‘I’ ON CULTURE
The MCU is finally back! Most of us had sort of given up hope after the films produced by Disney following Avengers: Endgame were not particularly great. But Deadpool & Wolverine is great fun. In a lot of ways, it is a salute to the old Marvel Universe, bringing in X-Man Wolverine and several others who provide some real nostalgia as they appear in cameos. But, then again, this is a Deadpool film, which means there are lots of laughs.
Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) has given up being Deadpool and is working as a car salesman. He has a group of friends he loves, generally characters from his earlier movies, and we see him at a birthday party they throw for him at the apartment he shares with Blind Al (Leslie Uggams). But he suddenly is transported by the Time Variance Authority (TVA) to Mr. Paradox (Matthew Macfadyen), who tells him that his timeline is deteriorating as a result of the death of Logan/Wolverine, the “anchor being” whose existence keeps the timeline stabilized. Wilson steals Paradox’s travel device and goes through a whole group of universes, trying to find a variant of Logan he can use. He finds a Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) who is a drunk and goes back to the TVA, where he is told this Wolverine is the worst one. Both men are tossed into “The Void.”
The two superheroes fight in The Void and are taken prisoner by Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin), the twin sister of Charles Xavier, leader of the X-Men. She can manipulate minds and sets our heroes up for destruction. And the fun goes on from there with wild and weird battles, a series of really fun cameos, a mixing of folks from all over the multiverses.
I am not doing much in the way of description since it would give away things that are supposed to be surprises. But there are many strange things happening. And, of course, many laughs. Reynolds delights in poking fun at 20th Century Fox, which made the first two Deadpool movies and then was sold to Disney. And then he goes after Disney and even Marvel. The wisecracks keep coming at you even in the middle of wild action scenes. The fights are really well done, perhaps the best since the great airport battle in Captain America: Civil War.
The cast is excellent, and that really helps. Of course, Reynolds is in costume for most of it so we don’t get to see his face, but his mouth never stops. And a cranky Wolverine tells him to shut up numerous times, often with claws stuck into our hero. Jackman’s acting, however, is superb. He plays the same nasty crank we’ve seen in so many other movies. He, for most of the movie, fits the perfect antihero archetype: cranky and unfriendly. And that works wonderfully well in contrast to Deadpool’s constant yammering. Corrin is a great villain, beautiful, evil and very scary. Macfadyen is ideal as the ultimate bureaucrat: sniveling, treacherous, idiotic but with a sense that he is always correct. Uggams is funny as the delightfully profane Blind Al. Her mouth is even filthier than Deadpool’s. And Morena Baccarin as Vanessa, Wilson’s great love, is still beautiful and charming. The people doing cameos are great, moving back into their old characters with gusto. I particularly enjoyed a few of the pointed wisecracks.
Director Shawn Levy keeps the action moving, which is good since the plot has more holes than the average block of Swiss cheese. But it hardly matters. This is a film where you sit back and enjoy the ride.
And, yes, it is rated R for filthy language and occasionally a few long stretches of hilarious obscenity. But there were kids in the theater and none of them seemed to have much trouble with that. Thanks to smart phones, kids learn about our weird world very early. This is a funny, sprawling film. And if you can deal with the swearing, you’ll probably have a great time.