The Self-Satisfied DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE Has Laughs Aplenty But Is Slightly Less Than Specturb

Now playing at every multiplex in the multiverse:

DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE
(Dir. Shawn Levy, 2024)

Here it is – the long-awaited MCU entry #34 in which the merc with the mouth meets Mutate #9601 in the balls-out bromance for the ages. That is, the iconic characters, the ironic Deadpool, and the angry Wolverine - portrayed respectively by Ryan Reynolds, and Hugh Jackman - team up for what’s being billed as a “multiversal meta comedy,” and as the only Marvel movie being released in 2024, it has a lot riding on it.

 

This is something this heavily self-referential, and self-satirical sure-to-be summer blockbuster calls attention to a lot. Deadpool even snarks, “The multiverse? It’s just been miss after miss after miss…” at one point as the super twosome get deeper into their adventure, which I’m gonna to try to describe without too much detail. Also, I’m not gonna spoil all the cameos, and supposed surprises in store for those that are way into this sort of thing.

 

This is because it’s a purposely convoluted maze of scenarios involving Deadpool’s dying timeline, which he has to try to save via Wolverine as he’s the timeline’s anchor being, but, of course, he died at the end of LOGAN. No matter, our wise-cracking ant-hero locates, through a wacky montage, a Logan variant, who he presents to Mr. Paradox (Succession’s Matthew Macfadyen seemingly channeling Tim Curry, or maybe Richard E. Grant), but he’s deemed the “worst Wolverine” so they are cast into the Void, where most of the movie plays out.

 

The Void is a funny visual concept as it’s a ginormous desert wasteland littered with the relics of disintegrated timelines with the weathered 20th Century Fox logo half buried in the sand, and it’s the setting for Deadpool and Wolverine’s big brawl, which is deftly choreographed, but lacking stakes as they both are regenerative creatures and can withstand major gashes and stabs.

 

From there the movie takes its cues from such inspirations as PLANES, TRAINS, AND AUTOMOBILES, MIDNIGHT RUN, and 48 HOURS to give us the gruff buddy road trip through encounters with Professor X’s twin sister, Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin) in her lair that happens to be in the suit and skeleton of Ant-Man’s corpse (“Paul Rudd finally aged,” Deadpool quips); and dozens and dozens of Deadpool variants, which our titular duo battle in a highly stylized slo-mo sequence set to Madonna’s “Like a Prayer.” 

 

This is to all stop the destruction of all timelines by Mr. Paradox, or maybe the MCU themselves as this movie seems to be admitting through all the witty asides that the franchise has been majorly stumbling since all that Infinity stone hullabaloo ended with Iron Man dying ‘n all. 

 

It’s true that the MCU has suffered through some subpar entries as of late, and this film shows it’s fun to dance on the graves of the franchise failures, but a lot of the inside jokes, and quick quips didn’t land with me as hard as some of the other folks at the press screening I attended. Maybe I should have boned up by watching previous X-MEN and DEADPOOL movies. 

 

But that’s just the thing – according to the many lists of “what to watch before you see DEADPOOL 3,” that have recently appeared online, there are like ten movies to see before you can get every reference or call-back in this movie. This is one of the reasons there’s been such Marvel malaise of late; with all the interlocking movies, and series – only the hardcore can keep up to properly appreciate these multi-layered efforts.

 

Lately, I’ve been trying to get a new portmanteau going: specturb – a combination of spectacular, and superb. As in “the INSIDE OUT sequel is simply specturb” (which it is). As much as I think fans will dig DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE, and will largely find it hilarious, I found it slightly less than specturb. It lives from laugh to laugh, but its self-satisfied sense of self-satire made me smirk more than actually chuckle.

 

However, for its entertainment value (it’s fun sized!), especially on the scale of post ENDGAME MCU, this is a winner overall, and I bet this weekend’s audiences will eat up Reynolds and Jackman’s not-so-odd coupling, and will ask for seconds.

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FREE GUY: Fun But We’ve Seen Every Bit Of It Before

Now available on streaming services including HBOmax and Disney+

FREE GUY (Dir. Shawn Levy, 2021)

When movies are overly formulaic they often lead to overly formulaic reviews.

FREE GUY is one such film as it has many critics describing it as THE TRUMAN SHOW meets WRECK-IT-RALPH. Other titles that have been thrown into the premise mash-up are THE LEGO MOVIE, PLEASANTVILLE, and even THEY LIVE. 

After identifying those influences, or direct steals, reviews will move on to the all the pop culture references that are layered through this addition to the stuck-inside-a-video-game premise. The story being that Ryan Reynolds stars as a perfectly content background character (a bank teller in a heist scenario) in a popular interactive Grand Theft Auto-style video game, who becomes aware that his world is virtual. 

Reynold’s Guy (yes, his name is Guy) was clued into this revelation via his infatuation with Molotov Girl (Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer), a leather clad, cool-as-ice biker chick, who is a video game designer named Millie in the real world. Millie, and her programmer pal Walter (Stranger Things and Ozark’s Joe Kerry) had their source code for a game called Life Itself stolen (hey, shades of TRON!)by Taika Waititi as the arrogantly goofy Antwan, an evil CEO of Soonami Studios (I like that name). So our heroes, Guy, Millie, and Walter work together to claim their destinies, and free the cogs of Free City. Or something like that.

Oh, and this is the part of the review that acknowledges the sideline characters Buddy, played by the super affable Lil Rel Howery, who makes the best of his typical black best friend part; and Mouser, Walter’s wise-cracking Soonami co-worker played by Utkarsh Ambudkar. Both guys aid Guy in the game gags department so they are worth mentioning.

