(The Disneycember logo is shown, before showing clips from Deadpool & Wolverine)
Doug (vo): Yeah, you all know what you're here for. You've probably already seen my Untitled Review Show on Deadpool & Wolverine, so you already know my thoughts on it. So this Disneycember review is mainly gonna be me, yeah, sure, talk about the movie a little bit and the plot, what works, but mainly, it's talking about spoilers. Yeah, I didn't have a spoiler section when I did Untitled Review Show, so I'm gonna do it now, because I think we can all agree there's a lot of spoilers that people really like to talk about with this movie, so this is my chance to talk about 'em.
Story[]
Doug (vo): Deadpool is back, and this time, he's trying to make something of his life. He tries to become an Avenger with, yes, Happy Hogan talking to him. Oh, my God! The biggest cameo in the movie...yeah, for a second, I really thought, "Oh, this is, like, one of the big ones we got?" Yeah, no, there's a lot more coming. And when they turn him away because they think he's not Avengers-material, he goes to get a regular job, but then the TVA appear, saying that a lot of shit is going down, Deadpool can help out with it. The only catch is, it'll cost his entire universe and all his friends, which is apparently gonna happen either way, unless he gets a Wolverine into the equation in...kind of a forced way that I think maybe makes sense, maybe doesn't, but nobody really cares. This movie just exists for fan service, comedy, and action, and it does all of those pretty well.
Review[]
Doug (vo): My brother had the best description of it. He said it's both the best Deadpool movie and the worst Deadpool movie. It's the worst because you probably care the least about what's going on, which, okay, there wasn't a ton of investment in the other movies, but there was enough. I like these characters fine, and wanted to see Wade get his revenge and everything. But this one, the main plot is so not important and so not even that focused on, like, they have two villains in this and they go back and forth between which one is the real bad villain, and they're on-camera so little or, at the very least, make so little an impact, that I sometimes forgot what their evil plans were. On top of the fact that he's supposed to be fighting for his friends in this, and they're really not in the movie much and you don't see them interact much. And, yeah, sure, they were in the other movies, but even then, they were...passable, like, not really that big a deal. But it's also the best Deadpool movie because it knows what the big deal is and what people want to see. They want to see all these cameos pop up, they want to see Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman together working off each other, and there is a ton of that. And it's well-done and funny and well-choreographed, and I like that there's subtle jokes, but there's also "in your face" jokes. Like, if you're a die-hard fan of not only X-Men but the Marvel movies before Disney took them over, there's a lot of fun callbacks and little background jokes. But if you're just someone that likes to see Deadpool be funny and chop people up and just say some one-liners, it's good for that, too.
(Two large amounts of footage focusing on the appearances, either cameos or major supporting roles, of dozens of characters from past non-MCU Marvel films is shown. The first amount of clips shown focus on the characters that work for one of the villains)
Doug (vo): But, there. There's my thoughts on the movie in general. Now we're just gonna jump right into the spoiler stuff. Just about all the cameos worked, and what I liked is that the movie is very smart at knowing which ones people want to see more of, even if they don't necessarily connect to the characters or story as much. For example, in the trailers, they show Sabretooth all over the place, and, yeah, he's not really in it that much. And, yeah, Wolverine and Sabretooth, they're these amazing rivals, die-hard enemies, but in the movie, they weren't really that impressive, and I think they're aware of that, so I think they know we don't really want to see that big a battle between them. So when he pops up and it's over in just a few seconds, that is pretty funny. Other characters like Pyro or Toad make an appearance. Again, it's cool to see them, but we don't really need that much focus on them. I think we know that we like some of the early X-Men movies, but there's very few that we actually love.
(The second amount of clips shown focus on the characters that are a part of a group known as "the Others", the group which joins Deadpool and Wolverine, particularly focusing on the group's leader, Laura/X-23)
Doug (vo): So the cameos they really focus on are the ones that maybe deserved a little bit more love or maybe didn't end on the best note. For example, Elektra, Blade, and even some characters that never got a shot, like Channing Tatum as Gambit. Even bringing back X-23, I thought, "Well, are they really gonna have time to do something with this? Because everything just felt fleshed out enough in Logan. Do I really need to see this character really connect with him again?" And I thought they handled it pretty well, because they made it clear this is a different Wolverine, and...maybe it's a different X-23, I'm not sure, but whether it's the same one or a different one, I thought what they did with her worked just well enough. Like, I wasn't emotionally, like, ripped apart or teary-eyed or anything like that, but because we do know their history, we don't need a ton of focus on it, just a little bit. And the fact that it is these actors reunited again, I think does go a long way.
(While clips focusing on the cameo appearances continue to be shown, we see a decent amount of footage focusing on Deadpool, both masked and unmasked)
Doug (vo): I know a lot of people talk about big but quick cameos, like Henry Cavill as...no kidding, this is what he's credited as...the Cavillrine, that's pretty funny. And, yes, those jokes do work, and I do think a big part of that is because Ryan Reynolds does have his face covered, so you can kind of put in any dialogue you want there. Like, we don't know what was originally said here. Maybe it was this original writing, but because of so many things going on with both Disney and Warner Bros. so consistently, they can add whatever lines they want closer to when the film comes out. That's why I think it works a lot better when Ryan Reynolds is in the mask and not necessarily when he's out of the mask. When he doesn't have the mask on, I think he's very boring, even when he's trying to be funny. It has that lame kind of Marvel quippiness that isn't really working recently.
