If you didn't read the full title of the post there will be spoilers. I'm not going to white them out. You've got your warning.
I've seen both of the Deadpool movies but none of the X-Men movies. I have them. I just haven't watched them. If you've read any of my blog you'll know I'm woefully behind on my media watching. But these have moved up the list. Any references I make to Wolverine will be things I found from the comics. Not that I've read those either but cut me some slack.
Comparing this one to the previous two it's clear that Disney let them go to the limits of an R rating. I'm going to give an example here. In the first movie the concept of pegging was implied and Wade was reconsidering his decision. In this movie the word is used and it's darn clear that Deadpool isn't new at it. The profanity is easy enough to brush off but this is a whole new thing to bring into Disney. And Disney let it in. Pun kind of intended.
This is a buddy cop movie. Mostly. But the interpersonal stuff is very much a buddy cop movie. And that helps it immensely because I think Deadpool needs a strong straight man to play against. Without that he's quite frankly annoying after a while. With someone to play off and pull the character back it becomes more effective. Wolverine is a very good straight man here.
Small note. I have a major crush on Hugh Jackman at the moment so, sorry.
I know that there's a lot of comic and fan art showing Deadpool and Spider-Man in a ship (relationship, I'm trying to keep up with my slang) of some kind. That won't work in the MCU because of the age they're playing Spider-Man. We'll never get that combination. But Wolverine? Well ...
The Beginning
I think they did a great job bringing back Wolverine without taking away from the legacy that X-Men built. Nothing here diminishes Logan. They used the TVA to open the multiverse to bring in A Wolverine, not THE Wolverine. Because now there's no such thing as A character. By bringing in a completely different variant they could make this version what they needed for the movie. A reboot with the same actor, as it were.
Oh. Someone online pointed out that Mr. Jackman is no longer the only actor to play Wolverine due to one of the cameos. I hadn't thought of that but it also didn't matter too much to me. I don't think anyone should get their hopes up about a change to that actor. It was done for the LOLs and fan service.
The plot is a bit thin if you want my honest opinion. Rogue TVA agent needing to be stopped. X-Man variant about to cause multiverse havoc and needing to be stopped. Confluence to stop them. Buddy cop movie stuff. But honestly this movie isn't about plot. It's about Deadpool and Wolverine. So accept it and move on.
Wolvie and Deadpool (I won't abbreviate him to DP because, well, IYKYK) end up in The Void from the Loki TV series. That sets up a lot of the rest of the movie and allows for an absolute shit ton of X-Men characters to be introduced to the MCU without any regard for what happens to them in the future movies. These are variants in The Void. As I said, MCU used what they had and used it well.
I may get these fights out of order and I apologize for that if I do. Because for me this is a movie where great fight scenes are strung together with some dialog.
The Void Fight
This is the first fight between the two. The long-awaited fight. It showcases both characters' abilities and lots of action. And gore. But since both heal there's plenty more gore where that came from. They did right by the fans on this.
The sound of Wolverine's claws extending through the suit glove? Oh yeah ...
The Sabretooth Variant Fight
Another well done thing here. Yes, this is an important fight in X-Men canon. But it isn't here. So after the fight everyone wanted here's another fight everyone wanted.
They had Wolverine make the smart decision and it was the smart decision for the fight itself.
The Capture Fight
The boys are captured. The head Void bad guy is revealed. Many naughty X-Man variants. Fighting occurs, the boys escape due to Wolverine's knowledge of X-Men gadgets or because he just knows stuff. It's not explained and it doesn't need to be. They get the heck out of there.
Why am I not talking more about this? Because it's not a bad fight scene, it's just not that interesting to me.
The Honda Odyssey Fight
I will put this fight into the top five fight scenes in my personal record book. The fight choreographer deserves an Oscar for the movie but this fight? *Chef's kiss*
This is where two inhumanly strong unkillable (Note 1) characters really try to, well, kill each other. Since they both know it can't happen it's where they can just let go and fight to their little hearts' content. They have different fighting styles, there's a lotta gore, and I love it. There's a break in the fight scene where both of them are sprawled out over seats in the minivan and I'm so going to get a screen capture of Wolverine from that. Deadpool is admittedly in a similar type of position but he just doesn't do it for me and never has, in that way.
The fight is creative and has elements of humor from both of them that make it so much better.
I have to do this and I apologize in advance. There's a fan theory out there that the fight is a metaphor for a different kind of, um, action. I can see that. I can see how it was intended to evoke that question. But I'm gonna leave that one alone because there's other points in the movie where they also tease the question.
