If the word bombastic were on steroids, it could almost describe “Deadpool”
Vulgar, bloody, with a “smell of necrophilia” and a burning irreverence, it is a flaunt of the bromance styles of its stars, who do everything imaginable to mark the course of Fox’s Marvel films with love.
“Disney bought Fox,” Deadpool explains, “[so there’s] this totally annoying rights thing. “
Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool/Wade Wilson, left, and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine/Logan in a scene from “Deadpool”
At the beginning of the film, it takes time for Wolverine/Logan to return from the dead: “Nothing will bring you back to life faster than a big bag of Marvel money,” Deadpool says to Wolverine’s remains.
But once this complicated (but action-packed) setup is removed, the movie kicks off the plot with fists flailing.
Before, during and after the big, bloody action sequences, the film shamelessly blurs the line between life on and off screen. Deadpool obnoxiously calls Logan “Hugh” and even attacks Jackman’s recent divorce. Later, he mentions “Gossip Girl,” the show that made Reynolds’ wife, Blake Lively, famous.
This fourth wall-breaking riff fits Reynolds’ trademark and distinguishes self-conscious “Deadpool” movies from superhero movies.
“Fox killed him,” Deadpool says of Wolverine. “Disney brought him back. They’ll make him do this until he’s 90!”
Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool/Wade Wilson and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine/Logan in a scene from “Deadpool”
Humor has its place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), in the lines of Tony Stark, in the “Thor” videos of the Taika Waititi era and in “Guardians of the Galaxy”, to name a few examples, but none of them provoke laughter in a subversive way.
Jackman usually plays it straight, acting as a sounding board for “The Merc with a Mouth’s” one-liners. Filled with events beyond, the self-loathing, hard-drinking Wolverine is a comic-book-clad mutant who reluctantly embraces heroism. .
Wolverine’s bureaucracy is the center of the story as a counterpoint to Deadpool’s constant pranks.
Both characters may be physically indestructible, but their psyches are not. Both are tortured, and while the film rarely gushes blood or laughs out loud, it’s about lost souls and their quest for redemption. This fairytale chord is a note of grace that gets lost in the midst of the film’s cacophonous action, but it’s a welcome relief from the constant rumble.
A love letter to the now-defunct era of Fox’s superhero movies, “Deadpool
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