But it’s the rapid outpouring of pop culture references that are the real stars here. FREE GUY out-metas Reynold’s DEADPOOL flicks with Easter Eggs involving the MarvelVerse, THE SHINING, Pac-Man, Pokémon, Doctor Who, STAR WARS, Q*Bert, THE MATRIX, Jeopardy!, Rick and Morty, GROUNDHOG DAY, Mortal Kombat, READY PLAYER ONE, and even Diff’rent Strokes, among maybe dozens and dozens of other nods.

The fabric of all of these not-so-hidden touchstones that make up FREE GUY is patched together with so many familiar elements that it’s impossible to imagine the movie holding together without them. When Guy wields a STAR WARS lightsaber in a climactic battle with the arm of The Incredible Hulk in a scene featuring the theme from The Greatest American Hero, it’s supposed to be funny due to the audience’s recognition of these things, but it’s a cheap use of expensive aesthetics that probably only gathers a quick giggle because no clever comment is being made.

I ignored this movie when it was released last summer, as I suspected it was a noisy collection of movie and gamer clichés, but moviegoers lapped it up to the tune of over $300 million. I can understand that as it’s not without its charms as a busy yet breezy action comedy directed by Shawn Levy, whose career is mostly filled with feel-good rom coms, and family-friendly fare.

FREE GUY, even as a derivative amalgam, is fun, at least superficially. It would be more fun if we hadn’t spotted all of the references before, but maybe kids who haven’t seen all the movies, TV shows, and video games that make up its DNA will dig it. Nah, I bet that they’ll even sense that it’s so not its own thing.

And that’s my formulaic review of FREE GUY.

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Vince Vaughn & Owen Wilson Goofing On Google Doesn’t Go Very Far

Opening today at a multiplex near you:

THE INTERNSHIP (Dir. Shawn Levy, 2013)

Using the tried and true tropes of the slobs versus snobs/underdogs become winners formula, Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson take on the ginormous corporation that is Google in this slightly funny, but completely disposal comedy.

But they don’t really take on Google, so much as kiss its ass by portraying it as a tech world Mecca that those well below retirement age, such as with the 40-something Vaughn and Wilson out on their asses after their boss (John Goodman) closes their company, would dream of having as their workplace.

As the not-so-tech savvy yet slick talking salesmen who wormed their way into an internship with the search engine empire, Vaughn and Wilson are looking to re-ignite the comic spark that made their previous collaboration, 2005's WEDDING CRASHERS, a huge hit, but like a lighter that you keep flicking but can’t get a full flame going, this effort should be tossed into the waste bin.

That’s not to say there are some legitimate laughs here and there, Vaughn’s power-riffing and Wilson’s way with a one-liner made me chuckle every now and then, but it’s as if they reached the minimum quota of sure-fire funny and thought it would suffice.

The funny bits are all up front such as a Skype interview Vaughn and Wilson do from a library with The Office’s B.J. Novak, in which the duo dance around their disqualifications amusingly, and the film also shoots its wad early by placing its Will Ferrell cameo (as a sleazy mattress salesman that Wilson briefly works for) in the first 15 minutes.

Not much interesting happens in THE INTERNSHIP after the mild chuckling dies down.

Vaughn and Wilson get together with a scruffy group of outcasts including Josh Brener, Dylan O'Brien, Tiya Sircar, and Tobit Raphael to compete against several other teams for the coveted award of employment at Google, and the challenges they tackle (creating a new app, developing call service skills, marketing a pizza restaurant) are dull sitcom-ish scenerios.

Max Minghella (THE SOCIAL NETWORK) is the chief antagonist, as the leader of a rival group of interns that he verbally abuses, and The Daily Show’s Aasif Mandvi as a snooty internship program leader looks down on our supposed heroes, but is mainly there to be a straight man to Vaughn.

In the obligatory scene in which the group needs to loosen up so they hit a bar for some partying shenanigans, there’s a predictable run-in with a group of blonde frat types headed by Brian F. Durkin, who the Woody Allen-ish Brener zings by calling Biff Tannen (a BACK TO THE FUTURE reference – will the kids today get it?) while he's hitting on a stripper (Jessica Szohr).

It’s another instance where the film feels like just an amalgam of set-pieces from a bunch of ‘80s comedies, like STRIPES and BACK TO SCHOOL.

There is the difference that while Bill Murray in STRIPES (and all his roles of the period) had what A.V. Club writer Phil Dyess-Nugent recently called his “signature fake sincerity” going on, and Vaughn, despite his motor-mouth show-biz hipster speak, actually is sincere.

Murray would tell you that you’re the best, schmoozing you all up, but then he’d be out the door once you’re on his side (or not).

Vaughn, in this movie, when he wants Mandvi to like him and be his friend, he means it and he won’t take no for an answer. It’s endearing, but hardly a trait that elevates this lame enterprise.

Director Levy has made a career out of mediocre comedy fare like this (See: CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN, THE PINK PANTHER remake, the NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM movies, or, better yet, don’t see them), so this one’s suckiness is no surprise.

With its bright primary-colored atmosphere, free food (Vaughn takes ample advantage of this perk), and its unconventional work environment, Google does indeed look like a worker’s paradise. However, the half-assed conventions of this movie just reduce it to a stylish backdrop behind a couple of wiseacres trying in vain to get down with youth computer culture.

If you love these guys and have to see THE INTERNSHIP because you thought WEDDING CRASHERS was the greatest movie ever, at least opt for a matinee. This almost 2 hour infomercial for Google and the continuing comic relevance of Vaughn and Wilson is seriously not worth a full price admission.

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