Not only are people counting on it to inject some semblance of life back into a declining franchise that hasn't had a major hit in years, and also to prove that superhero movies in general can still be a viable prospect at the box office, but it's also supposed to be a much-needed focal point to what's been a pretty underwhelming summer movie season.

The question is, does it actually work?

Does it live up to the hype?

Can Deadpool possibly hope to exist in the family-friendly MCU?

Is Marvel saved?

Well before I answer those questions, I'm very aware that the film's just come out and that a lot of people are going to be waiting for the weekend before they see it, so I'm going to keep this review intentionally vague and as spoiler-free as I can.

I'll talk about a few plot details that you've almost certainly figured out from the trailers, but I'll keep the cameos and the major story beats under wraps.

So with that in mind, let's get right into it.

The basic premise of the story is that Wade Wilson has hung up his spandex and is now living a normal life as a used car salesman.

Yeah, he might not be a hero anymore, but he's still got his friends around him and things seem to be going okay in his life.

Well until a bunch of TVA agents show up at his door and abduct him.

Tadaaa.

The fucking TVA.

Pretty soon he's brought before Paradox who explains that since Wolverine died at the end of Logan, Wade's timeline is slowly dying and is due to be pruned by the TVA shortly.

He offers Wade the chance to become Deadpool again and join the Avengers in the Prime Timeline ad the only catch is that everyone he cares about is gonna get destroyed when his original timeline gets pruned.

Naturally he doesn't take this news too well and his solution, in typical Deadpool fashion, is to kidnap a Wolverine from a different timeline and use him as a replacement for the one that died.

Unfortunately it all goes tits up and both men end up getting sent to the Void, which is like a giant garbage dump at the end of time and space.

Their objective now is to find a way out so they can return to the real world and stop Paradox before he wipes out Wade's entire universe.

Along the way the two men are gonna have to find a way to put aside their differences and work together to take on a rogues gallery of former enemies and a few unexpected friends who show up to help them out.

Reviewing Deadpool and Wolverine is a tricky one because whether you enjoy it is gonna depend a lot on what you personally value in a film like this.

I mean from a story and writing point of view I'd have to say this is probably the weakest of the three Deadpool films, with a frustratingly meandering plot that just kind of drifts from scene to scene and relies on coincidence, convenience and the villain being completely and utterly retarded in order to function.

At 128 minutes it feels kind of bloated and sluggish compared to the first Deadpool, taking too long to get going, dragging around the midpoint and suffering from the same multiple endings problem that seems to be creeping into most modern movies now.

The primary antagonist doesn't feel all that interesting or well developed, with no personal connection to Deadpool or Wolverine, motivations that shift from scene to scene and the same generic destroy the entire universe end goal that's become a fucking meme at this point.

On the plus side though, if you came here to watch Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds hang out and have fun making a movie together then you're not gonna be disappointed.

Jackman always brought his A-game to even the shittiest of X-Men movies, he's been playing this same character since I was in high school and hasn't missed a beat since he did Logan five years ago.

He's just as brooding and intense as he always was, playing it dead straight no matter the insanity going on around him and actually delivering a few surprisingly heartfelt moments that caught me off guard.

You're always gonna need a straight man to act as a counterpoint to Deadpool's constant jokes and one-liners and Wolverine fits perfectly into that role.

Speaking of which, if you were worried that the film was gonna have to tone down the crude humour, swearing and violence to play in Disney's sandbox then fear not, because the opening credits pretty much set the tone for the rest of the movie.

Deadpool's just as foul-mouthed and crude as he always was and honestly, I was actually pretty impressed that they managed to get away with a 15 rating for this one.

That being said, the humour's not quite as biting and slickly efficient as the first Deadpool, a lot of the jokes don't land and the script commits the cardinal sin of trying to push unfunny gags way past their breaking point but enough of them work that you'll definitely have fun with the movie.

And yeah, much to my shock, Marvel proved that they are actually capable of laughing at themselves a bit with this one.

There's plenty of references to the MCU's recent downturn in quality, the general shittiness of multiverses as a storytelling concept and even a few jokes about some of their more troubled productions which really surprised me.

It's not often you hear studios straight up admitting that they've fucked up and I'm pretty sure the admission had to be teased out of them by Ryan Reynolds but it's about as close as you're likely to get in Marvel's case.

Yeah, the film definitely could have gone in harder on the MCU's many failings, the pandering and the girlbosses and the diversity hires but I guess there's some lines that even Deadpool isn't allowed to cross.

The thing is though, the movie really isn't about Marvel or Deadpool's place within the MCU, it's much more of a love letter to everything that came before it.

That crazy, unpredictable, experimental time in the early 2000s when studios hadn't yet found the magic formula for success, when all kinds of hopeful young superheroes and franchises tried their luck, all with grand aspirations to be the next big thing.

Yeah, a lot of them crashed and burned in the process, sometimes with hilarious results, and kind of fell by the wayside as the unstoppable juggernaut of the MCU rolled over the superhero landscape, paving the way for a much more successful but ultimately less interesting and creative take on the genre.

A lot of the cameos in this film exemplify that attitude of paying tribute to the movies and characters of that bygone era who never quite made it, and honestly, a couple of them brought a genuine smile to my face.

It was great to see them back in action after so long, and maybe get a little shot at redemption along the way.

Ultimately, while I think Deadpool and Wolverine is a bit of a bloated, chaotic mess at times and probably relies a little too much on its gimmicky premise for its own good, it's still light years ahead of almost anything Marvel have put out in recent years and delivers enough laughs and fan service to keep most people happy.

Is it going to save the MCU?

Nope, because I don't think it even wants to.

But it does provide a decent swan song to the movies that made the MCU possible in the first place, and more importantly, it finally gave two old friends the team-up movie that they've always wanted.

And when all is said and done, isn't that the most important thing?

Anyway, that's all I've got for today.

Go away now.