The Headquarters Fight
After meeting up with the resistance group they were told about earlier the whole team heads over to do two things - get the boys back to their multiverse and give the variants 'an ending' since they're tired of living in limbo in The Void. Wolverine gets to make an entrance since he at first declined to join them then hitched a ride in the still functional Odyssey, just so he could unfold from the hatch and make up the iconic standing team pose.
Much fighting. They get back to the multiverse. The fate of the others isn't known but at last seeing they were all still standing. Which makes sense since it didn't need that kind of tragedy.
The Deadpool Fight
As a diversion the head bad guy brings in all the variant Deadpools to prevent the boys from doing what they need to do. So one yellow suit in a sea of red. Both red suits and gore. I had to watch the movie twice and focus on following Wolverine because it's fast paced action. I'm honestly not sure if they sped up footage or not. But Mr. Jackman's arms and back must have been sore after filming those due to how many times he punched those claws into various Deadpools.
I'll watch this one a few more times to get a feel for what's going on but overall, not bad. It's going to be more of a challenge to pick out Deadpool Prime (his own term) from the others but I should be able to do it. I like seeing the choreography.
There's variants here from a lot of the comics. There's some cameos as well but it's more difficult to know since they all wear freaking masks. Go to IMDB or fan sites if you want to know those. I won't bother here.
The Ending
The ending has predictable setup of something that needs to be done but will kill whoever does it. There's some pretty good stuff between Wolverine and Deadpool over who should do it. And, predictably, it will end up needing both to make it happen.
This is where the Hugh Jackman shirtless scene occurs. Some people are saying it's CGI enhanced and I can see why but I think it's just good lighting and baby oil that makes the difference. Mr. Jackman works hard to get into shape for these and he went through the standard dehydration routine to make sure the muscles showed to their best advantage. The pose helped too.
Was the shirtless scene gratuitous? Of course it was. But it was also enjoyed and didn't last long beyond the pivotal scene. Then it was mocked so it all works out.
Spoiler - they don't die.
There's a bit of a redemption arc in the final scenes but it works given how things have developed. There's also a little more of why fans are talking about the two of them being closer than buddies, if that's what you want to see in it.
The mid credit scene is backstage, blooper, and clips from all of the X-Men movies. Even never having seen them I will admit I teared up a little. It was a lovely sendoff to the Fox versions.
The after credit scene? Well played indeed.
Summary
I'll get this out of the way first. Deadpool is comic book canonically unapologetically pansexual. Comic book Wolverine is in a thruple with Jean and Cyclops and they've hinted that it's a true thruple with the men also being involved in the situation. In that case Wolverine is at least heteroflexible if not bisexual. So it could happen.
As I said earlier I felt the story was thin. That happens and honestly there was no way the plot was going to or should compete with the two main characters themselves. It was a reason for them to do things and that's enough for a comic book movie, really.
With the amount of money Deadpool movies make and the recent MCU flops I think Disney had to sit on most of their objections and let this movie be a hard R. That gave them creative freedom to decide where to push limits and actually toned down what they might have done otherwise. When you have that freedom you can direct it to where it's best suited to be.
I asked a friend if Wolverine was more openly violent in this movie than in the others and the answer was an emphatic 'Yes'. Fox must have also reined in the visual violence to keep them at PG-13. It makes sense given the atmosphere at the time and the desire to have a larger audience. Comic book movies were meant for kids and fans. They weren't as mainstream as they are now.
The fights all made sense in context. The characters were consistent. The cameos were good. It was a solidly entertaining movie and I look forward to watching it again.
If you have your own opinions or want to correct me about something feel free to comment. If I'm terribly wrong I'll update the post. If it's an opinion thing we'll duke it out in the comments.
Note 1
That whole 'unkillable' thing has issues. There's a lot of debate about just how unkillable each of the characters really is and why. They do have different types of healing factors where what is worse for one is not much for the other. The healing factors are also plot armor in all cases so they're what they need to be in the story. I'll just say 'unkillable for the needs of the MCU' and there you go. No need to rip me a new one.
In the first Deadpool movie Ajax/Francis injects Wade with what looks like blood droplets in plasma. As with so many things it's questioned whether or not that's Wolverine's blood. Given the healing factor thing it would make sense. The comics bring up Weapon X. It's never explained in the movies and I doubt it will be so make up your own mind on it. Didya even remember that injection thing?
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