In a Nutshell
A smart, fun, fast-paced sequel that ramps things up all the way to 11.
[imdb]https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5463162/[/imdb]
Review
This sequel is the Lethal Weapon 2 of sequels; it’s bigger, louder, faster and arguably better. The big budget missing first time around ($58 million for the original Deadpool is what passes for cheap nowadays compared to likely twice that budget for Deadpool 2) is most definitely here with bigger set pieces and more than one CGI character but to its credit it doesn’t lose what made Deadpool popular in the first place. Deadpool is that knowing wink to the camera with a look that suggests we’re clever enough as an audience to appreciate what’s going on here: The deconstruction of the superhero genre filled with pop culture references and at the same time enjoying the trappings of superhero movies.
Explosions, katana hijinks, X-Men, anti-hero shenanigans, fun and surprising cameos, headshots, references to #metoo, the Trump administration and Fox & Friends all take a bow in Deadpool 2 and these are fun (some very fun) but without a decent story to hang it on, just empty calories. Luckily, Deadpool 2 has a solid and at times, genuinely emotional throughline: The longing and need for family. It sounds syrupy and potentially tonally jarring but it works and perhaps even more so than the first Deadpool which did an admirable job of juggling some sharp changes of tone.
An Unhappy Deadpool
Taking place two years after the original and in an extended prologue sequence, we find Deadpool in an unhappy place, to say the least. Without spoiling it too much, the extended prologue acts as an apology for where they have to position Deadpool in the sequel and the writers, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, know it (billed here this time as “the real villains“). Deadpool eventually finds himself once more in the company of Colossus (and the unapologetically snarky Negasonic Teenage Warhead) convincing him to join the X-Men as a trainee (there’s a good long-running gag on this one) in order to get him back on his feet.
Things start to click plot-wise once Cable enters the fray as he travels back in time from an undisclosed point in the distant future to kill a young boy, Hunt for the Wilderpeople’s Julian Dennison, as this boy grows up to eventually kill Cable’s family. Comic buffs should be relatively pleased with not only Josh Brolin’s performance but how it mostly stays fairly true to Cable’s backstory with room to reveal more in future instalments. The time travel element is also well done here leaning much closer to Terminator than to the convoluted and dull Days Of Future Past iteration of time travel.
Cable and Domino
The one big change from Deadpool is in the director’s chair where Tim Miller (not returning because of the ole creative differences schtick) gives way to Atomic Blonde’s David Leitch. The change is sort of noticeable looking back at Deadpool as the strong, steely visuals from Deadpool aren’t quite replicated here. The score too isn’t as sharp as it was in the first one (there’s none of that extended “Beat It” guitar riff provided by Junkie XL to be found this time) and there are some niggles to be had with the screen time other cast members get.
Zazie Beetz (excellent as Van in TV’s current best show Atlanta) is great casting and she shines as the luck infused Domino but she doesn’t have nearly enough screen time and despite a funny running gag where Deadpool pegs Cable as a racist, Deadpool 2 has diversity in casting but the leads are two white men and the stuff with Dopinder still feels somewhat problematic and dated (see Apu from The Simpsons controversy). However, these are problems that don’t hurt the film too much but future films should seek to rectify these complaints and there will be future films!
X-Force: Assemble
The best part of Deadpool 2 is just how clever it is; it’s smartly plotted and it is genuinely surprising in parts. It does get emotional, but the stand out sequence is the one involving the newly formed X-Force (shout out to Peter the scene stealer). It’s absolutely brilliant, funny and it blows whatever happened in Infinity War out of the water. It’s inventive, shocking and just really, really laugh out loud funny and you understand the fundamental difference between Fox/Marvel and Disney/Marvel when viewing this sequence.
Not only are Fox willing to take risks with their Marvel properties, they do so always in service to the story they are telling. Movie fans should hope that Comcast buy up the Fox/Marvel properties rather than Disney. Although if ads masquerading as movies are your thing, please stay away from me and don’t talk to me. Deadpool 2 shows exactly why Infinity War is as empty and barren as Mickey Mouse’s soul. One sells a story, the other sells an ad.
Verdict
Deadpool 2 is the R-rated X-Men movie you’ve always wanted. And make sure to stay for the ambitious and highly excellent Post Credit sequence showing Disney once again how it’s done.
