‘Deadpool 2’ Review: Laughs At The Force Of X

Deadpool 2 had so much to live up to, and at the same time, no pressure at all. The surprise hit 2016 film introduced audiences to the zany, foul-mouthed, fourth-wall-breaking anti-hero, and with a solid R-rating, proved that comic book movies didn’t all have to be clean cut, family fare. Deadpool won the hearts of many and a sequel was inevitable.

Though most of the cast returns, as well as the screenwriters of the first film, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, with Ryan Reynolds also snagging a writing credit, Deadpool 2 recruited David Leitch (one half of John Wick’s directorial team) to replace Tim Miller, and the change works. Miller was best known as an FX guy, and his take on Deadpool certainly set the stage for everything that was to come. Leitch is a former stunt coordinator who knows how to shoot intense, expertly staged action scenes, and luckily, that’s just what this sequel needed.

Deadpool 2 Review

Deadpool 2 opens with our hero, Wade Wilson, the Merc with a Mouth (Ryan Reynolds), in a bit of an emotional crisis. We quickly flashback to see what caused the drama, catching the audience up with most of the principal characters from the first film, and then the story is allowed to go forward from there. Deadpool has more interaction with the X-Men and Xavier’s School in this sequel, and when he goes on a mission with a handful of the mutant heroes, including Colossus (voiced by Stefan Kapicic) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) to confront another dangerous mutant, 14-year-old Russell “Fire Fist” Collins (Julian Dennison), Deadpool mucks it all up, which gets him arrested and sent to a mutant prison called the Ice Box.

In prison, Wade’s powers are dampened by a special collar he’s forced to wear, and the cancer that he is constantly battling with his healing factor is allowed to run rampant over his body. When a mysterious time-traveling assassin named Cable (Josh Brolin) shows up trying to kill Russell, Wade reluctantly steps up to protect the kid, putting he and Cable on a collision course for the rest of the film.

Deadpool 2 Review

Cable is too much to handle alone, so Wade recruits a team of others for help. This “X-Force,” which includes Domino (Zazie Beetz), Bedlam (Terry Crews), Shatterstar (Lewis Tan), Zeitgeist (Bill Skarsgard), and Peter (Rob Delaney), as well as a few other surprises, track Russell down during a prisoner transfer and they come up against Cable and other obstacles with disastrous results. Wade is forced to come to grips with his destiny and step up to save not only Russell, but the future as well.

Deadpool 2 is laden with jokes, in context to the story, to comic book movies in general, and in subtle hints directed toward the audience, all coming at the viewers faster than they can be processed. I’d warn against buying a drink at the theater, because there is no safe time to take a sip without the risk of spitting it up onto the back of the head of the person sitting in front of you. This film is funnier than the first — by far — and the first film was hilarious. That says it all.

Deadpool 2 Review

Leitch’s direction gives Deadpool 2 the bombastic “summer movie” feel that audiences expect, and there is some great Marvel comics lore woven into the script. In some ways, Deadpool 2 is the best X-Men film we’ve had so far, as classic characters are presented here, and in the best ways yet. If you are a Marvel mutant fan, this film will delight you.

Deadpool 2 is the perfect sequel, taking the foundation built from the first film and building onto it, creating not only a viable franchise, but one of the better comic book movies, and certainly one of the best comic books movies from 20th Century Fox. If the Disney deal does go through, there may never be another R-rated comic book movie like this, so take it in, enjoy it, laugh, and make sure you stay until the end of the credits, as there are post credits scenes and an amazing song that is played at the very end. In fact, I’ve now made that song my ringtone on my phone.

Deadpool 2 is rated R and is in theaters now.

Deadpool 2 Review
4.5
out of 5

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