Film Review: Deadpool & Wolverine

5 Stars

By Joseph Beyer | Aug. 10, 2024

The latest installment in the seemingly never ending Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is the pairing of two pop culture icons in Deadpool & Wolverine, an antihero buddy comedy with a perverse Laurel and Hardy edge.

Instead of the messiness of pies in faces, these costumed comedians use exaggerated bloodshed, witty repartee, and over-the-top action sequences to elicit shocked laughter. And once the carnage and laughs begin, they don’t stop for the next 2 hours and 8 minutes.

In fact, the jokes come so fast and so furiously throughout the film that it almost seems to demand a second viewing by design. Directed by Shawn Levy (age 56) of Stranger Things fame and dripping in high-style, Deadpool & Wolverine is a Gen-X goldmine of snark and cultural commentary so extensive that it took no fewer than five credited screenwriters to bring it to life.

Without giving up spoilers or explaining previous context (Wolverine, as made famous by actor Hugh Jackman, has appeared in 10 previous films; the character of Deadpool, as made infamous by actor Ryan Reynolds, has appeared in three), the plot is relatively straightforward: in order to save his friends, Deadpool must find the right Wolverine somewhere in the multiverse, recruit him to fight, and defeat the villain before the timeline of all things collapses.

Of course there are twists, turns, and tribulations along the way as the mismatched characters are forced to work together, develop a partnership, and push each other to be the best versions of themselves (controlling mocking impulses or with or without razor-sharp claws, respectively).

Both lead actors are nearly flawless at this point in transforming their comic book inspirations into fully-fledged, three-dimensional characters, and their chemistry is pretty intoxicating. Reynolds also served as a lead producer on the project and shares credit as a screenwriter in addition to his foul-mouthed performance.

Technically the first film rated R in the MCU, Deadpool & Wolverine pushes all the edges in a machine gun pace of irreverent jokes and multiple layers of meaning and storyline. It’s an impossibly unique mix of postmodern commentary on the MCU, Hollywood studios and mergers, and audiences themselves—along with self-referential winks about being a celebrity that suddenly break the fourth wall.

With terrific needle-drops and an ironic score by Music Supervisor Dave Jordan (Guardians of the Galaxy and Iron Man among others), the film literally rocks, and fans of action sequences and the poetry of violence will get their fix scored like a mix-tape.

With a relatively small studio budget of $70 million, Deadpool & Wolverine has already grossed over $800 million in just two weeks, making it the best performing of the Deadpool franchises so far. Loaded with MCU cameos and easter egg celebrity voice work, the film is a contagiously fun romp of a somewhat improvisational approach, but whether the humor can stand the test of time years later remains to be seen. For now, it’s the must-see movie of this moment in the multiverse.