Always Good Movies

Direction: Shawn Levy
Country: USA

Deadpool & Wolverine, a Marvel misfire directed by the uninspired Canadian filmmaker Shawn Levy (Free Guy, 2021; The Adam Project, 2022), falls flat despite the return of fan-favorite antihero Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds, who also co-wrote and co-produced) as Deadpool. This time, he asks for the help of Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) to save his universe from extinction. These volatile superheroes can go from fighting each other until unconscious to forming a powerful alliance within minutes.

Everything about the movie is extreme as it takes an ‘everything-but-the-kitchen-sink’ approach, attacking from all sides in every department with an ‘I-don’t-give-a-damn’ posture. It even borrows from Mad Max while relying heavily on multiverse chaos and an eclectic array of Marvel characters. The result is an eccentric, flimsy parody with ferocious, often self-referential dialogue that mocks the film industry and other Marvel figures. However, the screenplay quickly gets bogged down in eye-rolling contrivances.

While the ridiculousness occasionally lands some laughs — thanks largely to Deadpool's irreverent charm — the movie's attempts at subversion can't mask its numerous plot incoherences. The narrative feels half-baked, dragging along in a bloated mess of confused and conflicted scenes. Ultimately, Deadpool & Wolverine offers nothing new, with Levy seemingly content to toss these characters together and hope for the best. Unfortunately, the result is a muddled and forgettable entry in the Marvel franchise.

Directed by James Mangold
Country: USA

"Logan" is another decent entry in the Marvel film franchise, bringing everything required, so that an adventure of this caliber and genre can work properly. The tenth installment in the X-Men film series was directed by James Mangold, who had directed "The Wolverine" in 2013 with relative success, and co-written with Scott Frank and Michael Green. It stars Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Boyd Holbrook, and the young Daphne Keen in the major roles.

The opening scene goes straight into the action, announcing the high number of times that you’ll see the three retractable bone claws coming out of Logan’s hands. As in the previous installments, Jackman embodies our mutant hero, a solitary wolf who’s having some issues in leading a decent life. With the loss of his family, Logan entered into a self-destructive spiral that even his dearest friends, Professor Charles Xavier (Stewart) and Caliban (Stephen Merchant), feel powerless to pull him out of it.

Here, the sleepless superhero feels hesitant about helping Gabriela Lopez, a Mexican nurse holding an important secret about a pharmaceutical company that confines mutant teenagers in its premises to turn them into killing weapons. Laura (Keene) is one of these kids, a brutish little girl who managed to escape and quietly hides her mutant nature. After all, she’s deeply related to Logan and both will join forces against the evil heads of the company, which comprises Dr. Zander Rice and his evil creation, X-24, a bestial clone of Logan, as well as the cyborg chief of security Donald Pierce (Holbrook).

The action scenes are ferocious and include car chases, acrobatic movements, fights and wallops, and deadly hunts. Here and there, an inspired humor fills the gaps between the numerous cuts perpetrated by the mutants.
The uncomplicated story has its climax with the exciting finale, which, besides bringing tears, comes populated by virile fighting scenes wrapped in appreciable special effects.

Admirers of the X-Men comics will be delighted. The others, like me, will probably enjoy without venerating.