Film: Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)

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Crikey! A movie from Marvel! It’s been a while! 👍👍

I’m off to the local Odeon with Jo & Janet to see their latest – Deadpool & Wolverine – the 34th (yes, really, see later) in Marvel’s super-hero movie franchise.

And this isn’t just ANOTHER one from the Marvel Film Factory… this one is supposed to restore Marvel’s reputation as the producer of blockbuster super-hero movies. A little worrying then, that the Telegraph’s chief movie critic, Robbie Collin, recently awarded it just ONE STAR!

But hey! What does he know? 😉. But he may have a point! From this fan’s perspective, the only way is surely UP after the recent crappy output from Marvel including: Thor: Love and Thunder (garbage!), Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (disappointing!), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (ditto) and The Marvels (horrid!). It’s hard to believe, but Marvel has been churning out these movies since 2008, so maybe it’s just film-fatigue! 🤔

Phase 1 (2008 to 2012)
1. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
2. Captain Marvel (2019)
3. Iron Man (2008)
4. Iron Man 2 (2010)
5. The Incredible Hulk (2008)
6. Thor (2011)
7. The Avengers/Avengers Assemble* *Slightly different title for the UK only (2012)

Phase 2 (2013 to 2015)
8. Iron Man 3 (2013)
9. Thor: The Dark World (2013)
10. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
11. Guardians of the Galaxy (2017)
12. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (2017)
13. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
14. Ant-Man (2015)

Phase 3 (2016 to 2019)
15. Captain America: Civil War (2016)
16. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
17. Doctor Strange (2016)
18. Black Panther (2017)
19. Thor: Ragnarök (2017)
20. Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
21. Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
22. Avengers: Endgame (2019)
23. Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)

Phase 4 (2021 to 2022)
24. Black Widow (2021)
25. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
26. Eternals (2021)
27. Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
28. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
29. Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
30. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)

Phase 5 (2023-2024)
31. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)
32. Guardians of the Galaxy (Volume 3) (2023)
33. The Marvels (2023)

For my sins, I’ve seen them all – with Captain America: The First Avenger being the first, and IMHO the best! 😊👍. Anyway, back to today and here is the most recent official trailer

I picked up Jo & Janet just after 1pm and we headed for Screen 4…

Synopsis

“Deadpool’s peaceful existence comes crashing down when the Time Variance Authority (The TVA) recruits him to help safeguard the multiverse.
He soon unites with his would-be pal, Wolverine, to complete the mission and save his world from an existential threat”.

OK, we’re going in! See you in 135 minutes! 😉👍

Any good..?

If you’ve already got a feel for Marvel super-hero movies, this one WILL be a surprise – on so many levels.

Violent! Yes, and some! 🤔. Within the first 10-minutes, a blood-bath ensued and it was all pretty graphic. This will put a lot of people off, but stick with it (if you can). Be prepared though for more of the same, in all shapes and sizes, as the story plays out.

Style? It’s not usual for Marvel to give their movies an overall comedic style (and for me, this hasn’t worked too well in the past for them), but surprise, surprise, it worked really well on this occasion. It’s not laugh-out-loud, but it is witty!

Fourth Wall? Another departure from the ‘Marvel norm’ and they carried it off in such a way that it all felt part of the unfolding story.

Dialogue? Very clever. It helps if you know your Marvel film history and the various references (sometimes visually) to the franchise’s backstory. All this gave the script an extra lift with its numerous reference points to what had gone before (the good and the bad). Even as a casual viewer, you’ll find it a giggle, but super-fans (like me) will enjoy these extra layers to the rather simplistic plot.

Worth seeing..?

For me, the self-awareness of the franchise’s highs and lows to-date referenced directly and indirectly throughout plus the occasional ‘breaking the fourth wall’ gave it all an extra something. The story itself isn’t that spectacular compared say to earlier storylines, but it all works. If you’re missing your spandex, be prepared too for the appearance of quite a few other super-heroes from past movies – especially one of the original Avengers… but not in the role you’d expect. How many did you spot? 🤔

In so many ways, this was NOT just another Marvel outing. Has it restored Marvel’s reputation? I’m not sure, and certainly not based on the plot alone, but its ‘self-knowing’ style and the chemistry between the two leads brought a certain something to the story that’s been sadly lacking in recent MCU instalments. I think this one will rise above those with ease and with Marvel confirming that they are now going to concentrate on qualITY rather quantITY, things look for a re-pairing in the future – they’d be mad not to! 😉

And there’s more…

Us Marvel fans are used to sticking around for the mid-credit and post-credit scenes to get a glimpse of what’s next for the Marvel ‘juggernaut’. Although there is one, you can afford to miss it, as it doesn’t add much to what’s coming up.

If you’ve grown somewhat weary of recent Marvel movies, this one is a refreshing change. With bags chemistry, wit and (mostly) respectful nods to the past make this an unusual, but ultimately satisfying, instalment to the franchise.