Let's get it out of the way. As a superhero movie this is great. As a Deadpool movie it is incredible. As a movie movie, it's just very good bordering on confusing at times. A lot of the plot is dragging you from A to B so you can see more of the incredible shenanigans, but at the heart of this film is two friends having an awesome time creating art together.
The Plot
Lets get the only meh part of the movie out of the way first. With a noted addendum, if you came to a Deadpool movie for the plot you might be in the wrong movie. The plot is all over the place, a lot of things are told through exposition rather than shown, and a lot of the things that push us from A to B are very suspect. The reason Vanessa and Wade are having issues seemed forced and out of nowhere, and contradicted a lot of what happened in the second movie. Even the villain's whole motive just felt forced, even with a (very well delivered) line about not knowing why she is the way she is. But if you can look past that, and believe me, you can, the plot really just comes down to two men trying desperately to matter again. The final act lets the plot's theme shine, and honestly uses flashbacks from the other movies in such an endearing way, it really reminded the audience why the characters were so desperate to be needed again. The plot really shines in Act 2 when we get to the cameos.
The Cameos
The best cameos. The most meaningful cameos. ALL the cameos. The whole theme of this movie is being given a second chance, and the actors/actresses who get a second chance at their old (or never even realized) roles nail it. The concept is hilarious and really makes the plot work, the whole second act revolves around these cameos, and it also acts as a love letter to 21st Century Fox, who all in all did a goof job handling a lot of these Marvel franchises. Unlike Sony. The only spoiler free advice I can give you is to watch the X-Men movies from the 2000s, 1-3, so you can get it on the cameo fun.
The Humor
The humor delivers as only a Ryan Reynolds Deadpool movie can. Every joke is sharp, and the people that were worried Disney would neuter Deadpool's humor can rest easy, it only enhances. The jokes are super inappropriate, clever, and some of them are DEVASTING (like a certain joke about Hugh Jackman). The situational comedy is also perfect, the cameos are hilarious, as are some of the fight scenes (looking at you Honda). Some of the extra characters try a bit too hard to match the humor (Paradox), but most of the humor hits, and hits hard. The absurdness of the movie is what gives it its charm, and Wolverine is a perfect foil to the absurdity.
The Friendship
The strength of this movie isn't the connection between Deadpool and Wolverine, but the connection between Hugh and Ryan. They worked so hard to make this movie, from the press tour, the movie itself, and even now Ryan Reynolds is doing daily posts to thank people from the movie. So many movies are heartless studio grabs, and this one is not. Somehow. It's just two friends having a hell of a time making a wonderful movie together, even if you don't know anything about Marvel, you can still go and appreciate these two (beautiful) men working so hard to make their dream of a movie come true.
Summary
While a casual movie goer who has never seen a 21st Century Fox movie might be more than a bit confused, anyone who is even the slightest bit a super hero movie fan will love and appreciate the cameos, the wit, and the love put into this excellent movie.
Score: 8/10
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