Whatever your expectations are for Deadpool and Wolverine you are not prepared for the wild forking ride you’re about to take. It’s insane, amazing, sexy, dirty, and funny as hell in all the best ways. I still can’t believe what they pulled off.
Deadpool and Wolverine Review
The road to this moment has been as rough as Dogpool’s tongue. Way back in 2009, Ryan Reynolds made his debut as the merc with a mouth in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. It wasn’t the best, to say the least, still it made fans clamor louder for a real team up of these two iconic characters. Fast forward to 2016 and Reynolds came blasting, slicing, and cursing his way into our hearts as the fully realized Wade Wilson. A year later Hugh Jackman announced he was done with Wolverine after the film Logan. All hope of ever seeing them together for real seemed lost. But then Disney bought Fox and at Disney, dreams really do come true.
A team up we’ve waited 15 years to see coupled with a moment 25 years in the making, sweet Marvel Jesus, it’s beautiful. From frame one to the very end credit scene, Deadpool and Wolverine is fan-freaking-tastic. The trailers and TV spots have in no way prepared the world for what they are about to witness. What director Shawn Levy, Reynolds, Jackman, and the whole team pulled off is one for the damn history books. This movie is insane in all the best ways. Not only is it shocking, brutal, hilarious, sexy, and dirty but it also sneaks in some moments of genuine emotion. Everyone and everything is firing on all cylinders in what is one of the best comic book movies ever.
Deadpool (Reynolds) has hung up his spandex in favor of a dead end job selling used cars. On the night of his birthday, he is kidnapped and taken to the TVA where Mr. Paradox (Matthew Macfadyen) tells him he can join the greatest timeline of all– the Sacred Timeline of Earth 616. However, there is a catch. None of his friends can join him and his timeline is also dying thanks to the loss of Wolverine (Jackman) following the events of Logan. Deadpool tells the TVA to suck it and goes on a journey to find a new Wolverine. He finds one but soon the two are sent to The Void where they fight each other as well as Charles Xavier’s twin sister Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin) in an attempt to make it back to the timeline in order to save Deadpool’s world.
No matter how you look at it, Deadpool and Wolverine kills it, both literally and figuratively. But aside from the blood-soaked fights and risqué humor, this movie works because of the relationship between Reynolds and Jackman. These two are the Odd Couple in spandex and they were made for each other. Jackman’s Logan grounds the more outrageous moments of Reynolds’ Wade, the epitome of the trope: straight man to funny man. Watching their bromance bloom over time, space, and stabbings is really beautiful. But it isn’t all fun and games, these two characters are dealing with some serious emotions, and in the case of Logan, guilt. Reynolds has shown before he isn’t just a comedic actor but one that can sincerely convey emotions like sadness and regret, just look at The Adam Project. Hugh’s performance though may require a tissue or two, specifically in the scene where he heartbreakingly reveals the why behind the suit.
Macfadyen and Corrin also have memorable performances. The former is a middling manager high on his own self importance who, as the film progresses, becomes increasingly weird. He’s like the boss who tries to be cool but the more you get to know him the more you realize he’s a total loser. Corrin is gleefully wicked as Cassandra, leaning all the way into the theatrics that come with playing a character with powers such as hers. She’s not quite Hela level for me, but I thoroughly enjoyed her gracing my screen, even if her methods sometimes gave me creepy crawly type chills. Peggy (Dogpool) was a scene stealer of course. I don’t blame Wade for wanting to steal her away from the Void.
Then there are the cameos, callbacks, and easter eggs– oh my. Don’t worry I’m not going to spoil anything. Just know this is a comic book geek’s w*t dream. No cameo is wasted and the callbacks play tribute to what came before in a way only Deadpool could do it. I know some have been shared in trailers and TV spots but listen, what they have held back is absolutely wild. I gasped, cheered, and nerded TF out more than once. Stay off the internet until you see it because you do not want anything spoiled. I will share that Dogpool is the cutest member of the Deadpool Corps and I want a Marvel Animal team movie/short/special whatever you want to call it more than ever.
What I can share is that the action sequences are brutally bloody and delightfully unhinged. The fight choreography here ranks up there as some of the best we have seen in the entire MCU. Deadpool says to grab your special sock and he’s not lying. Reynolds and Jackman serve up viscerally alluring brawls that are as exciting as they are savage. Special effects are reserved for specific moments, which gives the whole film a more grounded, throwback kind of vibe. Elevating it all are some pretty epic needle drops. NSYNC, Avril Lavigne, Stray Kids, Green Day, and more grace the Deadpool and Wolverine soundtrack and I have never felt so seen with my electric music taste. Forget Quill, can we get a look at Deadpool’s music library?
Verdict
Deadpool and Wolverine is one wild f*cking ride. I’m not sure there has ever been a movie that made me laugh, cheer, nerd tf out, and excitedly bounce in my seat like this one has. What they pulled off, from the cameos and the jokes to the violence and utter sh*t talking…this is one for the damn history books! Reynolds and Jackman are a force of nature and this team up is going to echo in the minds of all of us forever. If Deadpool and Wolverine is what ushers in the Mutant Era for the MCU then hallelujah, praise Marvel Jesus. LFG.
Deadpool and Wolverine releases in theaters July 26. It is rated R for strong bloody violence and language throughout, gore and sexual references with a runtime of 2 hours and 7 minutes.
