Everyone's favorite foul-mouthed anti-hero has officially returned. In other words, we finally have the second movie where Ryan Reynolds basically acts like himself for a couple of hours. The first Deadpool shattered expectations on every level, effectively demonstrating that an R-rating is clearly the best way to make a movie. However, even the best movies fall victim to Sequel Syndrome; which begs the question, "Will Deadpool 2 live up to the bar set by the original?" The answer is definitively....not quite as clear as you'd think.
One of the things that made Deadpool so glass-shattering was the Dark Horse aspect that it brought to the table. I'd be willing to bet that the majority of Marvel fans were unaware of Deadpool (due to his lack of an appearance in the MCU), meaning the studio was essentially free to do whatever they wanted. And you know what? It worked out wonderfully. Deadpool is hands-down a top five super hero movie, and became the second-highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time (behind Passion of the Christ). Unfortunately, this could have easily become a crutch for Deadpool 2. Indeed, fan expectations can prove to be one of the most damaging elements to a franchise. Deadpool 2 could have easily been a fiasco; but, thankfully, it's awesome.
Deadpool 2, first and foremost, is downright hilarious. I was literally laughing out loud before the first line of dialogue was even uttered. The first installment was incredibly funny, but the jokes were seemingly non-stop in the sequel. Elements that felt somewhat forced in the original came effortlessly, and the range of jokes was actually expanded. For instance, the raunchy jokes were far less frequent in Deadpool 2 as opposed to Deadpool, although I'm not entirely sure if that's a pro or a con. Don't get me wrong--they were still there--but that aspect of Deadpool's personality was less apparent. I still wouldn't recommend taking your kids, but the sex jokes and nudity weren't quite as prominent. Bummer, right?
On that note, I should say that a lot of the humor is predicated on your knowledge of Deadpool as a character, as well as the Marvel universe as a whole. If you know almost nothing about Deadpool, you'll still enjoy this movie (and laugh your head off, I'll add), but those who will laugh the hardest are those who know the most about the Marvel franchise. Furthermore, part of the crux of the humor is how self-aware Deadpool is, as well as his fourth-wall-breaking. This proves to be hilarious throughout the movie, but you have to wonder if he becomes too self-aware for his own good.
As expected, Ryan Reynolds is a riot. Like I said earlier, he's not exactly branching out from his personal character for this role, but it's not his fault he was born to play Deadpool. Frankly, almost all the characters did a great job. Granted, nothing outside of comedy and some minor drama was expected of them, but successful comedic delivery is still a talent. Josh Brolin (once again) played an excellent villain; although I thought the character of Cable was somewhat short-changed. Frankly, there's a lot more to him than this movie demonstrates.
My only main issue with Deadpool 2 is that the plot was stretched pretty thin. A lot was happening at once, and the attempt to keep them both connected and equally important was short of believable. Frankly, I wasn't always sure what I was and wasn't supposed to care about. I thought it was going to go in one direction, and then it would become about something different just as quickly. Moments that I felt like should have been monumental fizzled out in a few short minutes. Furthermore, there were several characters that didn't play as large a role as I would have hoped.
Keeping with criticisms, I will say that the entire dynamic of the film was completely changed by the third act. Don't get me wrong--I still enjoyed it--but the focal point of the narrative drastically shifted. Unfortunately, the third act became dangerously predictable. I won't give it away, but the climax resembled the conflict of several previous science fiction movies, deeming it far from original. Critics of Deadpool point to its by-the-books narrative, and Deadpool 2 only became very close to breaking that trend.
To be honest, though, I'm willing to look past all of that; because Deadpool 2 is just so much fun. It never plods along, has almost no misfires in the action sequences, is just. So. Freakin'. Funny. Honestly, it's worth going to see more than once just for the jokes. It's not perfect; nor was it meant to be. It's simply a ridiculously fun movie that doesn't take itself too seriously. Truly, it's primarily a comedy with a superhero element. You either think it's hilarious, or you're lying.
Congratulations, Deadpool 2, you've earned an excellent 88%, and are very easily
Theater Worthy
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