Deadpool & Wolverine
Jul. 29th, 2024 11:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
andrasteVerdict: this film delighted me! It is like a filthy love letter to the Fox version of this universe as it walks out for one more encore before we wave it goodbye and the mutants join up with the MCU. Some individual scenes and bits dragged on for too long, but on the whole I loved it and I'm glad it's doing well. Even though I cannot quite imagine what anyone who doesn't understand all the fan service is going to get out of it. Although I guess Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman are still very charming and good at their jobs even if you aren't the kind of person who literally screamed when Channing Tatum showed up as Gambit and had to be shushed by the person next to you. Conversly, if you didn't like the previous Deadpool films this one is unlikely to win you over.
It did not pull any punches - or rather any graphic stabbings and crotch punches - and it's not only the the first R-rated Disney film, but AFAIK the first Marvel movie from any studio to dromp the c-bomb - twice! It would have to be one starring an Australian, obviously. (I am still highly entertained that the first MCU film to drop an f-bomb is actually Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. I guess Wade and Logan had to escalate after that.)
And despite the director's recent complaints and the film literally opening with Deadpool digging up Logan's corpse and killing a bunch of people with it it's actually very respectful of Logan as a story in its own bizarre way.
- To get the Obvious Andraste Comment out of the way first: wow, for a film my blorbo was not in - except for the absolutely delightful credits reel <3 - he was in this film a lot. Unsurprisingly 'he would have loved you too!' was my favourite line of the whole film. (Even though that is almost certainly not true. His biological relatives are the only people Charles doesn't manage to love in most universes, with a handful of exceptions. But what's so touching about Charles and Logan's friendship is that they always see the best versions of each other, so of course Logan thinks that Charles would find something to love in Cassandra the way he found something to love in Logan himself.)
- And I got to see my blorbo-in-law! And she was wonderful! I was worried when they cast such a young actress as Cassandra, but she actually has no trouble pulling it off, which is to say that she's perfectly awful and I love her. I guess everyone has seen enough X-Men at this point that 'Charles Xavier but she's a girl and also evil' doesn't need explaining, she just works as the inverse of a character the audience knows already. (And I don't know how to explain this but Cassandra threatening to masturbate to the Best of Enya while she murders Logan and Wade is somehow the exact opposite of the official Charles Xavier track on the Marvel Krakoa fan mix being Everything I Do by Bryan Adams.)
- Speaking of perfect casting, Matthew McFayden was terrific as Paradox and I'd be happy to see him again any time. I'm sure he's slippery enough to get himself out of the TVA!
- My very favourite joke: using the fact that Chris Evans has been in two different Marvel universe iterations to pull off the funniest possible bait and switch. Which then turns out to be perfect set-up for Jennifer Garner Elektra and Wesley Snipes Blade and CHANNING TATUM GAMBIT! (Again, I have no idea what the general audience will make of that since I imagine they did not spend literal years waiting for him to be in a movie that never happened.)
- Speaking of which, I think this film demonstrates that Channing Tatum Gambit would not have actually worked at all. Not that I imagine he would have played it like this, but his physicality is completely wrong for the part. And yet, I misted up watching him in that final fight scene, and I'm SO happy he finally did get to take a shot at it.
- Speaking of meta jokes: Elektra's 'it's fine' reaction to Wade's condolances for Daredevil. I wonder if they did ask Ben Affleck ...
- Speaking of which: Henry Cavillarine is real!!! I ... wouldn't hate it? He probably needs something to do now that he's not Geralt or Superman and whoever they do eventually get to replace Jackman (I don't actually believe he'll be doing this when he's ninety) is going to have some massive shoes to fill.
- The string of cameos from minor X-Men villains were also delightful. I perked up as soon as I saw Aaron Stanford in the opening credits and this version of Pyro was the perfect person to play this roll in the plot. I cracked up at Deadpool's 'this year's Juggernaut' comment, but it added a nice layer to things to have someone else who was in the Fox X-Men films reprise their role and then get taken out by the real villain.
- The bits that didn't quite work for me: I thought that every scene involving Peter, Nice!Pool and the dog dragged on too long, and the Peter-ex-Machina ending of the giant Deadpools vs. Deadpool and Wolverine fight didn't land. Possibly because I barely remembered Peter from the previous film, even though I was delighted so see the rest of Wade's friends. I don't know why Shatterstar was the guy from X-Force he chose to bring back from the dead via time travel but I'm pleased with his decision. (Also I know there were actor issues and I'm glad they didn't reemploy the relevant party but on a character level I am sad that Weasel was not there.)
- As for the only cameo we didn't get: I am fine with mainline Cable going back to his family, but I'd have loved to see some other Cable in the void. I'm sure we could have got a string of jokes out of Deadpool about how he doesn't need Cable now that Wolverine is here. Or we could have had a Thanos! I bet Ryan Reynolds could have made another joke about that! Apparently Josh Brolin said he would have been happy to come back, so I wonder if there were availability issues. Given how packed the film is with cameos, I can't imagine the writers thought that would be a bridge too far.
- I am pleased that this film is doing well, but it does amuse me that it does every single thing that that the people who hated recent Marvel offerings say they hated. I guess they feel different when Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman are running around the multiverse doing fan service things? I mean, I'm happy they're happy now, even if I find it confusing as someone who has mostly enjoyed most of the recent MCU. And it makes me think that bringing RDJ back as Doctor Doom might actually work in terms of getting butts in seats. Which I do care about because I want to see the MCU keep going long enough to get to the rest of my favourite characters i.e. the mutants. And I really do NOT want a ground-up reboot right now, which is the next thing that will happen after they decide they've got all the juice out, or for RDJ to come back as Iron Man. So honestly I have no idea if RDJ Doctor Doom will work for me but I'm willing to let them try?
