Deadpool & Wolverine is in and like we wrote last week, the first reactions were great. Now, the full critic reviews are in and now that we have the full view of things, it’s safe to say Deadpool & Wolverine might be the best Marvel movie since Avengers: Endgame – and that’s not our word for it, that’s directly from a review.
Marvel has been keeping plot details on a pretty secure lockdown. As with many MCU movies, the trailers don’t show as much as audiences may think; virtually all of the footage from the trailers and promo campaign has been from the first 40 minutes of the movie. The third act remains a mystery. As such, we don’t want to spoil things for readers, but will remind them of what the trailers show: Deadpool – or a version of Deadpool, at least – is summoned by a version of the Time Variance Authority (TVA) to save his universe, which is in peril. Along the way, he recruits a very reluctant Wolverine – or a version of Wolverine, at least – to help him on his quest.
Of course, Deadpool is and has always been an acquired taste as a character, and as The Daily Beast‘s Nick Schager aptly reminds, “As with its predecessors, those who can’t stand Deadpool or aren’t educated in Marvel movie lore won’t tolerate a second of it. The rest will be in bleeping heaven.”
Those who worried that Deadpool would be Mickey Mouseified once in Disney’s hands, though, need not fear. As Schager continues
“This is par for the series’ course, as is R-rated violence and profanity of an outrageous and adolescent sort. One second Levy is staging a massacre accomplished via the use of skeleton bones and embellished by an *NSYNC dance routine, and the next he’s having Reynolds’ anti-hero crack wise about the fact that ‘pegging isn’t new to me, but it is for Disney.’ Though he’s desperate to demonstrate that he’s more than simply an ‘annoying one-trick pony,’ this is the Deadpool that fans love and haters hate, with Reynolds staying true to the characters’ gleefully obnoxious, dirty spirit.”
That R rating is alive and well, according to critics, which should please fans of the Merc with a Mouth. Here’s what other critics had to say.
Matt Zoller Seitz – Roger Ebert
“Corrin, who played Princess Diana in Netflix’s ‘The Crown,’ makes a frightening villain, with her predatory stare, bird-boned arms and legs, and long, elegant fingers. The movie pushes some of Cassandra’s torturous or murderous acts to the point where they seem like spiritual as well as physical violations. When this woman gets in your head, it’s not a metaphor. (Between the profanity, the gore, and the sadomasochistic bent, this entry is as not-for-kids as the others.)”
Richard Lawson – Vanity Fair
“It’s also bloody and profane, as Levy travels far afield of his more family-friendly fare like Free Guy and Night at the Museum. His direction seems invigorated by the stylistic shift; action sequences in Deadpool & Wolverine have a pleasing snap, a purposeful physics and momentum that differentiate the film from much recent superhero slop. Brash and loud and rambling as it often is, Deadpool & Wolverine was made with some actual consideration for texture and tempo.”
Richard Whittaker – Austin Chronicle
“[R]eal-world MCU supremo Kevin Feige has turned all the ‘no’ switches to ‘yes’ and unleashed the most violent, funny, self-critiquing, cameo-laden MCU film imaginable. Deadpool even gets to tell us, to our faces, that the Multiverse sucks. So whether you’re here for obscure characters like Charles Xavier’s lost twin Cassandra Nova (Corrin), grisly sword vs. claw fights, queer comedy, MCU mythology, the cover of Uncanny X-Men #251, or just Jackman and Reynolds having a blast being hams, Deadpool & Wolverine has you covered.”
Amy Nicholson – Washington Post
“Wisecracking about his, and their, mistakes like he’s trying to win couples therapy, Deadpool represents what mainstream Marvel flicks couldn’t do: make a hard R-rated movie with more curses per minute than a convention of witches. He’s what they have to do to win back an audience who’s outgrown them.”
Brian Truitt – USA Today
“Since both heroes have the ability to bounce back from any nasty wound, there’s a ‘Looney Tunes’ level of cartoonish carnage they can perpetrate on foes, as well as each other. Acting-wise, the leads get past their characters’ superficial qualities – Deadpool’s politically incorrect snark, Wolverine’s grumpy broodiness – to dig into their vulnerabilities. Jackman especially runs a gamut of emotions as a Logan lashing out because of the trauma he’s faced; whatever they’re paying him in cash and themed popcorn buckets is not enough.”
Liz Shannon Miller – Consequence
“Levy’s got a steady hand with the Deadpool action, and the R is earned honestly, yet there isn’t the same level of grown-up grit found in the previous Deadpool films; instead, this is over-the-top video game violence, appropriate for a multiverse-hopping comic book tale like this one, but not quite the Deadpool showcased during the anti-hero’s 20th Century Fox era. Those films felt more like they were made for grown-ups; Deadpool & Wolverine, meanwhile, will make a pegging joke but fail to show the strap-on.”
Perhaps the most exciting review comes from a bit of Truitt’s that says it all with half a sentence: “The best of the MCU outings since “Avengers: Endgame.”
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