James Berardinelli review - *** out of ****

https://www.reelviews.net/reelviews/deadpool-wolverine

Perhaps the first thing to note about the third Deadpool movie, appropriately titled Deadpool & Wolverine, is that it’s not so much a film as it is a 2-hour sketch comedy, an overlong parody that uses the MCU as a playground in which Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman can do anything they please without having to worry about consequences. Given its R-rating, there’s copious profanity and gore (to go along with smattering of sexually explicit language). The plot is a mess and the ending is idiotic (even for a comic book movie), but the whole experience is delightfully decadent and subversive. It’s a good thing Kevin Feige has a sense of humor because Reynolds seems determined to slay as many sacred cows as possible.

If I was a die-hard fan who cared a whit about canon, I’m not sure how I would feel about this movie. But neither applies to me so I was able to enjoy this on its own merits without being concerned about how it fits into a larger picture. (For those who are interested, it is postulated as a sequel to both Deadpool 2 and Logan, with characters returning from both.) Reynolds doesn’t worry too much about these things either – by folding the “multiverse” concept into the storyline, he has the freedom to do whatever he wants to do. This allows him to double-down on the fourth wall-breaking and meta aspects of the earlier Deadpools. He’s also able to avoid the curse of the second sequel by keeping the energy level high and throwing everything at the viewer except the proverbial kitchen sink. There are cameos galore (some of the blink-and-you’ll-miss-them variety and a few that stick around for a while) and the bromance/adversarial chemistry between Reynolds and Jackman echoes Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy in 48 Hours.

Deadpool & Wolverine opens six years after the conclusion of Deadpool 2. Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) has retired his alter-ego of Deadpool after failing to be accepted into The Avengers. He is living a ho-hum ordinary existence when Mr. Paradox (Matthew Macfadyen) of the TVA (Time Variance Authority) comes calling. The TVA has identified Wade as someone worth saving from the imminent dissolution of his universe. Their mission for him is to move to another timeline, join The Avengers, and make a difference. When Wade learns the reason for his home universe’s destruction – the self-sacrifice of Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) at the end of Logan – he opts instead to go rogue, find a Wolverine from another corner of the multiverse, and use him as a replacement. But the Wolverine he chooses isn’t the most accommodating of sorts and the concept of using one Logan to replace another doesn’t work quite as Wade envisions. The reluctant allies find themselves marooned in a Mad Max-inspired “metaphorical junkyard” between universes where Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin), the twin of Charles Xavier, is queen and the only path to survival is to submit to her whims and wishes.

The less one ruminates about the logic underlying Deadpool & Wolverine, the more enjoyable it is. The movie features a number of lengthy exposition dumps designed to keep the viewer from becoming completely lost (the screenplay even makes a joke about this) but this primarily serves to emphasize how creaky and clunky the story is. Putting that aside, if one approaches the film as something akin to an SNL riff on the MCU, it works a lot better. Familiar faces pop up left and right, the lead character continually addresses the audience directly, comic book references are deployed and thrown away (including numerous references to Deadpool’s move from 20th Century Fox to Disney), and characters dance and do battle to such anthems as “You’re the One that I Want” (from Grease), “The Power of Love” (Huey Lewis version), and Madonna’s “Like a Prayer.” As often happens with superhero team-ups, the protagonists don’t get along initially so they have a couple of knock-down/drag-out brawls. This seems a little pointless when both are essentially unkillable but I guess it allows them to let off some steam.

As expected, Reynolds and Jackman play well off one another – so much so that it might feel a little empty to see the former back on his own for Deadpool 4. Jackman gets a chance to present his familiar character differently. He carries a little more emotional baggage and is closer to the Wolverine of the early X-Men comic books than the superhero he played in the movies. Emma Corrin’s Cassandra is a weak, generic villain. She’s not very intimidating (despite all the icky stuff she does with her fingers) and her powers are underutilized.