Movie Review: Deadpool 2 · 2:08am Jun 1st, 2018

A few days before I watched Solo, I watched the sequel to one of 2016's most wonderfully insane comic-book movies.

I loved the movie Deadpool when I saw it. A hilarious, raunchy, violent, and at times surprisingly poignant, comic-book movie, I wasn't surprised when they announced a sequel, but I was concerned (especially after the director of the first film left) whether or not Deadpool 2 would still have the same magic (heh XD) of the original. Granted, the short film they released before the movie Logan was quite promising, but a ten-minute feature is different than a 2-hour feature.

Could lightning strike twice?

...Yes, yes it can. XD

Right from the first minutes of Deadpool 2 (which gleefully spoils the ending of Logan), I knew I was in for a treat.

In many ways, Deadpool 2 doubles down on many of the elements from the first movie.

There's plenty of insane set pieces, full of black humor and wonderfully inventive violence. From a montage of Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds, in a pitch-perfect performance) killing gangsters all around the world set to Dolly Parton's "Nine to Five," to a gutbustingly funny (and gory) skydiving mission with the nascent X-Force (seriously, no spoilers, but I was practically rolling in my seat at this bit with "The Vanisher"), there's a lot of fantastic action in this film. To say nothing of the final battle of the film, which manages to be both cool, hilarious, and genuinely suspenseful at different points, all skillfully handled without any moment jarring or feeling false.

And besides the action content, there's still a lot of hilarious, gross, crazy humor. The absolute highlight of this would be a scene with Deadpool having to heal from a serious injury (no spoilers!), leading to a number of hysterical reactions from Weasel (TJ Miller), Domino (Zazie Beetz), and Cable (Josh Brolin). It's simultaneously funny, and also a fun call-back to a gag from the first movie, on Weasel's behalf. XD

Besides these moments, there are also a couple of good scenes that - as in the first Deadpool movie - demonstrate some genuine heart and pathos. One of the most poignant is an early scene in the film, in a conversation between Deadpool and his lady love Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) where they discuss the possibility of having kids. It's both funny, with Wade/Deadpool expressing his doubts about parenting... and also surprisingly moving, thanks to Baccarin's touchingly earnest delivery of Vanessa's hopeful assertion that "kids give us the opportunity to become better than we were."

That statement drives a significant portion of the film's plot. As Deadpool struggles with a significant upheaval in his life (again, no spoilers), Cable makes his arrival on the scene, hunting down a mutant boy named Russell Collins, aka "Firefist" (Julian Dennison). A victim of a cruel "reform school" for mutant children (the implications of which are played quite seriously, by the way), Russell is full of bitterness and pain, and is on the path to supervillainy... in the future that Cable hails from, Russell is a mass murderer, with Cable's wife and daughter being one of his many victims. Cable is out to put an end to Russell's menace before it ever begins.... and Deadpool is set on stopping him from murdering a child, and preventing Russell from setting out on such an evil path.

It's a part of the movie's plot that is, actually, played fairly seriously. Even as the film jokes about many, many dark things (there's a lot of prison rape jokes when Deadpool is temporarily put in a mutant prison), it is notable to observe how the character of Deadpool is adamant about standing up for the rights of a child. It's quite a heartwarming trait to see in a character, and one that Reynolds delivers quite well.

All in all, I highly enjoyed Deadpool 2.

It's definitely not for everybody, but if you enjoyed the first one, you are in for quite the ride.