The much-anticipated Deadpool & Wolverine has come to the big screen, garnering nearly US$1 billion at the global box office to a positive reception. It’s a fun film that exists in an industry that has almost forgotten that the point of entertainment is to entertain and a welcome entry amidst Marvel’s era of disappointing shows and films.
Clocking in at a healthy two-hour run time, Deadpool & Wolverine cleverly offers meta-commentary on the state of the MCU, and starts with our titular anti-hero exhuming the body of Wolverine from when we last saw him in Logan. The bulk of the film then takes place in the Void: a purgatorial world where troublesome people from the multiverse are sent. It’s here the meat of the story unfolds, and where we are welcomed by multiple cameos that span the history of Marvel cinema.
Thankfully, Deadpool’s commentary throughout the film isn’t restricted by Disney’s regulatory hand. He blatantly points out the degenerated state of the MCU, and the actor says only one joke in the entire script was cut.
But while the film is a fun watch, the plot tends to get wrung by attempts to incorporate a deeper message in a movie that could otherwise benefit from leaning even more into the realm of ‘dumb fun’. This aspect of the film is at odds with the standard MCU formula that has been incorporated into the plot, and the structure is like a tired entrée carried by its looks rather than its taste. The structure is reminiscent of the shallow Marvel movie formula, and though Deadpool & Wolverine is arguably a parody; in a way, it falls victim to the same thing it mocks.
Because of this feeble plot, the story is weak. The deeper narrative beats of each character fall flat, and in most cases, they make little to no sense. Their motivations are fluid, and the protagonists, with their ‘reluctant hero’ traits, have no attachment to the antagonists, who lack in their motivations with their stale ‘end the world’ mentalities.
It’s therefore hardly surprising that the main conflicts don’t make sense. The McGuffin was revealed in a single ‘bad guy rant’, and Cassandra Nova’s end goal lacks any meaningful motivation. Even the reason why Wolverine is in this film is an out-of-the-blue plot element revealed by the monologuing villain.
All of these elements seem to have been taped together to drive the story forward and to give the film a reason to exist. It’s obvious this was done as an excuse to put both beloved characters on the same screen, but though it shows… it works. Both Reynolds and Jackman fill their roles perfectly, and they aren’t the only ones to get applause as multiple Marvel heroes make cameos, with some of them being absent from the big screen for many years.
Deadpool & Wolverine is a welcome change of pace for the MCU and, as a lively adventure that pays homage to sidelined Marvel characters, it’s satisfying to the palette of both Deadpool and Wolverine fans. Though a lot of the story is weak, the film accomplishes what it sets out to do: to entertain. And though the film lacks flavour, it packs a punch for an entertainment-starved audience.
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