Deadpool & Wolverine maintains the franchise's superiority over the competition, but it also sucks

Superhero fatigue has given way to exhaustion. Even as Disney and other corporations have dialled back on their hostile takeover of our screens, their omnipresence in culture still looms heavily. For some audiences, who enjoyed the occasional superhero flick, but were left jaded by the clean-cut corporatization of the subgenre, Deadpool presented a kind of antidote. He was not an ordinary hero and his films, at least on the surface, were different from other superhero films. They were bloody, ironic and foul-mouthed. An optimist could even argue that Deadpool (2016) exists somewhere between satire and parody; a fuck you to the edgeless family friendly Marvel films and self-serious WB films.

And yet, anyone who lived through the mid-2000s can tell you about the dangers of irony. When everything’s a joke, it flattens the critical experience. In many ways, Deadpool & Wolverine feels like the by-product of an earlier era. While Deadpool is joking about the death of Fox and the childishness of Disney, it does little to distract from the fact that Deadpool is little more than just another corporate product. It’s toothless and unambitious. It’s criticism void of nuance and impact. It amounts to little more than name- and I.P.-dropping. The film indulges, like many other Disney properties, in empty nostalgia — hoping that shiny little cameos will be enough to distract audiences long enough to forget how empty the movie is.

It should be noted that Deadpool & Wolverine is better than Deadpool 2. The effects are cleaner and the storyline more manageable. The addition of Hugh Jackman to the cast brings an intensity that grounds the movie without drowning it. The action is legible and inspired, though the recurring pairing of pop songs and extreme violence does begin to wear a bit thin. Like everything Disney these days, it all ends up feeling a little too formulaic. While it might seem petty to knock filmmakers for sticking with what works, the lack of spontaneity dulls any lasting impact.

The overwhelming tone of the film is grey. Quite literally, much of the film is set in a flat, grey wasteland. In full parody mode, the movie pokes fun at the Mad Max franchise, though the comparison only underlines how textureless and empty this world feels in comparison to the one created by George Miller. While, perhaps, we should be thankful for a multiverse film that doesn’t indulge in a weightless, psychedelic, CGI third-act, leaning so deeply in the other direction does the film few favours. The kind of mild beige colour correction even dulls the costumes, offering the characters little in the way of contrast with their dull surroundings.

Deadpool & Wolverine feels a little more considered than many of the recent superhero films. It doesn’t have the rushed, half-finished feel of movies like Thor: Love and Thunder. It knows what its audience expects and delivers exactly that. For critics like me who have long been sceptical of the big-brained “phases” of Marvel storytelling, there’s little to be said that hasn’t been said already. While this film might be injecting new characters into the mix, it’s ultimately a lot more of the same.

While you certainly could do worse than Deadpool & Wolverine, the fact that the movie achieves the bare minimum of competence should hardly be grounds for celebration. It’s not totally embarrassing, but remains uninspired and formulaic. It has little in the way of surprises unless you count cameos or easter eggs, but call me a cynic — it feels weak to parade pop cultural references as exciting plot points. It’s cheap pandering, nothing more and nothing less. ■

Deadpool & Wolverine is currently playing in Montreal theatres.

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