Deadpool and Wolverine - SPOILER REVIEW!!!

The end to our X-Men re-review! As the movies have played out, I've kinda fallen out a bit on these movies. Many of them aren't good, but the good ones often defined a fair bit about the genre. So, after twenty years, how does the finale of all that handle the legacy of the X-Men? This movie acts as a closing chapter of the X-Men under Fox's leadership, handles the ending of the Deadpool trilogy, gives Wolverine a happy ending, and brings the X-Men into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. You better believe that this movie needed to be good and, thankfully, it nailed being good. That being said, it's not excellent, but it is good. Let's get into Deadpool 3!

SPOILERS AHEAD! WATCH THE MOVIE FIRST! OTHERWISE, CHARACTERS AND PLOT DETAILS SPOILED!

PLOT: A bit messy, but fun!

The plot of this movie focuses on Deadpool trying to save his world from extermination after the TVA lets him know that his world's anchor being, Wolverine, has died, thus causing its decay. Thus, he goes on a journey to find a new Wolverine and bring him back home. A lot of this movie explains more about the multiverse concept while adding fresh ideas to keep things interesting and likely build up stuff for the next Avengers movie, set to focus on multiversal shenanigans. It's very messy as a result of canons being mixed between Logan and Deadpool as well as former X-Men films. Supposedly, it ties into the post-credits scene of The Marvels, but don't go into the movie expecting them to explain that. All that being said, it's very engaging and fun! The only issue is the pacing which is by far the worst part of this film. By the two hour mark, you're waiting for the movie to be over. But, to balance my points out, the intro is amazing. No spoilers for that one here, but let's just say it's the hardest I've belly-laughed in a good long while.

CHARACTERS: Cameos with purpose and actors with talent.

Wesley Snipes as Blade, Dafne Keen as Laura (X-23), Jennifer Garner as Elektra, Channing Tatum as Gambit, and even Chris Evans as freakin' Human Torch, the casting here is insane! Many of these actors come back to give their characters their just dues. Deadpool and Wolverine are obviously done perfectly by Ryan and Hugh, but the side actors in this are all amazing. I care about Peter, played by Rob Delaney! I care about Blind Al, played by Leslie Uggams. I even care about Dogpool, played by the goodest doggo Peggy. This film is just a ton of actors demonstrating talent in swearing, extensive violence, and acting with masks on in Ryan's case. That being said, the big standouts for me are Wolverine, Gambit, and X-23. Wolverine's broken attitude drives this film forward and gives it that needed seriousness. Gambit is one of my favorite mutants and is done incredibly well here, to the point where I want more of Tatum as the character. Laura (X-23) is the driving force behind Wolverine's redemption and gives us an emotional connection to Logan that was much needed after the intro to this movie. Emma Corrin gives the villain Cassandra Nova a much needed deranged sociopathy that detaches her from anything else in this movie. It's great. Matthew Macfadyen also delivers a charismatic performance as Mr. Paradox, both making us love and hate him. Just great performances all over this thing.

SHOTS: For all the belly-aches...

This film has some great visuals, but some wack color-grading at points. Everything's kinda washed out and grey, but the visuals are on point. The action scenes are extensive and sometimes without cuts, there's some beautiful imagery of the hellscape known as the Void, and we even get some beautiful night cinematography. Overall, not much to say here besides add some friggin' color, MARVEL!!!

SOUND: Ooh, this one...

This movie's soundtrack is weird and fun in all the right notes. With a new composer carrying over from director Shawn Levy's previous works, Rob Simonsen gives this film a retro/sci-fi feel that truly does feel comic-booky in its sounds. It uses a lot of sounds to make it more wacky and funny in tone to fit the story, as the composer described the film as such. It definitely hits hard in all the important moments and has a moment I will save for the Little Things section because I need to talk about it more extensively. But, this film's score is nostalgic, yet new in the best of ways.

WRITING: Respectful to the classics and an interesting perspective.

This movie tackles the MCU's extensive canon and how it has chosen to recast/eliminate certain heroes in the past. It also has excellent on recasting iconic roles and throwing old actors to the side. With returning actors representing the death of their universes and their franchises (including one actor who doesn't even have a franchise and never got the chance), there's constant jokes to be made. But, the writing ultimately lets us know its intentions with Deadpool and Wolverine themselves. Wolverine being the last mutant left in his timeline tracks as he's the only one being carried over likely into the larger MCU. The act of Deadpool trying to save his universe is Deadpool trying to keep his franchise alive within the larger MCU while saving Hugh Jackman is him taking him out of the X-Men universe and into the MCU as well. The deeper meaning here is an interesting contrast to the clear want of an ending for the rest of the variants. Everything ties into the theme of "Sometimes things need to end, but not always on a bad note." It's just terrific.

LITTLE THINGS: Time of my life...

Okay, time for me to get sappy as I pull my point from the "Sound" section. The original movies were coming out when I was a kid and I always had awareness of the mid-2010s films even if I didn't watch every single one. But, the original trilogy alongside First Class, and Origins: Wolverine are a crucial if not flawed part of my childhood. Additionally, my dad (Hey, dad, hope you're reading) had a CD he gave me when I was 7 or 8 that featured a ton of Green Day, All-American Rejects, and other rock bands he was big on. We spent hours driving around with him listening to those songs and it developed my taste in rock at a fairly young age. So, when a montage of behind-the-scenes stuff began playing alongside "Good Riddance" by Green Day, I kinda choked up a bit. This song is synonymous with my childhood and perfectly captures my feelings on these movies. While the quality of many of them is not great and the director behind many of them is a piece of crap, there were great people behind every movie and this crucial part of my childhood is now over. I appreciate the team for making this little short BTS compilation to serve as a send-off to the X-Men of old. To me, my X-Men. You will be missed.

VERDICT: A fun romp through the Fox Universe that lacks in pacing and proper flow.

True to Deadpool, it's a funny movie with great action and solid characters that has a hard time in pacing and story flow. To everyone who wants a fun Marvel movie to distract from current world events, go watch this! It's a fun distraction and keeps the feels up throughout the whole thing. This movie caps off an entire cinematic universe while bringing new characters into the fold. Ending off a story or company is hard to be sure, but these characters are going somewhere new where they hopefully will have brand new stories. If you've seen X-Men '97, Disney's already showing vast potential for quality under the Marvel branch. But, for now, we end off the tale of Fox's ownership of this classic IP. Goodbye, Fox X-Men, hopefully we'll meet again some sunny day. I hope you had the time of your life.

SCORE: 8/10,