Watching – Deadpool and Wolverine

Together again … for the first time!

TLDR – A solid movie featuring the Merc with the Mouth, mayhem, and more cameos, call backs, and deep cuts than you can possibly take in from a single watching! My plan is to watch again in theaters and throw my money at it for my personal library to support more movies like this.

Not a movie for everyone. If you shy away from graphic extreme violence or extreme language (I heard there was 116+ F-bombs alone, much less the extremely creative cussing that goes on and if you don’t want to explain some of these words to your tween-ager, best leave them at home), then yeah, Deadpool & Wolverine might not be for you. Plenty of scenes involving impalings and dismemberment but nudity and sex scenes are kept to the side this time.

Despite jokes about certain actors being enslaved by the House of Mouse for as long as their movies are making money (I see you there RDJ!), there is so much here that is a labour of love for the lore of Marvel Comics and the pre MCU movies. If anyone was going to break the barriers between media forms, it’s got to be the genre savvy Deadpool smashing that 4th wall with asides to the audience and meta-references throughout.

Without giving away spoilers, a few things that stood out to me as examples of that attention to details. There’s a fight scene that pulls stunt work right from the original X-Men movie. It stands out so starkly from the fluidity of the fight choreography elsewhere in the movie that it had to be a deliberate choice. Some scenes are pulled directly from iconic comic covers (particularly during the montage). One setting is literally a junkyard where props from the comics and the movies litter the ground, including a dusty copy of Secret Wars (the more recent one, not the original 1985 one as that’s less relevant to this plot).

There are so many actors reprising their old roles from other movies that I was compelled to check the credits to confirm not just the big names but also the minor ones. Some characters are basically daring the MCU to bring them to the screen. If Hydra Bob appeared, I missed it but it would not have surprised me if he had popped in for a photobomb or a signature on a birthday card. And of course, creator names get dropped in on storefronts and such. There is so much fan-candy to be had here (and lots of blogs give the full spoilers for those interested). For those less versed in the lore, there’s enough action and wisecracking to be entertaining and minor exposition to carry things forward. Still, watching at least the first Deadpool or reading up on Loki Season 1 wouldn’t hurt.

And one cannot talk about a Deadpool movie without mentioning the music soundtrack. The score delivers and the pop music is right up there with those of the previous two movies, juxtaposing the hyperkinetic violence with Madonna (no spoiler, it’s in the ad and they actually deliver, unlike some bait and switch soundtracks), creating a John Woo dissonance and yet you can’t help but start grooving along.

Of course, there’s some stuff during the credits. I’d call it a tribute that plays alongside with it. The post credit scene is expected and amusing but not a “WOW! Easter egg for the next Marvel movie” bit.