Deadpool has long been considered the black sheep of the superhero world, or maybe as he would put it, a black unicorn. No one really expected there to be movies made about him; he was weird, and he was gimmicky. But if there is one thing every Deadpool movie has given us, it is a pretty comic accurate Deadpool. Ryan Reynolds fit the role perfectly, and they just keep making money. So is this one any good? Well, one thing is for sure, it is the third one in the series, and it is just like the first ones in the ways that are good, and in the ways it is bad.
Let’s get one thing out of the way first. I enjoyed the cameos in this movie. I do not really want to spoil them, but honestly, I believe anyone reading this article has already seen the movie, so you guys know what I am talking about. I think the cameos were used perfectly well, and they worked as a good send-off to the Fox universe of Marvel films.
I think the acting, like with all the movies in this series, is pretty good. I like Matthew Macfayden in anything, and he works pretty well as the villain, Mr. Paradox. Ryan Reynolds does his great job playing Deadpool, and also Hugh Jackman gives a weirdly amazing performance as Wolverine, almost on par with his performance of the character in Logan. Hugh could have easily just taken the paycheck and slept through this movie delivering his lines in a monotone voice, and it still would have made a billion dollars. But the effort Hugh puts into this role really stands above the other performances, even Ryan Reynolds, and it honestly makes the movie much better. The raw emotions he brings to certain scenes elevate the film.
Let’s talk about one of the things in these movies that are a bit hit or miss for me; the comedy. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t laugh a lot when I watched this movie, but there were an equal number of moments where I was sitting in silence. Honestly, I believe the jokes that usually work really well in a Deadpool are when he is making a joke about filmmaking tropes, or making fun of Fox/Disney IP, not when he’s just swearing randomly or making sex jokes just because he can. Those jokes never really work in these movies and they do them a lot. It is honestly kind of a shame, and while there is definitely a place in these movies for those jokes, it just feels like they do it too much.
On the topic of this vulgarity, I would like to talk about this movie’s R-rating. I know I was just saying how I didn’t love the sex jokes or swearing jokes in these movies, but I’m just coming out and saying that this movie doesn’t feel like an R-rated film. Sure there’s blood, guts, and some stuff you might not be able to get away with in a PG-13 movie, but at its core, the story of this movie feels like the story of a PG-13 movie. There’s nothing in its plot that makes it feel like it needs the rating, nothing extremely serious to push it over the edge, or insanely gross either. It feels like a PG-13 movie wearing a costume just to say, “I’m R-rated, unlike the other Marvel movies, look how cool I am!” But it is not cool, it is just kind of lame.
Another thing I semi-enjoy and don’t enjoy at the same time is the action scenes. Now, this might be my hottest take here, but this movie has the worst action scenes out of all three. Sure, the opening one is kind of iconic, but what others in the movie were truly memorable? There were some cool things that happened in some of them, but not really anything to make them feel special. I honestly think this is because of director Shawn Levy. I think of Levy as a, “This actor wants to get a movie made, let’s just give him this guy,” kind of director. He will get the job done, but he will put almost zero style into it, which is what made the first Deadpool movie’s action scenes so great. It’s not the worst thing in the world, but it does make this movie slightly worse than the others.
Honestly, I could keep going. I could talk about how the movie’s plot leaves a lot to be desired, or how Wolverine’s backstory in this movie is not nearly tragic enough for how much it was built up, or how the other main villain in this movie, Cassandra Nova, is extremely boring and generic, but let’s be honest with ourselves here. You, the reader, have probably already seen it. If you haven’t seen it already, go ahead, it is fine. It is a mostly enjoyable time, you will not feel like you’ve wasted your time watching it. But I must tell you that it is not a great movie, and it is not some masterpiece in comedy, like I have heard some of my friends say outside of KO. It is the same movie you’ve already seen for the third time.
