Deadpool 2

So this was the movie I was expecting the first time around!

Picking up a few years after the original left off, Deadpool 2 sees our Merc With A Mouth continue his bloody rampage against criminals, drug dealers, gun smugglers, and anyone in between, as he maims and dismembers with wanton glee and a sadistic sense of style that only he can pull off. But after a twist in the first ten minutes that I personally didn’t see coming (one that the James Bond-esque opening credits even draws attention to and one that I won’t dare spoil here), Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) finds himself at a low point in his life, a point that he feels like he’ll never be able to recover from. With the help of returning characters Colossus (Stefan Kapicic) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand), Deadpool is thrust into a battle that brings new characters into the fold like the misunderstood and abused Firefist (Julian Dennison), time traveling anti-hero Cable (Josh Brolin), lucky gun for hire Domino (Zazie Beetz), and a handful of others, all the while trying to save himself from…himself. Now, it’s up to Deadpool and his new team, christened X-Force, to take out the baddies, save the future, and make sure there’s enough poop jokes to go around.

After the breakout success of the first Deadpool, one could only hope that its sequel would be able to replicate that same success without feeling forced or, as sequels are wont to do, recycled. Luckily, Deadpool 2 is on par with the original, but is easily able to separate itself with a new director in David Leitch, new and exciting characters pulled straight from the comics, and a whole lot more of what made the original so great to begin with.

To start things off, I have to address the best part of this film first, and it’s not the comedy believe it or not, but the action. Being a smaller movie in scale than, say, an Avengers film or anything coming from the DC Universe, Deadpool 2 focuses on more down to Earth problems, leaving our anti-hero firmly planted in “real life” antics rather than the usual superhero tropes. That being said, and also because of this, the action has a more gritty, ground level feel, greatly bolstered by a hard R-rating and a director that’s right at home with over-the-top stunts and set pieces. Not only does the action surprise and wow at almost every turn, but due to the simple fact that this film has a funny bone running all the way through it, each scene is able to impress on a visual level as well as a comedic level, adding that extra layer of cleverness and fun to the proceedings that most films are usually forced to choose over. Whether it be a great sequence involving a city chase and a whole lot of property damage, or an equally as impressive opening scene where more limbs are lopped off than an entire horror franchise combined, director David Leitch is able to marry laugh out loud moments with disgustingly violent images and somehow come out on top each and every time.

Due in part to newcomer and fan favorite character, Cable, aptly played by a beefed up Josh Brolin, a lot of the early action centers on Deadpool stopping Cable from achieving his goal, leading to a whole slew of interesting combat scenarios that mixes Deadpool’s humorous antics and Cable’s futuristic, rugged combative ways. Seeing the two styles clash and then eventually mesh as X-Force is assembled is as entertaining as I could have hoped for, with the action hitting even higher highs when a few returning X-Men characters join the fray. Infinity War’s special effects laden team-ups this is not, but for the budget given and the purpose of this film as a whole, I couldn’t ask for more.

But as much as I did enjoy most of the film’s laughs and mish-mash of action beats, it can’t be denied that the filmmakers’ approach to this character seems to be a kind of “throw shit at the wall and see what sticks” method, one that works for the most part, but is glaringly obvious when it doesn’t. Too many times I sat in my seat, stone faced at a joke that I clearly knew was supposed to be funny, but simply couldn’t bring myself to laugh at. Whether it be an over reliance on a single running gag, or a joke that even a ten-year old might find oddly low hanging, the fact that the filmmakers seemed to not mind these rough edges in a film that takes pride in playing rough, speaks volumes more so to the fine tuning of the film than anything else. It’s pretty clear that a lot of this stuff could have been left on the cutting room floor, or better yet, dubbed over since we very rarely see Reynolds without a mask on, so why stick with a gag that isn’t working when you could just as easily have replaced it? I’m sure there’s enough outtakes and ad-libs to pull from that could have made these issues go away, but the script insists on running certain things into the ground without hesitation, a fault that becomes much more clear as the film wanders along towards a much stronger second half.

Other than some comedic missteps that are more nitpicky than anything else, my main gripe with this film stems from the story because, simply put, there really isn’t one. The film itself has some loose plot threads that somewhat link each scene together, but there’s no “true” villain to speak of, unless you count Cable (I don’t) or the one note baddie that drives Firefist to lash out in order to lazily structure the film as it moves from scene to scene. I’m not saying that I necessarily need a great, mind bending plot for a film like this, but some sort of thought being put into something other than the action and comedy would have been nice. Also, as I said with the first film, I don’t really need to feel for Deadpool as a character, so all of that added “emotional” weight felt pretty flat to me, especially after watching the mid-credit sequence that essentially undoes everything he’s gone through as a character. Stick to the chimichangas and one-liners!

Better than the first but still not without its flaws, Deadpool 2 is more of the same amped up to eleven. The action is as fast paced and clever as ever, the jokes fly a mile a minute (for better or worse), and Ryan Reynolds is still just as perfect in the titular role as one could hope for. Add in some great cameos, fun new characters and its usual self-aware humor, and you have a sequel that deserves to be seen, even if you probably won’t remember a thing about the story by the time you leave the theater.