The latest installment to the beloved series of Deadpool movies finds itself as the first to be integrated into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and sees the ruthless antihero teaming up with X-Men's iconic Wolverine. Certainly an entertaining concept, but the end result is arguably one of the strangest superhero films ever made in recent years, featuring all the bloody violence and adult humour diehard fans would come to expect, but offering little else to satisfy viewers looking for some more depth.
Now the core plot of Deadpool & Wolverine is confusing, it's fair to say; the film essentially parodies the many timelines Marvel has established with their countless film adaptations across various studios over the years, even those established before the MCU came to be. It sees Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) in a quest to save his own universe from perishing, a fate triggered by the absence of its anchor being Logan/Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). The rest is really hard to explain without waffling on for ages or revealing crucial spoilers, but what goes on from there is arguably a jumbled mess that doesn't quite know what to do with its admittedly amusing premise.
It of course goes without saying that Deadpool & Wolverine offers a nice handful of entertaining and unrestrained action sequences, and they for the most part they all deliver a suitable mixture of thrills and humour. However, intertwined with all this is a largely repetitive array of overused jokes, from Deadpool's increasingly cheesy fourth wall breaks to Wolverine's drunken mannerisms. The earlier Deadpool films knew how to use these jokes effectively, and while Deadpool & Wolverine did make me laugh here and there, the overall tone still becomes excessive and samey, and even uses said jokes to quite often lazily cover up plot holes or allow for countless contrivances.
By the time the film's final act arrived, I simply had no idea what was going on; this is essentially an installment to the MCU that's parodying the MCU and Marvel in general, and so it doesn't quite feel like it truly knows what it wants to be. Is this a full on parody? A genuine installment? An awkward mixture of both? The latter is the closest answer I can really think of, and that's why it doesn't quite work most of the time. As a bit of harmless fun for the older crowd, Deadpool & Wolverine largely delivers, once again offering some funny jokes, some gripping action scenes and featuring solid performances from its main cast, but it otherwise has little else to offer and ultimately sticks out of the already degrading MCU like a sore thumb.
