Deadpool 2 Review
Let me start off by saying this: I'm afraid to say anything bad about this movie because I'm convinced Deadpool himself will somehow find a way to kill me. He actually just confirmed that...(pants change)
Deadpool 2 was an extremely relentless hodgepodge of pop culture references and action sequences thrown at you at breakneck speed. In fact, I'm surprised they didn't have Peter Parker as one of the "writers" of the film, being that Tom Holland's portrayal of the iconic webster is VERY into pop culture references (much to the chagrin of everyone else around him.. besides Quill). Despite the amount of references and puns that were executed throughout this movie, there were very surprising moments of personal clarity and dramatic sequences that left audiences actually seeing the real pain behind Wade Wilson's mask, which is something they touched on in the first film, but this takes it a step further. It is the reckless abandon for telling jokes and throwing references around like a monkey throwing its own shit, on top of the emotional barriers they break through, that will keep audiences crawling back for more Deadpool not only for this outing, but for the inevitable X-Force film that will be happening.
(spoilers ahead)
With most movies, if there is even the slightest whiff of repetition, people are up in arms that the film "isn't original," but with Deadpool, it seems that they are immune to any such criticism or being stale by doing the same thing. In Deadpool 2, they take the format of the 1st film and press the repeat button. They throw you into a situation where it seems all hope is lost and everything has gone wrong and then bring you back to the beginning in order to bring you up to speed. Not only did it work, but they exceeded the impact of the first Deadpool. Where in the first film Wade is worried about his girlfriend being taken, a story that has been heard over and over again, this time, our lead is dealing with not only the death of his wife, but with his inability to pass on. This is portrayed very elegantly (surprisingly), and brings a lot of emotional depth to a film that smiles to hide the pain. It is through these events that we get a lot of character development with Deadpool, and it is very satisfying.
From the trailer, not much is known about the plot. And to tell you the truth, it doesn't even matter because they throw the entire film out the window at the end anyway. BUT, if you must know what the movie is about, here it goes: After the events in Deadpool, he (Wade) continues to be successful as a Mercenary who refuses to join the X-Men (much to Colossus' dismay). DP is living with Vanessa until Wade shakes the wrong tree and someone comes for him, but instead kills Vanessa. On top of this, Josh Brolin's character, Cable, a human/cybernetic mercenary from the future, comes back in time to kill a mutant who is destined to destroy Cable's family along with the rest of the world. Through a series of events after Vanessa's death, Wade comes to be a trainee of the X-Men, and their first mission is to stop an out of control mutant (a kid) that just happens to be the same one Cable needs to kill. After failing to properly contain the mutant, both the mutant kid and Deadpool are sent to prison with power inhibiting collars. Eventually, Cable comes to the prison for the kid and both him and DP escape, but not together. It becomes Deadpool's mission to save the kid from Cable, however after a series of interactions with Vanessa in the afterlife, Wade and his team join Cable in order to save the kid from becoming a world-ending monster as opposed to killing him. End of plot.
Where the first act should've felt like the Justice League all over again (essentially one big clip show poorly edited together), being that the entire act was essentially the format of the entire first film crammed into forty minutes, we got a really cohesive set-up and a lot of character development. Not only did SO MUCH happen in that short period of time, but it actually made sense. This fast-paced familiar layout hits a slight drag around the second act and has a tonal shift. We find Deadpool with no powers and in prison, and the character as we know him takes a little bit of a back seat to the kid whom Wade is trying to help. After a jolt by Cable to perk up the mid-second act, Deadpool goes straight into action to break out of prison and proceeds to start the X-Force; whose presence becomes null and void and is retconned as quickly as they showed up. That's right, not only do they all die right after a whole 20 minute buildup during the second act, but due to some time meddling at the end of the film on Deadpool's part, none of it actually happened. No bullshit. The members of team included: Domino (Zazie Beetz), Bedlam (Terry Crews), Shatterstar (Lewis Tan), Vanisher (spoiler), Zeitgeist (Bill Skarsgard), and Peter (Rob Delaney). However, the ultimate demise of the force comes much to the delight of Dopinder who wants nothing more than to be a part of DP's team but is relegated to grunt-work the entire film. A frustration that is all too funny to watch and serves as one of the movies few actual jokes (not puns or references), especially when one member of the X-Force, Peter, has no abilities whatsoever and joins the team upon first inquiry.
Jumping into the third act, we find Deapool and Cable joining forces to stop the out of control mutant child. With Cable now trying to save the kid instead of killing him, we see that our "villain" through the movie was not the villain after all. A true villain of circumstance, if you will. With Wade and Cable having cleared the air, it seems that everyone is really on the same side making an oddly satisfying Avengers-esque moment when Deadpool's remaining team and Cable join together for a common cause which end in everyone learning a lesson about sacrifice and giving yourself for the good of everyone (which Wade retcons anyway so he learns absolutely nothing).
Overall, the acting performances were spot on and the characters were certainly captured, especially by newcomer to the series, Zazie Beetz, a.k.a., Domino. Where Negasonic Teenage Warhead was the sarcasm and the "over it" character in Deadpool, Zazie's Domino takes over the mantle beautifully and with more maturity. Yet, when there is a time to care, she shows it, giving the character emotional depth that we barely got from Warhead in the first film. As far as Cable goes, Josh Brolin had the distinct opportunity to play two different Marvel characters at the same time and he certainly did a great job separating the two from each other leaving no traces of Thanos in Cable and vice versa. Where Cable was similar to Thanos, was in the way the characters emotional arc came together. With both Thanos and Cable, audiences were able to connect with the "villain" in a way that not previously seen in a Marvel movie. Of course, Ryan Reynolds brings his "A-game" to Wade Wilson and shows a lot of emotional depth in this sequel by having the titular character deal with the afterlife and his lack of ability to fully go there, even if it is where the love of his life has gone. Where this would surely add to the insanity of any character, this actually focuses Reynolds' Deadpool, and adds great dynamic to the character.
As far as action sequences go, this movie is choc-full of em. The sequencing and pacing of each fight are truly unique and no repeats were involved. With each battle, there are new characters and different dynamics they add to it. However, the best fight of them all would probably have to go to the "CG battle" between Colossus and Juggernaut (oh yeah, did I not mention Juggernaut is in the movie? Cuz god damn is he in the movie). The only thing the battle suffered from was poor CG. But then again, we see a different side of Colossus who decides to fight dirty like he did in Russia... so that kind of makes up for it. Still, at times, Juggernaut didn't look quite right, but if you can get past that then there is no two ways about it, this is one bad ass fight which ends in a very shocking way (cough).
Do I think this sequel surpasses it's series launch... Yes, but just barely. I believe we get a lot of character development in this second outing that we did not receive in the first, as well as potential for more characters to have major roles in the Deadpool series. I enjoyed the 1000's of references and puns that were shamelessly thrown down every other second (which may be a deterrent for some), and I especially loved that no lessons were actually learned. For being a sequel, this movie is fresh to death, and is a great addition to a series that is garnering a reputation of being as un-killable as its protagonist.
This movie is as Twisted as it gets, folks.