DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE
(director/writer: Shawn Levy; screenwriters: Ryan Reynolds, Paul Wernick, Zeb Wells, based on the characters created by Rob Liefeld, Fabian Nicieza; cinematographer: George Richmond; editors: Shane Reid, Dean Zimmerman; music: Rob Simonsen; cast: Ryan Reynolds (Wade Wilson/Deadpool), Hugh Jackman (Logan/Wolverine), Emma Corrin (Cassandra Nova), Matthew Macfadyen (Mr. Paradox), Jon Favreau (Happy Rogan), Leslie Uggams (Blind Al), Morena Baccarin (Vanessa), Rob Delaney (Peter), Karan Soni (Dopinder); Runtime: 127; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Keiven Feigge, Shawn Levy, Ryan Reynolds, Lauren Shuler Donnor; Marvel Studios/20th Century Fox; 2024)
“If you thought Deadpool 1 and Deadpool 2 were a joke, this Deadpool 3 takes the cake.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
If you thought Deadpool 1 and Deadpool 2 were a joke, this Deadpool 3 takes the cake. In this Shawn Levy (“The Adam Project”/”Free Guy”) directed and co-written sequel, there are many cheesy jokes from pop-culture and the corporate world (like the joke of Disney taking over from Fox to revive the dead). The co-writers Ryan Reynolds, Paul Wernick, and Zeb Wells keep it irreverent and sassy.
The two previous Deadpool movies made fun of the conventions formulated for superhero movies. In this version, Deadpool is refused admittance to The Avengers.
Both Deadpool, Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds), and Wolverine, Logan (Hugh Jackman), are middle-aged men. Deadman jokes about his trauma and being dumped by his girlfriend, while Wolverine broods at hearing the dead speak about their misfortunes due to him.
Deadpool is a used car salesman, who is best friends with the likable Peter (Rob Delaney).
The villain is the smarmy Englishman, Mr. Paradox (Matthew Macfadyen), the supervisor from Time Variance Authority who first recruits and then imprisons Deadpool. He informs Deadpool that the world is collapsing because Wolverine is missing and wants Deadpool to destroy the world as a mercy killing. But Deadpool sees his life mission as saving the world, so he borrows without permission a means to time-travel through multiverses to search for Wolverine and renew their bromance as superheros.
Most of the action takes place in the void (a dump for rejects and losers), where Mr. Paradox imprisons him. The void is ruled by the bald-headed psychic Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin), the forgotten twin sister of Charles Xavier. In a campy performance, she offers a means for Deadpool and Wolverine to return to their time-line if they fight her with any rejects from the void they select to help them.
If you like a film laced with raunchy zingers, gay humor and a zany story, and can appreciate its strangeness, bad taste and messiness–this film is for you. I found it clunky, its jokes were only sometimes funny, and some of its material was no longer fresh.
Of note, the opening and closing credits are a must watch.
Those not fans of the Deadpool franchise will probably be disappointed by how tiresome are its action scenes and that its villains are boring. But it’s entertaining and looks sharp as it bites the hand that feeds it, knowing its story can go on forever as long as there’s an audience for it, a buck to be made, and a studio that doesn’t hold Deadpool accountable for his snarky remarks against them.
You would get a better read on the film if you caught Disney+’s Loki (which I didn’t).
REVIEWED ON 7/25/2024 GRADE: C+
dennisschwartzreviews.com