Dog’s Movie House: “Deadpool & Wolverine” Refreshingly Raunchy, Gory, Hilarious, Love Letter To The Fox Comic Book Era!

“Deadpool & Wolverine” finds Wade Wilson/Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) at a crossroads in his life. After a disastrous interview for the Avengers, Wade has given up the Deadpool gig and is now working with a bad toupee at a used car dealership. At a surprise birthday party he’s abducted by the Time Variance Authority (from “Loki”) and brought before Mr. Paradox (Matthew Macfaadyen) who informs Deadpool that his universe is going to die due to the death of Logan (from the movie of the same name) Logan was a kestone figure whose death sets that universe in a state of decay. Paradox offers Wade a job with the TVA, but Wade has other plans and decides to travel the multiverse to find another version of Wolverine to restore his own world the the people he loves. It works, but Paradox doesn’t like it, so he exiles both to a place called the Void, a wasteland where all of the multiverse’s rejects go to die. The wasteland is ruled by a powerful mutant named Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin) who just happens to be the twin sister to one Charles Xavier. It’s up to Deadpool and a reluctant Wolverine (Jackman in all his clawed, growling glory) to attempt to get back to Deadpool’s universe in time to stop Paradox from destroying said universe with a powerful weapon called a Time Ripper.

Now that good be the plot to almost any Marvel movie, but the secret to “Deadpool & Wolverine” is in its execution. Director Shawn Levy and writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick manage to cram three movies worth of stuff into a single show and make it feel natural and smooth. The jokes come flying at you at machine-gun speed and the action is well executed. Deadpool and Wolverine are essentially invulnerable so their battles against each other have the tone of a Looney Tunes cartoon. (That’s a compliment, by the way.) A fight between the two insided (and out) of a minivan is one of the film’s highlights. The action is also almost comically gory and violent, which is expected during a Deadpool movie, if not a Disney film. (This is a point that “Deadpool & Wolverine” exploits to brutally funny comic effect.) I cannot emphasize enough that “Deadpool & Wolverine” is NOT a children’s film! Make sure you’re with your kiddies before hitting the theater!

The performances are all very good, but naturally “Deadpool & Wolverine” belongs to the two leads. Reynolds continues to “be” Deadpool and you get the impression that Reynolds improved most of his lines because his delivery is so natural. Reynolds also manages to find some well-earned pathos in a character whose primary defense mechanism is to deflect everything with a joke. As for Jackman, his swan song as the Wolverine is a terrific way to go out. This film doesn’t compromise the perfect ending of “Logan” in any way and allows Hugh Jackman to flex all three sets of muscles: comic, dramatic, and actual physical muscle (seriously. . .this dude is jacked!). He and Reynolds have a chemistry only true friends can achieve. Jackman is the perfect Abbott to Reynold’s Costello and their banter is an hilarious mixture filthly cleverness. It’s also cool to see Wolverine in his iconic yellow and blue outfit (you should have heard the theater explode when he puts the iconic mask on for the first time.).

And then there are those cameos. I won’t list any of them here but there are more than a few surprises and several of them actually mean something to the story. There are also several simple cameos meant to pop the crowd. Among the funniest happen when Deadpool roams the multiverse to find the right Wolverine. It gives Jackman (and others) to briefly show different aspects of Wolverine (from different comic era) that, while absolutely serving as fan service, also serve as some of the funniest scenes in the film. There’s a terrific bait-and-switch about a third of the way through the film that had the audience absolutely in stitches. (You’ll know it when you see it!)

Overall, “Deadpool & Wolverine” is a funny, violent, and heartfelt film that takes some of the worst aspects of the Fox Marvel era and gives them redemption. The only issue is that if you’re not a comic book movie fan you won’t get quite as much out of it as those of us who follow the movies. It’s even more exciting if you’re a comic book fan. That said, every audience will get a kick out of “Deadpool & Wolverine.” It has enough laughs and action for everyone and is sure to be one of the biggest hits of the year. 5 Out Of 5 On Kendog’s Barkometer! So Sayeth The Kendog!

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