
By Emma Schor Staff Writer Recently I watched “Deadpool & Wolverine,” directed by Shawn Levy, which was released on July 26. I haven’t watched many Marvel movies before, but I will say that this was a fantastic film. “Deadpool & Wolverine” is about Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) learning that the Time Variance Authority (TVA) is set to destroy his home. He ends up working with Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), who is from another universe, to try and stop them. “Deadpool & Wolverine” became so popular so fast it broke records for opening with $444 million globally - grossing over $1.3 billion in the global box office, making it the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time. Right off the bat, we see Deadpool being his usual, funny-self. Before I was even 20 minutes into the movie, I was already laughing at almost everything. Deadpool has always been snarky and sarcastic, which captures the audience’s attention right from the beginning. Not only was this movie extremely funny, but there were also some great connections, film techniques, and phrases that tied this movie together. I was able to understand what was happening without having seen other Deadpool movies. A detail that I noticed was within any fight sequences, if Deadpool got hit, it was only his blood that was on the camera lens. No other characters had their blood hitting the lens. This is because the story is told from Deadpool's point of view. There is also wonderful character development. The audience can see each character grow throughout the beginning, middle, and end of the film. Near the beginning of the film, Wolverine is seen doubting himself while having a conversation with Deadpool. Deadpool mentions how “Wolverine is a hero in my world.” And Wolverine says “He’s not a hero of mine.” Each hero is always doubted, not only by themselves, but by others as well. There are multiple snarky comments placed throughout the movie that verbally attack both Deadpool and Wolverine. But each hero grows. They use those doubtful comments as forms of motivation. Along with the comedy and character development, there is also so much attention to detail - not just Deadpool’s blood on the camera lens. There were appearances from other comic book characters, as well as Stan Lee, which immediately grabs the attention from long time fans. Another example is The Void, where villains like Cassandra Nova live, and it was shaped like a giant version of Ant-Man. This is a connection to another film - there were plenty of those. There were connections to “X-Men,” “Ant-Man,” “Pinocchio,” and Disney movies in general. This allows the audience to make their own connections and fully understand exactly what’s going on. Finally, there is the catchy soundtrack which consists of well-known songs. Examples include “Bye Bye Bye” by NSYNC, “Careless Whisper” by George Michael, “Ashes” by Celine Dion, and more. It felt great to hear songs that I knew within a movie I hadn’t seen before. Also, how can you go wrong with Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds? They’ve become the most popular conversation topic when this movie is mentioned. These actors have chemistry both on and off screen. There are multiple videos on the internet of the two of them in interviews. Within these interviews, they are acting witty toward each other, while also showing their true friendship. I feel as if their friendship played an essential role within this film - it made it easier for the actors to work together, no matter the scene. There may have been a different outcome with this movie if the characters didn’t have enough chemistry. This movie was already fantastic, but I feel as if it was the chemistry that really brought it together. The various aspects of character development, chemistry, filming techniques, and connections really made this movie and brought everything together. Rating: A+ You can never go wrong with a little chaos and claws!