Deadpool 2 Review: Perfecting The Not-So-Secret Family Chimichanga Recipe
Deadpool 2 embraces family through obscenity, dismemberment, and a fisting from Thanos himself.
2016 was filled with magical moments; Batman and Superman agreed that, "Martha," is the greatest name in existence, a vegetarian Leonardo DiCaprio chewed on real bison liver and was mauled by a CGI Grizzly Bear long enough to finally win an Oscar, and Deadpool became the first successful R-rated comic book movie to be driven by raunchy humor, outrageous violence, and a complete annihilation of the fourth wall.
As is tradition with all successful films, there was an immediate desire to make a sequel to Deadpool bigger in every possible way. Three years later, Deadpool 2 is upon us with new characters, more explosions, and the potential of an X-Force film on the horizon.
Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) is on the verge of an important life decision at the beginning of Deadpool 2, but it’s met with an emotional punch to the groin that Deadpool attempts to cope with the entire sequel. Colossus (Stefan Kapičić) and a still reluctant Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) attempt to once again get Deadpool to join the X-Men, but a fiery outburst from a young mutant named Russell (Julian Dennison) invokes Deadpool to continue to kill.
With their mutant powers subdued, Russell and a cancer weakened Wade Wilson are thrown into a mutant prison known as The Icebox. It’s there that they encounter the cybernetic soldier known as Cable (Josh Brolin), who has traveled from the future to hunt Russell because [spoiler redacted]. In an effort to stop Cable and save Russell, Deadpool along with the help of Weasel (T.J. Miller) assemble a team which includes the luck-infused mutant Domino (Zazie Beetz).
Somehow Deadpool 2 outdoes the slow-motion car wreck opening of the first film with a dramatic ballad from Celine Dion and some slick and flashy nods to James Bond that will have you laughing when you probably shouldn’t be. Deadpool 2 attempts to go for the jugular of your heartstrings and actually has a ton of emotion packed within the expected amusing one-liners, spontaneously random comedy, excessive brutality, and the filthiest profanity imaginable.
Deadpool is aimless for this sequel in the sense that he can’t figure out what to do with himself. He has a motivation and he has a purpose, but those two aspects have little in common with one another despite the best efforts of writers Rhett Reece, Paul Wernick, and the Merc with a Mouth himself Ryan Reynolds. He is trying to take the hero route and protect someone who he views as innocent, but he doesn’t really seem to progress much as a character between the two films. He’s still incredibly entertaining, but it’s at a surface level kind of value; Wade Wilson lacks depth and that’s massively disheartening to admit.
The introduction of Josh Brolin as Cable is interesting since both Cable and Brolin’s Infinity Gauntlet wielding Thanos of Avengers: Infinity War have similarities in the ways they're written. They’ve both lost something that they’re either correcting with a genocidal scheme that is felt across the universe or targeting the source directly and only leveling a city or two in the process.
As Cable, Brolin is this brooding soldier who has one mission driven by a dirty teddy bear and is humorous in the sense that he’s this ultra masculine half machine talking about sex toys. The character is presented in a way that’s a nod to The Terminator, The Fugitive, and dubstep with insanely cool weapons and enough robot sounds to turn Optimus Prime on.
Domino leaves even less of an impression and has one sequence that is intended to be her stand out moment, but it also seems like the most computer-generated. Domino has the power of luck, which is a letdown since there is now no reason to ever bring Longshot into the X-Men films. Other than being this walking manifestation of The Final Destination franchise, Domino is nothing more than a girl with a unique birthmark and an afro.
The film makes an effort to simplify Cable’s backstory and it mostly works, but aside from one two minute scene that’s all you get. The direction Negasonic Teenage Warhead goes in feels like it’s only done to repeat an ongoing gag. Every character in Deadpool 2 shows off their powers and then says or does something funny or violent to cover up the fact that they have little to no character development otherwise.
Deadpool 2 has issues in the way that it’s written. When and if an X-Force movie or third Deadpool film comes along, each film needs to work on diving into what makes these characters tick. Deadpool states at the beginning of Deadpool 2 that this is a film about family, but that goal is achieved in the most convoluted way imaginable. Even with its tumor riddled flaws, Deadpool 2 is absolutely glorious and there is a genuine belief that the sequel will be more satisfying to revisit than Avengers: Infinity War.
The sequel is unquestionably entertaining and quite possibly even more fun than the first film. There’s a distinct effort to add emotion and meaning to the main characters of the film and then Deadpool 2 turns around and makes fun of itself for sinking so low. Embrace the jabs at Frozen and the death of Wolverine, make sure you stay through the end of the credits, and have fun with Deadpool 2 and all of its motor mouth humor, surprising cameos, and a stratospheric amount of gore that would make the Mortal Kombat guys gag.