Steve Newall: Flicks.co.nz editor on whether Deadpool & Wolverine is worth a watch

Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman are back to entertain film fans in the double-billed feature Deadpool & Wolverine.

Despite the Marvel Cinematic Universe experiencing critical and commercial decline in recent years, audiences were hopeful this mature-rated crossover experience could be entertaining.

Does it break a streak of disappointment withing the superhero genre? Flicks.co.nz editor Steve Newall explains further.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talk SEDB.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Time to talk entertainment now and I'm joined by Stevenwill,
editor at Flex dot co dot Nz.

Speaker 3 (00:18):
Good morning, Good morning, dead Pool and.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Wolverine and Wolverine number This is number three, isn't it?

Speaker 3 (00:24):
It's the third dead Pool film.

Speaker 1 (00:25):
It's yes.

Speaker 3 (00:27):
How many Hugh Jackmen Wolverine films were a bunch? His
first outing is Wolverine since retiring the character in twenty
Seventeen's logan, which was like the old Man.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
Or was it the origin story?

Speaker 1 (00:39):
No?

Speaker 3 (00:39):
No, that was like that was the spoiler alert, spoiler
alert about a film from twenty seventeen. He dies, Sorry everybody,
I've gotten so bored of superhero movies. The quality has diminished.
Also just got sick of them. So that kind of
double whammy has meant that even in a professional capacity,
I've been avoiding these like the Plague. However, I thought

(01:01):
that I'd have a bit of fun with dead Pool
and Wolverine, partly because there's a big nostalgia factor, like
I'm being absolutely played by the corporate overlords at Marvel.
I wanted to go and see Hugh Jackman as Wolverine
and and dead Pool. Okay, maybe it's not going to
be so po faced serious as your typical superhero fair
and to a large extent, that's kind of true. Like

(01:23):
I had a pretty decent time watching this film, but
it is not new or exciting. It's exactly what you'd
expect from a Dead Poople film. But a lot of
the pleasure does come from things like watching Hugh Jackman
choosing to act as if he was in a traditional
superhero film with a film around him that's making fun

(01:44):
of that whole premise, So you kind of see that
to lesser or greater extent, and the film's supporting characters
and array of awesome cameos which we won't spoil for
anyone here, but so have this mix of people that
are whose characters in the film are one hundred percent
and on the joke to zero percent and on the joke,
and that's where that's where Jackman sits. So it makes

(02:05):
us some interesting a straight guy, weird guy comedy.

Speaker 2 (02:08):
Okay, so you know what you're going to get. But
it's a fun night out that's.

Speaker 3 (02:12):
Very much like that, okay, And it's a record set
as well. This is the biggest R rated opening in
US box office history, and it's nice to see that
the industry can't always sort of forecast when one of
these hits explode. So that when I opened on Thursday,
I had its previews on Thursday night in the US,
it was tracking to be like the fourteenth or fifteenth

(02:33):
biggest opening weekend in US history. That's been upgraded now
it's looking like the eighth or ninth. So this thing's
kind of got a momentum of its own, and it's
from those factors I think I just mentioned. It's the
Hugh Jackman nostalgia factor and being out to have a
bit of a bit of fun with a corporate property
that is so often dreary and boring.

Speaker 2 (02:52):
What is the rating, and I believe it's as sixteen, okay, brilliant.

Speaker 3 (02:58):
I remember for the second Deadpool film that there was
a bit of a bit of consternation with it having
a hard R rating here and so this one of
the territories where a re released cut was put back
out of the market that softened the film a little
bit so that teens could younger teens could also watch it.

Speaker 2 (03:15):
I've just gone to this really handy sight that tells
you everything you need to know about movies and everything,
like my spidy sense of tingling to say, yeah, it's
good flicks dot cut out. Indeed, you're right, it is
our sixteen just in case your fourteen year old's telling
you what they're doing, so to know.

Speaker 3 (03:30):
And part of that which is really pleasing to me,
and this is probably giving away a bit too much
of my psychology is lets the film be quite gory,
and particularly when you've got two characters who have are
essentially invulnerable with massive healing ability. So the fights between
Deadpool and Wolverine are awesome because they will survive anything
the other throws at them, so that they are glory
as can be.

Speaker 2 (03:50):
Okay, that's probably good to know as well. Hey, you're
so enjoying the Traitors, aren't you? On three now?

Speaker 3 (03:56):
I love this format and season two has just goes
from strength to strength. We've had eight episodes so far,
and the huge jump and quality from season one by
having normies as opposed to a mix of normies and
quasi celebrities has been super enjoyable. Some twists and turns
in the last couple of episodes that really propel us
to I think be this season out of New Zealand

(04:19):
that really catches fire with international fans of the format
as well. So if you're not watching The Traders, keep
up with it Monday nights, two episodes a week on
three Now Yes on top of the show, this is
really worth a watch, even among the many factors that
you may not be a fan of. I love it.

Speaker 1 (04:37):
Thank you so much.

Speaker 2 (04:38):
Steve will ketch up next week For.

Speaker 1 (04:40):
More from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin. Listen live
to news Talks it'd be from nine am Sunday, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.