It did not pull any punches - or rather any graphic stabbings and crotch punches - and it's not only the the first R-rated Disney film, but AFAIK the first Marvel movie from any studio to dromp the c-bomb - twice! It would have to be one starring an Australian, obviously. (I am still highly entertained that the first MCU film to drop an f-bomb is actually Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. I guess Wade and Logan had to escalate after that.)
And despite the director's recent complaints and the film literally opening with Deadpool digging up Logan's corpse and killing a bunch of people with it it's actually very respectful of Logan as a story in its own bizarre way.
- To get the Obvious Andraste Comment out of the way first: wow, for a film my blorbo was not in - except for the absolutely delightful credits reel <3 - he was in this film a lot. Unsurprisingly 'he would have loved you too!' was my favourite line of the whole film. (Even though that is almost certainly not true. His biological relatives are the only people Charles doesn't manage to love in most universes, with a handful of exceptions. But what's so touching about Charles and Logan's friendship is that they always see the best versions of each other, so of course Logan thinks that Charles would find something to love in Cassandra the way he found something to love in Logan himself.)
- And I got to see my blorbo-in-law! And she was wonderful! I was worried when they cast such a young actress as Cassandra, but she actually has no trouble pulling it off, which is to say that she's perfectly awful and I love her. I guess everyone has seen enough X-Men at this point that 'Charles Xavier but she's a girl and also evil' doesn't need explaining, she just works as the inverse of a character the audience knows already. (And I don't know how to explain this but Cassandra threatening to masturbate to the Best of Enya while she murders Logan and Wade is somehow the exact opposite of the official Charles Xavier track on the Marvel Krakoa fan mix being Everything I Do by Bryan Adams.)
- Speaking of perfect casting, Matthew McFayden was terrific as Paradox and I'd be happy to see him again any time. I'm sure he's slippery enough to get himself out of the TVA!
- My very favourite joke: using the fact that Chris Evans has been in two different Marvel universe iterations to pull off the funniest possible bait and switch. Which then turns out to be perfect set-up for Jennifer Garner Elektra and Wesley Snipes Blade and CHANNING TATUM GAMBIT! (Again, I have no idea what the general audience will make of that since I imagine they did not spend literal years waiting for him to be in a movie that never happened.)
- Speaking of which, I think this film demonstrates that Channing Tatum Gambit would not have actually worked at all. Not that I imagine he would have played it like this, but his physicality is completely wrong for the part. And yet, I misted up watching him in that final fight scene, and I'm SO happy he finally did get to take a shot at it.
- Speaking of meta jokes: Elektra's 'it's fine' reaction to Wade's condolances for Daredevil. I wonder if they did ask Ben Affleck ...
- Speaking of which: Henry Cavillarine is real!!! I ... wouldn't hate it? He probably needs something to do now that he's not Geralt or Superman and whoever they do eventually get to replace Jackman (I don't actually believe he'll be doing this when he's ninety) is going to have some massive shoes to fill.
- The string of cameos from minor X-Men villains were also delightful. I perked up as soon as I saw Aaron Stanford in the opening credits and this version of Pyro was the perfect person to play this roll in the plot. I cracked up at Deadpool's 'this year's Juggernaut' comment, but it added a nice layer to things to have someone else who was in the Fox X-Men films reprise their role and then get taken out by the real villain.
- The bits that didn't quite work for me: I thought that every scene involving Peter, Nice!Pool and the dog dragged on too long, and the Peter-ex-Machina ending of the giant Deadpools vs. Deadpool and Wolverine fight didn't land. Possibly because I barely remembered Peter from the previous film, even though I was delighted so see the rest of Wade's friends. I don't know why Shatterstar was the guy from X-Force he chose to bring back from the dead via time travel but I'm pleased with his decision. (Also I know there were actor issues and I'm glad they didn't reemploy the relevant party but on a character level I am sad that Weasel was not there.)
- As for the only cameo we didn't get: I am fine with mainline Cable going back to his family, but I'd have loved to see some other Cable in the void. I'm sure we could have got a string of jokes out of Deadpool about how he doesn't need Cable now that Wolverine is here. Or we could have had a Thanos! I bet Ryan Reynolds could have made another joke about that! Apparently Josh Brolin said he would have been happy to come back, so I wonder if there were availability issues. Given how packed the film is with cameos, I can't imagine the writers thought that would be a bridge too far.
- I am pleased that this film is doing well, but it does amuse me that it does every single thing that that the people who hated recent Marvel offerings say they hated. I guess they feel different when Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman are running around the multiverse doing fan service things? I mean, I'm happy they're happy now, even if I find it confusing as someone who has mostly enjoyed most of the recent MCU. And it makes me think that bringing RDJ back as Doctor Doom might actually work in terms of getting butts in seats. Which I do care about because I want to see the MCU keep going long enough to get to the rest of my favourite characters i.e. the mutants. And I really do NOT want a ground-up reboot right now, which is the next thing that will happen after they decide they've got all the juice out, or for RDJ to come back as Iron Man. So honestly I have no idea if RDJ Doctor Doom will work for me but I'm willing to let them try?