From Jeff Nelson

When Disney’s Marvel absorbed the Deadpool property into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, no one knew if the inherently R-rated character had a future under a franchise that seeks an audience of all ages. Deadpool & Wolverine marks the former character’s third feature film without losing his edge. The MCU invites him to play in a bigger sandbox, but the character’s most endearing qualities get lost in the shuffle.

Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) isn’t the typical hero, but he’s his timeline’s only hope of survival. He seeks to team up with the formidable Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) to help fix his world and save those closest to him. Their journey takes them to unexpected places, forcing them to work together to make it back home and save the multiverse.

Deadpool hides behind his crass sense of humor, but the man underneath the red-and-black suit, Wade Wilson, is a little bit more sensitive. After things go sour with his girlfriend, Vanessa (Morena Baccarin), he desperately seeks a purpose and attempts to join the Avengers to win her back. Meanwhile, Wolverine, otherwise known as Logan, got his stunning conclusion in 2017’s Logan. The character returns as a variant with a very different past from the Wolverine we remember, fighting to set things right in his respective timeline. Both heroes face internal struggles that aren’t new to their characters, which occasionally feels like retreading old ground. But, Wolverine’s story is the more compelling one.

Character arcs aren’t the only repeated element in Deadpool & Wolverine. Marvel figures a large enough audience never watched Disney+’s Loki, unloading exposition we should already be familiar with, including the TVA’s purpose. The screenplay was written by director Shawn Levy, Reynolds, Rhett Reese, Zeb Wells, and Paul Wernick, who even broke the fourth wall in true Deadpool fashion to point out information ramblings. The humor feels far more rigid than the character’s first two outings, which land their biggest laughs thanks to improvisation between its performers. The humor’s more scripted nature rattles through the comedy, taking jabs at its new studio and the actors’ lives off the screen. Some of these jokes land, but there’s such a thing as beating a dead horse.

The other important piece is the action, which this film has in spades. Deadpool & Wolverine’s opening credits hit a high point with a creatively violent sequence. There are a handful of other highly-anticipated fights, including between the two title characters. The fight choreography fits the characters, but it isn’t always done justice by Levy’s direction, which occasionally stands in the way of the fight’s fluidity. 

All of this bloodshed leads them to the movie’s big bad, Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin), the sister of Charles Xavier. Unfortunately, this morally corrupt villain is entirely wasted, being cast aside as a one-dimensional character with no depth or worthwhile stakes. Deadpool and Wolverine’s race against the clock is where the dilemma lies, making Cassandra feel like nothing more than a villain of the week, or a mere obstacle for them to overcome to reach their actual mission. 

As difficult as it is to imagine anyone other than Reynolds as Deadpool, it’s just as challenging to envision any other actor taking the live-action role of Wolverine from Jackman. They both have such a fundamental understanding of these characters that goes far beyond this screenplay’s range. Reynolds brings his usual charm to the role and it’s rousing to see Jackman return as Wolverine. He delivers on all of Logan’s brooding torment, but he still finds the small moments to allow sincerity to shine through.

Deadpool & Wolverine keeps the anti-hero’s foul-mouth and blood-soaked tendencies alive for his MCU debut. It’s a shame the story isn’t able to shift the franchise’s slump into a better direction. It reflects on another era of superhero movies, introducing one cameo after another. Once the dust settles on the excitement from those reveals, it becomes increasingly clear that this sequel lacks much of the heart and charm that made 2016’s Deadpool pop. It’s entertaining, but it’s all flash.

Rating: 2.5/5

Deadpool & Wolverine hits theaters on July 26th, 2024.

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