[Weekly Update] Deadpool 3: One Final Hurrah for Stardom?

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CHANNEL UPDATE

Our next video is essentially completed, held back by a technical hiccup. I need my analog camera back for a few shots, and the camera store is holding my camera still. Can't do much, as that is probably the only store that repairs old cameras this side of Canada. I'm sorry if we don't have a video out this month.

Bonus video is also complete. It'll be about the Alien series, mostly my thoughts on Aliens, and why I don't enjoy it as a horror film. It's not a rehash from our last update, I swear.

Work on our Junji Ito video and Yakuza video have begun, and are aiming for an October release. I've gotten all the films, outlined both scripts, and hopefully get it done within the next two weeks. I think they are turning out to be pretty interesting topics for both fans and newcomers. Hopefully I can develop them into videos that introduce you to a new fandom.

For November, we have the 2-part Journey to the West series planned. I've finished gathering the films, although I have not watched Monkey Magic, yet. Now that the Monke hype has died down, I feel like I can talk about the series in a more objective light. Let's see if it'l be interesting to everyone on its own merit.

MEDIA TALK

I'm a bit ambivalent when it comes to Deadpool & Wolverine. Even the film itself acknowledged the state of superhero films and how tiresome it is. I think filmgoers collectively are severely burnout on IP films. Groans can be heard when the trailer for Wicked was played before Deadpool. That's how tired we are, at least for the people who still go to the cinema.

And yet, I must acknowledge that at parts, Deadpool 3 doesn't feel like a Deadpool movie, or a superhero movie. Instead, it feels like an old school star-driven blockbuster.

Spoilers ahead for Deadpool 3.

Let's put it this way: When you are watching the emotional scene where Logan recounts his tragic past, the film deliberately stays with a close-up of Logan. There is no flashback, and honestly, not a whole lot of story context was given either. The emotion doesn't feel particularly earned.

Instead of a story moment, it feels like an actor moment. It's a shot that lets Hugh Jackman flexes his acting chop, and flex he does. His performance is shown with minimal edit and no obscurity. Indeed, the moment belongs to Hugh Jackman the actor, not Wolverine the IP.

In other words, while sharing half the title, the inclusion of Wolverine isn't the main draw of the movie. It is the fact that Hugh Jackman is reprising the role. Should the film was made with Henry Cavill in the role, the emotion would've been different.

I'd say this extends to nearly every cameo in the film, except Channing Tatum. (If you don't know, Tatum was casted to play Gambit in a cancelled Gambit movie, back when Fox was still Fox. His cameo in Deadpool 3 is about bringing visions of this film to life.) When Blade, Elektra, and X-23 step into the spotlight, what the audience see isn't the characters, but the actors in costumes. It's great to see Jennifer Garner again, somehow still beautiful at age 52. It's so good to see Dafne Keen, now a grown up and still just as good of an actress as she was in Logan.

The spell of the characters is broken early on, when Chris Evans appear... as the Human Torch. In that moment, the film draws your attention to the fact that Captain American and Human Torch share the same actor. You become aware of Evans, and you are now watching the star, rather than the character.

In that sense, Deadpool 3 is like one big thank you letter to all the actors who faded into the characters. The film put the spotlight on the actors, as they step on stage for one last bow before the curtain closes. For young viewers who grew up with these characters, they now realize they really grew up with these actors.

In a day and age when actors' likenesses are frequently replicated via CGI and even AI, this feels like an oddly lovely human thing to do.

I think that's my final thought on Deadpool & Wolverine. Is it a good movie? Not really. The story is kinda messy and predictable. Deadpool's humor is hit or miss. But the recognitions given to the actors are nice. I'd argue such moments should've come years earlier. But I suppose it's better late then never.

Anyway, I'll see you in the next update!