Screw Deadpool, I’m only interested in Peter. After an unsuccessful attempt to convince James Cameron to speed up the process in making Avatar sequels, 20th Century Fox executive Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) is ousted from his position. What does he do? He takes up babysitting, where he learns the fine art of child rearing from the one and only Mrs. Doubtfire.
This new career is fulfilling and not without a plethora of frozen chimichangas but gets disrupted as extraterrestrials emerge from outer space and threaten our very livelihood. With no Will Smith in sight to save the day, Wilson must don the red and black bodysuit to become our favorite antihero capable of saving the world. Knowing he can’t do it alone, he recruits his own team that consists of the super-intelligent ape Caesar, astronaut Mark Watney, the famed wolverine Logan, and even the cast away Chuck Noland. Maximum effort incoming!
It was Deadpool himself who stated that his first movie was no ordinary superhero tale, but more of a love story. And that it was—a relatively effective one to boot amid the fourth wall breaks, raunchiness, and graphic violence. It’s no surprise that The Merc With A Mouth once again tells us what type of movie theme we’re in for. Clearly, Wade’s been hanging out with Dom Toretto and crew, as Deadpool 2 goes all in on the theme of family and teamwork making the dream work. At the end of it all, Deadpool 2 is successful, but as the old proverb goes, “You can’t have your cake and eat it too.”
Let’s address the number one pertinent question. Is Deadpool 2 funny? Absolutely, and probably more so than its predecessor if we’re comparing. Returning co-writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick along with lead star Reynolds (officially his first time being credited for writing in his career) ensure that the nature of their beloved character stays the same. The jokes are still rapid, and no punches are pulled; be on the lookout for a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it one about the sci-fi snooze-fest that is Self/Less. Much credit to the marketing team as well, as so many of the film’s truly hilarious lines and visual gags were not revealed. Make no mistake, the second go-around of Deadpool 2 doesn’t bat 1.000 on the humor scale, and certain gags and joke run too long, but when it hits, think triples, home runs, and grand slams.
Yes, the humor is ever-present, but Reese, Wernick, and Reynolds do have some difficulty executing successfully in other facets of their sequel. For one, much of the first 30-40 minutes feel somewhat aimless, bogging down the pacing, an unfathomable happening for such a quick-witted and impulsive hero such as Deadpool. Part of the pacing issue might be due to the lack of a true and central villain. Ajax may have been one note, but his aim was clear and his badness never questioned. Here, sometimes that villain is the entertaining-yet-underdeveloped Cable (Josh Brolin, continuing to hold the summer movie season on lock), sometimes the enigmatic Firefist (Julian Dennison), and another time it’s a caretaker of a mutant boarding house.
Eventually, the real big baddie emerges, but he comes so late it’s hard to take him as a true threat. As effective the humor can be, it can be a hindrance when Deadpool 2 tries to play the emotional investment card if only because a razor-sharp quip manifests five seconds later to nullify it. The family theme is as weak and nonexistent as some of the characters of X-Force end up being. However, Domino (Zazie Beetz) is a great addition to the proceedings and there appears to be many ways that her character can go in the future.
Not even a year after plans were crystallized in earnest for Deadpool 2, creative differences served as the reason Deadpool‘s first director in Tim Miller isn’t back in the directorial seat; the age-old Hollywood dilemma of wanting a sequel to be bigger (Miller) and more stylized versus keeping what made the original unique (Reynolds). Reynolds winning the battle meant a new director in the form of David Leitch, of John Wick and Atomic Blonde fame. The R-rated bloodshed in the form of severed limbs and headshots remains, but for an individual who has crafted and choreographed some of the best and extremely inventive action scenes of recent memory, the stuff in DP2 is solid, but also underwhelming. Missing is Junkie XL’s contributions to the score, replaced by Tyler Bates. While there are some good cuts, the music lacks that funkiness that Holkenborg brought to the first.
In a deep pool of expectations, Deadpool 2 doesn’t walk on water but certainly doesn’t sink, either, mainly on the strength of its irreverence alone. By that extent, X still gives it to ya.
C+
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Yeah i just read another review that was even less hot on this. Maybe time to start tempering expectations?
I love the many references you include to other movies in this review. Im assuming thats because the story itself is a hodgepodge of that kind of stuff too. Im glad Reynolds finds the time to make fun of Self/Less because my god — that thing sucked.
Would still recommend, but I think that my problem is that I wanted a good mix of comedy and action, and it hit me about a quarter of the way through that Deadpool is a comedy first and foremost. OK cool…but it feels like a great action director in Leitch is wasted in the process, and though it succeeds mostly as a comedy, it tries pretty hard to generate some emotion. I thought it failed pretty heavily at this.
I actually thought about that opening summary for a few days. Nothing to do with the movie’s actual summary, just some popular characters and movies from 20th Century Fox properties LOL! Kind of a parody of the first Deadpool 2 plot summary that was going around months back.
No matter if we disagree a bit on the rating.. it wasn’t a bad way to spend time.. and get some laughs while doing so. Some of those zinging one-liners were amazing.. ‘tone down the hate Fox & Friends’ and ‘your welcome Canada’ at the end.. dying!!! I know people can pick it apart piece by piece..and so could I, because I didn’t like the story line as much, but the one liners were so much better!! 🙂
I wanted more Peggy! Especially from an action perspective. Story isn’t terrible, but I think David Leitch is pretty wasted here in my opinion 😦
But there are some big laughs and I’d recommend for that alone. It’s clear that Deadpool is a comedy first and foremost, and not even a comedy/action hybrid.
Yeah there is a huge dropoff in quality with the first film here but the parachute scene saved alot of the film for me.
The comedy was great! I didn’t expect the rest of it to be so average though. Wasted a good action director in my opinion for semi-embarrassing CGI and mostly uneventful action sequences.
I’m totally in the same boat. The movie was funny yes, so it succeeds as a comedy. I had no emotional attachment to anyone or anything in this film….and the script doesn’t want me to. Kind of a hard film to review, but I think fans will enjoy it.
I very much agree. Still pining to see this again just for the comedy (I think it’ll age better than the first, too), but it is rather disappointing that everywhere else, it’s average, especially as an “actioner” from the talented Leitch. I’ve kind of already forgotten about it, honestly.