Disclaimer: Mild Spoilers.
Like most things that go on for a really long time, the Marvel Cinematic Universe too, has it's share of missteps and low points that came mostly after the post-Endgame era (with notable exceptions being No Way Home and Shang Chi). But even in those films that have largely missed what they were going for, they still had the distinct-MCU flavor and charm somewhere in them and though they turned out to be largely forgettable, they still felt like a toned down version of the same great MCU that had sparked the joy of Superhero films Worldwide for more than a decade.
But it all changes with Deadpool and Wolverine, the latest entry in Marvel's billion dollar juggernaut franchise and it represents basically everything that's wrong about a movie factory that prioritizes franchise machinations than just making an earnest and memorable film which honors it's source materials while still taking things to exciting new territories. And Deadpool and Wolverine is an exact opposite of that--it's soulless, obnoxious and feels forced into the MCU for mostly shock value and cheap thrills. It uses shameless nostalgia baiting to lure audiences for a film that's got story problems so foundational that no amount of 4th Wall breaking clever (which often comes off as dis-ingenious and cheap, compared to it's predecessors where it actually felt novel) shenanigans can ever hope to save it.
And it goes wrong from the get-go--surely I can't be the only one who felt the opening fight sequence not only to be disrespectful to Logan, but also coming off as borderline offensive and macabre. Deadpool dancing while decapitating and eviscerating the mercs in increasingly cruel ways and the audience is supposed to cheer and applaud just cause a cheesy pop song is playing in the background--is perhaps the worst shtick ever seen in it's genre. It's gimmicky, devoid of Humanity and definitely isn't funny in any conceivable way. And the fact that the movie tries really hard to sell this to it's audience as something delightful and enjoyable makes it lose it's soul all the more.
It's this kind of pretentious-ness that makes Deadpool and Wolverine the lowest point the MCU has ever been in--sure it brought back some of the more popular and fan favorite characters from the FOX X-Men Movie-verse but it provides neither care nor justice for any of them. Johnny Storm aka the Human Torch is shown and killed off in a way that's just plain disrespectful and unfair, not to mention his character doesn't even fit his portrayal back from the original Fantastic Four films at all. It's a darn shame that the movie doesn't just treat him poorly, but most of other characters have been used as little more than nostalgia baits for the fans.
Just compare this to the cameos in No Way Home where both Spider Men had a proper sense of continuity to their characters and while this kind of treatment might be too much to ask for all the characters that were featured in Deadpool and Wolverine, one still can't help but feel that most of them were used merely for riding the nostalgia wave. Of course, Gambit is the sole exception to this but everyone else, from Laura to Electra, from Blade to Juggernaut--all of them were relegated to little more than glorified cameos, for the film to use and then conveniently dispose of. It's just one more ways that this film trades it's Heart for spectacles and becomes the worst example of the corporate movie machine that cares more about instant crowd pleasing than it's themes or characters.
Overall Deadpool and Wolverine feels like a desperate attempt to inject new Life into a longstanding franchise by using as many of the genre tropes as the filmmakers possibly could--from bringing back Hugh Jackman as Wolverine to a large cast of ensemble characters that evokes a nostalgia trip to the early days of comicbook films, this film checks all the boxes of the modern day Superhero blockbuster trip, except leaving out the most important part--which is being a decent standalone film in the first place.
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