Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)

A 4th Wall Break Too Far

Wade (Ryan Reynolds) attends his birthday party with Vanessa (Morena Baccarin), Blind Al, the lesbian X-Men, and others.  He appears to be truly happy, despite the obvious cheap hairpiece.  But there is a knock on the door.  A band of armored goons have arrived to take him away.  His universe - an unremarkable timeline in the scheme of things - is marked for deletion unless a great hero can be found.  No, not Deadpool.  Deadpool knows just the guy: Wolverine (Hugh Jackman).  He uses a plane-hopping gizmo that he stole from the TVA (Time Variance Authority) to find a suitable Wolverine.  Mostly, he finds tragic, comic, or dead versions of Wolverine.  Finally, he locates a sad excuse for a Wolverine, but it's the best he's going to get.  Rejected!  Off to the void with you.  In the void, a variety of characters - heroes and villains - from abandoned Marvel series appear.

The movie leaps into the multiverse with glee and proposes an agency that determines the viability of each subverse in the MCU.  This allows the movie to grab characters from a variety of Marvel hero movies who were not part of the modern Marvel-verse.  For instance, Blade (Wesley Snipes), Elektra (Jennifer Garner), and the Human Torch (Chris Evans) all appear as characters that pre-date the MCU.  Laura - AKA X-23 (Dafne Keen) - also returns, providing a second callback to the tragic conclusion (apparently not) to Logan's story.  Though it is entertaining and funny, it proves to be too much.  Deadpool is no longer Deadpool, he is Ryan Reynolds playing Deadpool.  Yes, that is part of the schtick of Deadpool, but a little bit goes a long way.  This movie is one extended fourth wall break, piling the ludicrous upon the more ludicrous.  Again, it is fun as it goes, but it was something of a letdown.  With a multiverse of endless possibilities, it becomes difficult to care about this particular universe.  A lot of this feels like ad lib bloopers tied together as a movie.

The fights between Wolverine and Deadpool are overdone.  We have two characters with amazing healing factors mean they can't die.  One fight is fine.  The second is just pointless and makes the characters appear stupid.  Sure, it's played for laughs.  In the big fight where all the former characters get their opportunity to shine, they do.  In fact, they all kick butt and it is completely one-sided.  Apparently the villains weren't that tough.  Meh.

Again, I enjoyed the film while I was watching it, but it was like eating a box of cookies in one sitting.  Too much sweet and not so satisfying afterwards.  Nonetheless, recommended.

Missing Link (2019)

Sir Lionel Frost (Hugh Jackman) is drinking a tepid cup of tea in a rowboat in Loch Ness with his valet, Mr. Lint.  Frost hopes to capture irrefutable proof of the Loch Ness Monster.  Though he manages to take a picture of the great beast, things go awry and the camera is destroyed.  After returning to London, Mr. Lint resigns.  However, Sir Lionel has a new quest: to find Bigfoot in the American Northwest!  He proudly declares his intention to a local explorers' club that he has long wanted to join.  Lord Piggot-Dunceby (Stephen Fry) is adamantly opposed to Frost's plans and sends an assassin to make sure he is not successful.  Sir Lionel has hardly arrived in Washington than he meets Sasquatch (Zack Galifinakis).  To his great astonishment, bigfoot speaks!  He is the last of his kind in the area and sent the letter to Sir Lionel in hopes that he would help him reach Tibet where he could join the Yetis, whom he views as cousins.  Frost agrees.

Here is a fun adventure story that reminds one of Raiders of the Lost Ark or King Solomon's Mines.  A globe-trotting adventure that spans Scotland, England, the United States, India, and the Himalayas.  The settings are excellent and the claymation is terrific.  The animation of the elephant scene is shown as a post credits scene and demonstrates the immense effort taken to make this film.  Sir Lionel goes from being a man concerned entirely about his reputation to a man who connects with others.  Mr. Link - the name that Lionel bequeaths to bigfoot - finds a friend and is no longer lonely.  Adelina Fortnight (Zoe Saladana) leaves her self-imposed seclusion in the wake of her husband's death to partake in Mr. Link's quest for the Yetis.

Made by the same company that did Coraline, ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, and Kubo and the Two Strings, this was the most expensive of them and the first not to turn a profit.  That is unfortunate as it is a really entertaining movie.  Definitely recommended.

Logan

Logan (Hugh Jackman) doesn't look good.  His healing factor is failing him and his adamantium bones are now poisoning him to death.  He is making a living as a chauffer in El Paso.  South of the border, he has a place where he is hiding Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart).  Charles is suffering from dementia and causes considerable harm to those around him during his less lucid moments.  Serving as nurse when Logan is away is Caliban (Stephen Merchant), an albino mutant with a gift for tracking mutants.  Enter Laura (Dafne Keen), an 11 year-old genetically-engineered mutant who has abilities nearly identical to Wolverine.  Hmm.  She is being tracked by Pierce (Boyd Holbrook) and his band of cyborgs.  Logan wants to walk away but Charles believes they must aide Laura.  Let the chase begin!

 

This is very somber and dark for a superhero movie.  There is no shortage of killing and much of it is very graphic.  Logan's failing health leads to him having some impressive scars and even what should be fatal open wounds.  On the other side, there are moments that are very sweet.  The brief time when Logan introduces himself as Charles' son and indicates that Laura is his daughter was quite fitting.  I've never thought of Professor X as a father-figure for Logan but it works quite well here.  'Chuck' provides a conscience that Logan wants to ignore.

 

Poignant and sad, it reminds me a bit of Watchman.  All the exciting heroics are in the past which itself is a bygone era.  In a different genre, the performances by Jackman and Stewart are the sort that would be Academy Award material.  Definitely one to see and a great finish for Jackman and Stewart in the X-Men series.