but also know the behind the scenes production
deals that fell apart. Deadpool and Wolverine is a fun and enjoyable evening
out, but I will never think about it again.
A 5/10 that depending on my mood can turn me blasé to the state of films or make me genuinely angry, it’s good-natured emptiness and its surface level joys fuelled by an individuality and a genuine care from Reynolds are unfortunately outweighed by a cynicism and shallowness of presentation that can’t be helped. There is a harbinger of doom quality to the film that perhaps unfairly I have pinned upon it even though I dare say that this will undoubtedly be one of the better versions of the endless barrage we are receiving. The winking nature aids the fact that this corrupt endeavour doesn’t have much to offer beyond immediate gratification, but on the other hand when has gratification ever felt bad?
SPOILER P.S. The minute we got Wesley Snipes back on our screens as Blade I was both craving some decent action for him and as cringey as it would be a reutterance of his iconic “ice skate uphill” line. I got the line, I did not get the satisfying action. Then again I did get the feeling that as much as I love Mahershala Ali, is a new Blade what I want? Or do I simply want a new Blade movie with Snipes returning, lord knows he’s still got it.
- Thomas Carruthers
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