Deadpool & Wolverine movie review: A buddy comedy spoofing of myriad sendoffs

In Pic: Deadpool & Wolverine poster

Film: Deadpool & Wolverine
Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin, Matthew Macfadyen, Morena Baccarin, Rob Delaney, Leslie Uggams, Karan Soni
Director: Shawn Levy
Rating: 3/5
Runtime: 128 min.

This spoof was born when Disney gobbled up 20th Century Fox in 2019. It's ironic that a legendary studio had to go under for this monstrosity to take birth. That fact is also represented in the film. We see the first Deadpool-Wolverine fight happen around a giant stone-carved version of the 20th Century Fox logo. This film is basically a homage( or is it a memorial?) to all the projects that got dismantled in the merger.

We know for sure from several events in the film and from what they themselves have publicly acknowledged, that best buddies Reynolds and Jackman were only too eager for this tie-up to happen. The adamantium-clawed mutant teams up with the Mouthy Merc in this spoofy sendoff of all things Marvel. And that's the premise if you ask me. Of course, the writers will claim otherwise. This is a 2-hour plus parody that plays around with MCU canons while Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman do what they damn well please. The self-aware, irreverent, at times subversive spoofing takes the cake here. "Fox killed him, Disney brought him back. And They're gonna make him do this till he's ninety," Wade says about Logan. For the fans who felt deprived after Logan's death in the last X men movie - this is a second coming they did not expect.

This is the third collaboration between director Shawn Levy and Ryan Reynolds and the zing continues at full blast. Ryan Reynolds has lead screenplay credit here so his talent for quip-happy zingers and winking meta gags runs unchecked throughout the film. The in-jokes are meant to radiate an atomic blast.

The story ( if you can call it that) is simple. A listless Wade Wilson, well past his fly-by date as the morally flexible mercenary, Deadpool, rejected by his girlfriend Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) and the Avengers, has resigned himself to sell used cars wearing a hairpiece. He eventually gets roped into service by Mr. Paradox (Matthew MacFayden), an agent for the Time Variance Authority (TVA), and has to suit-up with a long-dead Logan/Wolverine when his ‘home world' faces an existential threat. But why in particular did he need Wolverine? There's no answer to that.

For those familiar with multiverse logic, there's hope yet for Logan to rise from the dead...or is it undead ? Wade goes on a multiverse-spanning mission that teams him up with Wolverine and the duo end up in a "Void" - a metaphorical junkyard, ruled by Cassandra Nova (Emma Corwin), a scrawny evil twin to Charles Xavier.

Ryan Reynolds mugs, pratfalls and makes verbal footnotes with impertinent humour all through the entire film. Jackman though stoic, is there as a sidekick of sorts. The jokes are the strong point in Deadpool & Wolverine. The action is just a mere accompaniment. The plot is a hastily jumbled together array of familiar elements and does not have much narrative clarity even though Mr Paradox tries hard to even those odds with expository technospeak.

The chaotic slapstick, silly mayhem and hyper-meta goofing are all part of Reynolds charm and is definitely the most attractive part of this collateral buffoonery. Reynolds timing in the verbal and visual gags, is impeccable. But eventually the gags and the spoofing run out of gas. The action, though competently laid out, is not exactly what we expect from a Deadpool movie. With no gravitating story to tell, the characters never gain our empathy and the overall experience begins to pall. Thankfully Levy, Reynolds and team have whittled the runtime to a winnable 128 min. Marvel's artistically weak attempt to save its brand does have a silver lining. Numerous cameos, surprise appearances and a musical score embedded with hits like Madonna's ‘Like A Prayer' and Olivia Newton John's ‘You're the one that I want, ' among many others, pep up the narrative. This film may not be the best ‘Deadpool' happening we were looking for but it sure is one that gives us a hearty laugh-out-loud experience!