A really terrible movie that shockingly has high ratings. I'll start with something I know is not at all the point of these Marvel movies, but it bears saying in specific relation to this movie: it looks horrible. At a certain point in the movie, Deadpool jokes about Mad Max for some reason, and you can clearly see the inspirations from Furiosa. But instead of building off the imagery from that franchise, it plays off as a cheap pastiche. The color grading for some reason is completely desaturated, so everything looks grey and dull. The action sequences are edited so chaotically, with cuts snipping away from the action and shaky camera pans. To be honest, there is not a single scene in this entire movie that seems to have been shot well or even competently. Regardless, I get that cinematography is not why people watch Deadpool and Marvel movies.
In terms of plot, the movie doesn't really fare much better. None of the Deadpool movies have had noteworthy plots, but this in particular feels like a phoned in effort. It starts out promising, but nothing is really developed ever. Cassandra steals every scene, but the character has no intriguing motivations despite having hints at a compelling backstory. The movie also is cognizant of how it will need to handle the aftermath of Logan, and it doesn't even attempt to. After a sequence where it tries to be edgy about these concerns, it explicitly tries to ignore this conflict. This Wolverine is effectively the same as the one from the X-Men franchise, but he's ostensibly different. His backstory is so underbaked that it gets info-dumped in a weird exposition that doesn't even show anything, so whatever angst he's feeling is incredibly unearned. The movie parades around X-23 but outside of like two lines, there is no reckoning between the two characters. There is no exploration of the impact from Logan nor Wolverine as a high-level character. The movie is instead far more concerned about his costume, really symbolizing why it fails compared to Logan, viewing his impact only by the aesthetic exterior without any care about the meaty character interior. Finally, Deadpool does have an arc driven by his desire to be an actual superhero, but the movie never really earns this idea of him being able to self-sacrifice, instead just playing the cliched plot beats and going through the motions. I actually think there might have been an intriguing approach by focusing on his found family, but they are barely on screen in this movie. No point in mentioning themes because there are none.
Now, you might be saying that no one cares about the cinematography, plot, themes, or characters. Deadpool is all about the comedy, and this movie is all about the odd couple buddy comedy vibes. To that, I think this movie is different from the first two in the sense that while the first two would often poke fun at superhero movies, cinematic universes, and franchise building, this movie actually becomes the very thing it is meant to be making fun of. At one point, he jokes about cameos, only to have an overdrawn parade of cameos, inclusive of "applause moments" where the movie is actively hoping to have people cheer their introduction. These characters are only relevant if you follow internet casting rumors or followed older superhero movies, and it will age horribly because the characters themselves have no depth unlike similar cameos in something like No Way Home. In general, you know Ryan Reynold's overeager line-a-minute comedic timing already, both from the first two movies as well as pretty much everything else he has been in. I personally find it grating, but I think it is pretty much the same here even if the fourth wall breaking and satire are a lot less sincere. I did actually enjoy his interactions with Wolverine, and make no mistake, the movie did make me laugh out loud a few times, so the comedy isn't awful, just not as clever.
Lastly, in terms of acting, I thought Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds were what you would expect them to be. Certainly not Hugh Jackman's best Wolverine performance, but as mentioned before, he has nothing to build on with this half-baked character. However, I do want to call out Emma Corrin because they were absolutely fantastic as Cassandra Nova, and it's a shame the movie couldn't utilize them more. I am also always a fan of Matthew Macfayden who is again underutilized but great.
Overall, if this movie appealed to you, you probably have already seen it. However, to those viewers who are not drawn in by the fanservice, this movie is just a giant stitching together of internet memes, a zombification of a character whose legacy was far better off prior to this movie, and the very representation of the type of movie that it is trying to mock. If this is what modern blockbusters and Marvel are going to become, we are in for a rough time.
Review by RG9400VIP 5BlockedParent2024-10-04T19:07:46Z
A really terrible movie that shockingly has high ratings. I'll start with something I know is not at all the point of these Marvel movies, but it bears saying in specific relation to this movie: it looks horrible. At a certain point in the movie, Deadpool jokes about Mad Max for some reason, and you can clearly see the inspirations from Furiosa. But instead of building off the imagery from that franchise, it plays off as a cheap pastiche. The color grading for some reason is completely desaturated, so everything looks grey and dull. The action sequences are edited so chaotically, with cuts snipping away from the action and shaky camera pans. To be honest, there is not a single scene in this entire movie that seems to have been shot well or even competently. Regardless, I get that cinematography is not why people watch Deadpool and Marvel movies.
In terms of plot, the movie doesn't really fare much better. None of the Deadpool movies have had noteworthy plots, but this in particular feels like a phoned in effort. It starts out promising, but nothing is really developed ever. Cassandra steals every scene, but the character has no intriguing motivations despite having hints at a compelling backstory. The movie also is cognizant of how it will need to handle the aftermath of Logan, and it doesn't even attempt to. After a sequence where it tries to be edgy about these concerns, it explicitly tries to ignore this conflict. This Wolverine is effectively the same as the one from the X-Men franchise, but he's ostensibly different. His backstory is so underbaked that it gets info-dumped in a weird exposition that doesn't even show anything, so whatever angst he's feeling is incredibly unearned. The movie parades around X-23 but outside of like two lines, there is no reckoning between the two characters. There is no exploration of the impact from Logan nor Wolverine as a high-level character. The movie is instead far more concerned about his costume, really symbolizing why it fails compared to Logan, viewing his impact only by the aesthetic exterior without any care about the meaty character interior. Finally, Deadpool does have an arc driven by his desire to be an actual superhero, but the movie never really earns this idea of him being able to self-sacrifice, instead just playing the cliched plot beats and going through the motions. I actually think there might have been an intriguing approach by focusing on his found family, but they are barely on screen in this movie. No point in mentioning themes because there are none.
Now, you might be saying that no one cares about the cinematography, plot, themes, or characters. Deadpool is all about the comedy, and this movie is all about the odd couple buddy comedy vibes. To that, I think this movie is different from the first two in the sense that while the first two would often poke fun at superhero movies, cinematic universes, and franchise building, this movie actually becomes the very thing it is meant to be making fun of. At one point, he jokes about cameos, only to have an overdrawn parade of cameos, inclusive of "applause moments" where the movie is actively hoping to have people cheer their introduction. These characters are only relevant if you follow internet casting rumors or followed older superhero movies, and it will age horribly because the characters themselves have no depth unlike similar cameos in something like No Way Home. In general, you know Ryan Reynold's overeager line-a-minute comedic timing already, both from the first two movies as well as pretty much everything else he has been in. I personally find it grating, but I think it is pretty much the same here even if the fourth wall breaking and satire are a lot less sincere. I did actually enjoy his interactions with Wolverine, and make no mistake, the movie did make me laugh out loud a few times, so the comedy isn't awful, just not as clever.
Lastly, in terms of acting, I thought Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds were what you would expect them to be. Certainly not Hugh Jackman's best Wolverine performance, but as mentioned before, he has nothing to build on with this half-baked character. However, I do want to call out Emma Corrin because they were absolutely fantastic as Cassandra Nova, and it's a shame the movie couldn't utilize them more. I am also always a fan of Matthew Macfayden who is again underutilized but great.
Overall, if this movie appealed to you, you probably have already seen it. However, to those viewers who are not drawn in by the fanservice, this movie is just a giant stitching together of internet memes, a zombification of a character whose legacy was far better off prior to this movie, and the very representation of the type of movie that it is trying to mock. If this is what modern blockbusters and Marvel are going to become, we are in for a rough time.