To say Deadpool 2 has high expectations is an understatement. 2016’s original was one of the more unique films of that year, full of crude humor, fourth wall breaking dialogue, and loving comic book movie satire. So what do Ryan Reynolds and the filmmakers do for the sequel? Well, they stuff even more of that craziness in.
Deadpool 2 is as scatterbrained and chaotic as its main character. The story and pacing don’t always work because it’s literally all over the place at times. Some of the riffing goes on for too long. But the sequel more than makes up for it by being incredibly fun, offering more potty mouthed humor, over the top violence, and even more subversive satire of the comic book movie genre.
Maximum Effort!
The plot of Deadpool 2 defies summation. Just know that the Merc with a Mouth (Reynolds) goes from the top of the chimichanga to the bottom of the comic bargain bin as we join him at the beginning of the film. To reclaim his heart (Yes, you read that right), Deadpool becomes the reluctant guardian of a young mutant Russell (Julian Dennison) after the gruff Cable (Josh Brolin) time travels from the future to kill him. Forming X-Force with other like-minded (Read: Ethically elastic) mutants like Domino (Zazie Beetz), our red suited anti-hero goes tip to tip with danger.
Deadpool 2 doubles down on the over the top mayhem. The humor returns in top form, with dick jokes and obscure pop culture references a plenty. But while the script does call back to some of the classic jokes from the original, it doesn’t simply repeat them. It builds on those jokes and in some cases skewers them. Some of those gags go a little long (Much more on this later), but overall, the humor is the chief reason to see this movie.
The action is well done, with new director David Leitch flexing his action chops from John Wick. They aren’t exactly ground breaking…chase scenes and decapitations aren’t exactly shocking these days. But Deadpool 2 often uses these sequences to compliment the satire of comic book movies. There is one particular sequence that completely and brilliantly skewers the whole superhero team up cliche. If you’re familiar with the comics, you may see this joke coming, but in this day and age, it’s topical and encapsulates exactly why this sequel works for the most part. This is a loving satire of the genre it’s in.
As fun as the riffing humor is, it makes a mess with the movie’s plot. When you go into a movie like this, you shouldn’t expect a groundbreaking or deep story. But that’s not the problem here. There are times when the chaotic style that a character like Deadpool favors makes the movie stumble. When Deadpool first meets Russell, it’s an important moment. But the scene includes so much riffing and fourth wall breaking that it completely loses focus…and this isn’t the only time.
Deadpool had a simple premise: A sociopathetic anti-hero finds his match and a crazy fight for her breaks out. The satire and humor came naturally to the story. In Deadpool 2, the story seems to exist to compliment the jokes. Like an action sequence, this doesn’t always serve a movie’s plot well. It’s not a huge problem, but it will nag at your brain.
“You’re Not a Hero”
All of that said, Deadpool 2 hits a lot more than it misses, mostly due to Ryan Reynolds, who really is Deadpool. Everyone knows about the wise cracks, but he also brings surprising emotion to the character. No small feat, considering the character wears a mask fifty percent of the time. His love for Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) drives the character for the most part, but the writers dare to take the next step: The theme of family. It doesn’t always work (More on why later), but when it does, it touches you in the right parts (Your heart, you dirty perv).
There are a lot of characters joining Deadpool in his sequel, causing a few too many heroes clawing for screen time. Josh Brolin’s Cable is the most prominent of the new characters, and he entertainingly broods throughout. He’s the perfect “straight man” to Deadpool’s antics, with Brolin playing it completely serious to hilarious effect.
But Zazie Beetz’s Domino is the true breakout character. She has the wit and bad-assery to match Deadpool, as her “luck” provides some of the more fun moments in the movie. Beetz has an easy and confident charm that makes you sit just a little bit forward whenever her character comes on screen.
But like Cable, there just isn’t enough of Domino. There are so many characters to juggle in the bigger and badder sequel that we don’t get a lot of time with these new characters. Returning characters are also treated like this. While Colossus has some amazing scenes, Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) is almost a glorified cameo.
This leads to a problem with that family theme. Deadpool 2 has heartfelt theme about an usual family coming together from a bunch of misfits…but it falls a little flat because Deadpool is really the only one we know. Cable has a tragic background, but it’s never truly fleshed out. Trying to place a genuine heart at the center is a great idea, but the chaos that is Deadpool made that heart hard to get to.
Comic Book Genre: Skewered
Story problems aside, Deadpool 2 works best as a humorous satire of the comic book movie. The end credits scene is probably the best to ever grace a movie of its kind, hilariously destroying several tropes…including ones it uses itself (Hint: Continuity and canon are pretty much thrown out the window during the sequence). So maybe one shouldn’t take the story issues to heart. As I said above, the issues are more like nagging itches at the back of your mind rather than movie-ruining flaws.
Who knows…maybe the writers made the story overcomplicated to make fun of overcomplicated sequels. Or maybe I’m giving them too much credit.
Either way, it’s still really fun.
SCORE: 7.5 OUT OF 10