Considering the state of the current Marvel Cinematic Universe, when I heard that the third installment in the Deadpool movie franchise (or the tenth in the Wolverine franchise) would be a multiverse movie, I was a little scared. I’m not opposed to multiverse stories; I love films like Everything Everywhere all at Once and The Wizard of Oz. However, the sheer multitude of multiverse movies that Marvel Studios has been putting out in recent years has gotten pretty fatiguing.
That being said, I loved Deadpool and Wolverine. So much so, in fact, that I went to see it three different times in theaters over the summer.
This movie is R rated, and while it’s not as graphic as the previous Deadpool movies, there’s no shortage of gore, and cuss words and raunchy humor make up pretty much all of the dialogue.
That said, it’s safe to say that pretty much everyone has seen or knows someone who’s seen this movie. It surpassed Joker as the highest grossing R-rated movie of all time, and one of the first R-rated films to gross over $1 Billion dollars at the box office.
These accomplishments are well-deserved. Deadpool and Wolverine is a breath of fresh air, offering the viewer a chance to sit back and enjoy the silliness. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, and that’s helped exponentially by the unmatchable chemistry between Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman.
True best friends behind the camera, the banter between Reynolds’ Deadpool and Jackman’s Wolverine truly makes the film so delightful. Reynolds is basically Wade Wilson in real life. There is no one more perfectly suited to play the character; his wit and charisma bring the comic book character to life in such a fun way in every single film. The same goes for Jackman, who has been playing the character of Wolverine for almost twenty five years. However, Deadpool and Wolverine breathes so much new life into the character. It’s obvious through interviews and the film itself that this movie allowed Jackman to finally have fun and be free in the performance.
The third time I saw the film in theaters, every joke landed the same way it did the second and first time. 98% of the film is unserious fun, and even when there are serious moments, they are well juxtaposed against the fun ones.
The plot of the movie might be a little confusing if the viewer isn’t entirely caught up with MCU timeline lore (basically–if you haven’t watched Loki), but I don’t think that makes the experience less enjoyable. I was a little lost for the first half of the movie, but after a while the confusion was drowned out by the absolute delight that makes the other 99% of the movie.
Another fantastic aspect of this film is the soundtrack. From a dance number to *NSYNC to old school Avril Lavigne to Grease to two incredible scenes backed by Madonna, probably half of this film’s soundtrack has made it into one or more of my playlists.
Finally, it would be remiss to talk about this film without mentioning the cameos.
Deadpool and Wolverine is absolutely rife with cameos and Easter eggs, from references to the real life actors, to seeing characters who’ve been missing from the big screen for years (in Gambit’s case, forever). There’s some cameos that I didn’t even notice until the second or third watch, and the ones I did notice made me smile every single time. The total number of cameos in this movie totals over 40, but if you count all the comic book references it’s probably closer to 100.
With incredible comedy, amazing acting, fun cameos, and clear love and care in every corner, Deadpool and Wolverine has revived my faith in the future of Marvel films, and made me excited for what new projects are to come. The film is still available to see in theaters, and it should hopefully end up on Disney+ at a later date.