Rating: ***
Review Date: 7/31/24
Director: Shawn Levy
Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin, cameos by Jon Favreau,
Morena Baccarin, Brianna Hildebrand, Shioli Kutsuna, Chris Evans, Dafne Keen,
Jennifer Garner, Wesley Snipes, Channing Tatum, Blake Lively, Henry Cavill
"There are 206 bones in the human body; 207 if I'm watching 'Gossip Girl.'"
After failing to become a member of The Avengers, Deadpool (aka Marvel Jesus) decides to give up the super hero gig and settles into an unfulfilling life as a car salesman. Wade (Ryan Reynolds) and Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) have split up, and Wade desperately wants to be someone and make a difference. Conveniently, he gets a chance to become important when he finds out his world is dying, and only Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) can save it. Except that Wolverine died in "Logan" (2017). But there are other Wolverines in the multiverse, and Deadpool dedicates himself to finding the right one, which also ends up being the worst one. Naturally, Wolverine doesn't care for Deadpool at all, and they spend nearly the entire film fighting each other, with excessively bloody results. However, they both step up to become heroes when the fate of the multiverse is threatened by Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin), who breaks out of The Void and gets her hands on a dangerous time ripping device.
Confused? Yeah, me too. It doesn't make any sense except in the broadest of strokes: Deadpool and Wolverine team up to stop a dangerous psychic mutant who plans to destroy all existence. All of the other details that support that fall apart under scrutiny. Once again, Ryan Reynolds delivers a maximum effort performance as Deadpool, and Hugh Jackman's Wolverine is refreshingly foul-mouthed and bad-tempered. The two of them make an excellent pair and match each other beat-for-beat. Similar to the previous Deadpool movies, this one is tonally schizophrenic and effortlessly bounces between irreverent and obscene meta humor, intensely violent action, gratuitous fan service, and earnest emotional drama.
The production values are very high and it's a fantastic looking film. The visual effects and art direction are superb, and the stylish and exceedingly violent action scenes are outstanding. The acting is excellent across the board, and the cameo appearances are clever and surprising. It's best to go into the film without any spoilers, if that's even possible at this point. The writing is uneven, but most of the non-stop banter hits the intended mark. Ultimately, it's a style-over-substance film that focuses on Marvel masturbation and multiverse mayhem, and ends up being immensely entertaining (and confusing) as a result. The fact that it even got made in the first place is a remarkable achievement and a true testament to all of the people who were involved.