(Footage focusing on Johnny Storm/Human Torch's appearance is shown, as well as a few clips focusing on the scenes where Wade Wilson meets with Happy Hogan and when Paradox invites Wade to join the MCU)
Doug (vo): But out of all those quick cameos, the Johnny Storm one slayed me. And here's the thing. I said in my original review that I didn't like how much it was kissing the MCU's ass, like, it felt a little cringy and self-congratulatory, and, yeah, I just never, ever liked when Marvel did that. It's so rare that it works, and here, it really wasn't working. Like, I feel like Deadpool, sure, I can see him wanting to be an Avenger, but something about when he's saluting Captain America watching him on the screen, it is so lame. But if they didn't do that, I wouldn't have fallen for this joke. I really thought they were gonna do something as cringy as bringing Captain America in. And you see the little blue suit there, and he takes off the hood, and it so feels like an applause moment, and the way he's talking about it, again, I just felt like, "Oh, man, they're gonna botch it. They're not gonna know how to do it. This is gonna be Free Guy with the cringy references again." (An image from Free Guy showing Guy holding Captain America's shield is briefly shown) But, no. As soon as he says, "Flame on", I was busting a gut laughing. I just howled at the screen. This was so clever and so smart.
(More clips focusing on Elektra, Blade, and Gambit are shown)
Doug (vo): It goes without saying, seeing Jennifer Garner back as Elektra was kind of cool, and seeing, all right, not like an amazing ending for this character, but certainly better than the one we got. Wesley Snipes coming back as Blade was pretty cool, and I totally missed the reference where he says he doesn't like him, and Ryan Reynolds says, "You never did." Like...oh, yeah. (The poster for Blade: Trinity is shown) He was in Blade 3, wasn't he? I'm a little torn on Channing Tatum. Okay, like, this does look really cool. It's nice to see him in the role, and his accent is both really good and really bad at the same time, like, it is kind of the accent we're used to hearing from, like, the X-Men cartoons. But it's also so laughably over-the-top that, yeah, even Deadpool makes jokes about it, that, again, I'm kind of wondering if they added those jokes in post, but maybe not. And the costume does look a touch cosplay-ish. Like, okay, it is nice to see this character in three-dimensions in something that really looks like the comic, but at the same time, like, the coat. You don't need, like, this fancy-leathered coat where the collars stick up a little bit, like it's something right out of the comics. Like, you can just give him a regular brown trench coat. That's always what I felt was kind of badass about the character. But it was still great to see.
(Footage focusing on Wolverine, particularly his signature yellow costume and mask, is shown)
Doug (vo): We also have Wolverine in the classic yellow costume, and I remember when I saw those pictures, I said, "Yeah, it looks cool, but I need the mask, man. It's just not complete without the mask." So when that pops up in the last third, good God, my lizard brain went happy. I just smiled ear to ear. That image of them bursting out of the bus and Hugh Jackman screaming in that mask, that's, like, in my Top 3 favorite images in all the X-Men movies. But if I absolutely have to be objective, there are times in the last third where he's having conversations where I said, "You could've taken the mask off here." Like, there's moments where he's supposed to be emoting, and, yeah, to Jackman's credit, he could've phoned this in, and he didn't. He's still giving a million percent. But we want to see those emotions, we want to see those reactions, and in an action sequence, that mask looks great. But when he's talking through the door and they're going back and forth about who's gonna sacrifice themselves, he needed to take that mask off. It was just a little too distracting.
(Clips focusing on an army of Deadpools are shown)
Doug (vo): I'll admit, I haven't read much of the Deadpool comics, so it was neat seeing all these Deadpools together, even if I didn't always know what they represented or the past of them was or anything like that. But that giant fight they have at the end and just watching all their different reactions to getting knocked out or stabbed or killed or whatever is pretty priceless. Like, this was very well-choreographed. And, of course, the big payoff that they all just come right back to life is really funny, even though, I will admit, you could've cut them and not really miss anything. Like I said, I did feel like the movie was a little long, and it's not even actually that long, it just feels long because of moments like this. I do think there's some pacing issues. But they are moments that you want to go back and watch again. I just wish they were pieced together a little better.
(Various clips resume showing)
Doug (vo): I'd be lying if I said the movie wasn't as subversive as I think it was trying to get across, like, "Ha-ha, we're not going to just do the typical Marvel stuff and praise the MCU and Disney and everything." And it's like, they tell some really good jokes I'm surprised they did get away with in this current environment at Disney and everything, but...they still kiss their ass quite a bit, too. But as a lot of people have said, this does feel more like a goodbye to all the Marvel movies before the MCU took over. And to Disney's credit, I have heard that, like, Ryan Reynolds and the writers and everything did try really hard to get a lot of these jokes in that they didn't want, and, yeah, that sucks, but at the same time, they did let them pass in the end, and I think it really paid off. I can't act like they've always been so shut down to any criticism or anything, 'cause even the ending to She-Hulk, I thought was pretty satirical and really funny, so there is that awareness there. And I think the fact that this movie did so well does show that there's a lot of people who like that humor and like that MCU does show a lot of satire. And this is the perfect character to show it with.
Final thought[]
Doug (vo): Overall, I'm glad we got the movie we got. I can't say it's great, but it has great moments in it, if you're an X-Men fan. If you're not, I think you'll see it as just an okay action, comic book flick. But let's face it, a lot of people watching this are die-hard fans, and the movie does seem made for them, but not an absolute requirement. You can still enjoy it even if you don't know who this character is. There might just be a few jokes that you either don't find as funny or just might confuse you a little bit, but doesn't take away too much from the overall fun. I'm glad after all these years, Ryan Reynolds got these movies made. I'm glad now that several studios have listened to him and took a little bit of a risk, and it does seem like it's a risk that's paid off. And as an X-Men fan, I'm glad they gave me so many moments that'll live rent-free in my head. It's not a phenomenal film, but it's just the right amount of friggin' awesome.
(A scene showing Deadpool, Wolverine, X-23, Gambit, Blade and Elektra preparing to fight is shown)