‘Deadpool 2’ Review

The first Deadpool was somewhat of a revelation. It proved to studios that they could make an R-rated superhero movie in order to remain closer to the source material and people would still go see it. Fox took this risk and it paid off greatly. 

The next year, they released Logan, which didn’t perform as well at the box office, but critics and audiences both praised it for being bold and delivering an accurate Wolverine adaptation. So can Deadpool 2 continue Fox’s hot streak of R-rated superhero films or is the trend growing stale?

Plot

After a time-traveling Cyborg named Cable (Josh Brolin) arrives in the present-day, Deadpool, Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds), must prevent Cable from killing a kid (Julian Dennison) in order to change future events. 

In order to do this, Wade must end his solo act and join up with a new team of heroes. This plot may sound very simple, but it is actually pretty complex and surprising. I’m keeping the plot very simple and vague for the sake of not spoiling anything.

Performances

All of the performances are great in this movie. Reynolds is once again fantastic as Deadpool. He shows that Deadpool is the role that he was born to play. He has so much charisma that just makes him so likable. His comedic timing is excellent, but he also does bring a lot of emotion to the character. T.J. Miller also reprises his role, but he does not have as much to do in this film as he did in the last one. 

It was good to see Colossus (Stefan Kapicic) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) again. Their characters are a lot of fun and the interactions between Colossus and Deadpool are very entertaining.

The newcomers to this film are excellent. Brolin owns the role of Cable. He is extremely serious and tough. He and Deadpool are polar opposites, but they still have great chemistry. I do wish that the film explored his character a little bit more, but he’s still great. I also really liked Zazie Beetz as Domino. 

Her power is just that she’s lucky which makes her character very cocky. She could be looking death in the face, but she doesn’t panic because she knows that it’s going to work out. It was a nice quirk for her character and Beetz did a good job at portraying it.

I also really liked Dennison in his role. He has a lot of emotion to go through in this film and did a great job with it. He has a lot of attitude but is also just a kid who is lost and doesn’t have anyone to look after him. Karan Soni comes back as Dupender in a larger role and he is hilarious. Really loved that the film gave him more to do in this film.

Direction

With Tim Miller not returning to the director’s chair for Deadpool 2, David Leitch steps in and he does a great job. Leitch is known for directing Atomic Blonde and the first John Wick film and he brings his eye for action scenes to Deadpool 2. The fight choreography and camerawork are improved from the first film. 

However, there is more of a reliance on CGI in this movie than in the first one, and it is noticeable. However, Deadpool does make fun of the CGI at various points so it may have been intentional to make the CGI look the way that it did.

The film is a lot more epic than the first one was and that becomes very evident in the opening credit sequence. It does crack a lot more jokes and it especially makes fun of the studios a lot. I was happy to see that Fox was willing to make fun of themselves about past mistakes. Whenever Deadpool breaks the fourth wall, it’s fantastic. This film is probably funnier than the first one.

Leitch also uses a really good soundtrack. The songs vary from different generations but they are used perfectly throughout the film. It’s also just great songs that he uses for each scene.

There is also a lot more emotion in this film and for the most part, it is pretty effective. However, sometimes the emotion does feel a bit forced. There are certain cliches used that make the film seem a bit predictable. The story also got a bit too complex at times since there are a couple of storylines going on at once.

Final Thoughts

Deadpool 2 is probably the most fun I had in the theaters so far in 2018. Avengers: Infinity War is still the best superhero movie in 2018, but Deadpool 2 is definitely the most fun. From beginning to end, I was thoroughly entertained and I laughed throughout more than I have in most recent comedies. 

It once again proved how awesome Deadpool is while introducing some new, great characters. I can’t wait for Deadpool 3. Also, remember to stay for the mid-credits scenes because they are amazing.

Rating: 9/10