Like a Prayer

A lot of fun, but a little shallow (Spoilers)

After many years of uncertainty, Ryan Reynolds is back as Wade Wilson/Deadpool, and the character has found a new thing to obsess over. In the last movie, it was whether or not his heart was in the right place. In this threequel, it’s about becoming something important. Thinking he’s not, Wad becomes depressed, which causes him to hang up the costume, get a dead-end job, and break up with Vanessa (Morena Baccarin).

Yeah, Vanessa has even less of a role in this one without the excuse of being dead. You remember that part in Deadpool where the title character says, “I just wanna get to know the real you, you know; not the short-shorted, two-dimensional sex object peddled by Hollywood.” So much for that. Of course, all the first two movie’s supporting cast either gets put on the back burner or doesn’t appear in favor of a new bromance, but more on that in a minute.

Part of a Much Bigger Universe

One night, during his birthday party, Wade gets kidnapped by the Time Variance Authority (TVA). Their leader is Mr. Paradox (Matthew Macfadyen), who talks like Mr. Darcy but acts like Tom Wambsgans. Wade’s offered the chance to become Deadpool again and be part of the MCU, but there’s a catch. His universe is slowly dying due to losing Logan (Hugh Jackman), its “anchor being,” and Paradox has decided to speed it along with a Time Ripper.

Naturally, Deadpool isn’t willing to abandon the few people he cares about, so he tries to save his universe by finding a new Logan. The only one who doesn’t attack him on sight is “the worst Wolverine” (Jackman), and that’s only because he’s an apathetic drunk due to a dark and troubled past. The situation then becomes worse when Paradox sends Deadpool and Wolverine into the Void.

Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin) rules over the Void. She’s a psychic psychopath who Deadpool refrains from making a Princess Diana crack about, probably because (unlike the film’s beginning) that would have been going too far, but not in a fun way. In her first scene, Cassandra establishes her villain credentials by Willow Rosenberging a cameo. Luckily for Deadpool and Wolverine, there are many more cameos stuck out in the Void who can help them escape.

All Around Me Are Familiar Faces

One of the hardest things to do as a moviegoer these days is avoid spoilers. If the trailers don’t give everything away, then the people on social media do. I’m about to be a hypocrite by giving away the movie’s ending, but still, that’s a genuine struggle. Granted, I can forgive the trailers giving away Dafne Keen returning as X-23/Laura because that partly stems from Keen really wanted to go to the movie’s premiere.

Overall, the weakest element of Deadpool & Wolverine might be the cameos. Much like with the Illuminati in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, they are so interchangeable. For instance, in the scene where Laura talks Wolverine into storming Cassandra’s castle. Laura’s part could have been performed by Anna Paquin as Rogue, and they would have needed to change only one or two words, maybe not even that.

Why You Should See The Movie

Deadpool & Wolverine is an entertaining superhero movie. The meta jokes are hilarious. Like when Deadpool comments that Blade (Wesley Snipes) never liked him, alluding to the hostility between Snipes and Reynolds on the set of Blade: Trinity. Or when Electra (Jennifer Garner) tells Deadpool not to be upset that Cassandra killed Daredevil (Ben Affleck), which works both as a joke as to how much that movie sucks and the fact their actors got divorced.

Besides the jokes, the main thing I liked about Deadpool & Wolverine is that it didn’t emotionally fail me like The Adam Project did. The part where the two title characters save the day by using the power of friendship (and Madonna). Or the montage in the credits, which plays clips and behind-the-scenes footage of past 20th Century Fox movies set to “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” by Green Day. Both of those moments did genuinely pull at my heartstrings.