Director: David Leitch
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Peter, Josh Brolin
Review Author: Shaun
Since the test footage was leaked, there has been nothing but confidence in the Deadpool character and Ryan Reynolds to bring us a film that obliterated box office records, but more important than anything it was entertaining. Deadpool 2 was shaping up to be bigger in every area and it was certainly shaking up to be just that. The marketing was more diverse, the action was going to be much larger in scope and the references would be bountiful to meet fan expectations. However, with this film, I do feel that Deadpool is showing its first cracks in the mold.
There are certain characters that almost seamlessly become an actor’s property because you can’t think of anyone else who could pull off a better portrayal. Deadpool belongs to Ryan Reynolds and of course, he is fantastic as Deadpool/Wade Wilson. His performance carries all the superhero and pop culture humor the film has to offer and it offers a lot. In a surprising turn, he also guides us through a direction that I never thought they would take the Deadpool character.
As well as returning characters we also get a whole host of new faces, two of which will be an unexpected surprise. Luckily these new additions strike the same chord as Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead did in the first film. Josh Brolin has already solidified himself as a great villain in Thanos, now he can add Cable to his list. Brolin has always been an impressive actor when he plays hardened characters with an understandable motivation and although he wasn’t on screen for the first few scenes of the film, when he does appear he has a fantastic presence. Domino, on the other hand, must be credited for the way the filmmakers presented her superpower of luck. There is another road chase sequence just like the last film where Deadpool jokes about luck not being a superpower but as he’s doing that we see Domino’s luck in action. Using these juxtaposition elements and classic Deadpool comedy added so much humor to the scene.
Many improvements have been made to ensure the satisfactory sequel we were expecting; the actions scenes were more thrilling, and the comedy is still a barrel of laughs. Speaking of which, this film has probably the greatest end credit scenes in any Marvel film. If ever there was a time to stay after the credits it would be after Deadpool 2. We all know the character is famous for his 4th wall breaking, but the end credits are where this device is utilized the best, obviously, I won’t spoil anything but it’s probably the moment I laughed the loudest.
However, cracks are beginning to reveal themselves now more than ever. There is a problem with these runaway success films, and I’ve seen it happen more in the superhero genre. When a film does something refreshing it creates surprise and news of this gets spread through various means, a sequel is announced but by now we know what to expect and there’s a lot of pressure to claw back that same surprise value. Some films like Aliens and The Dark Knight are good examples of it succeeding but most of these types of films can’t accomplish this. Deadpool 2, unfortunately, must join the club. There was too much that had already been done before for my liking and I was a little disappointed by this.
I’m going to have to do something that a lot of people are probably going to disagree on, but although the humor is still laugh out loud funny, I think it could have been better. The first Deadpool was a mix of pop culture and superhero jokes that we’re evenly spread so that it could appeal to those who watch and don’t watch superhero films. In Deadpool 2, I felt there were more superhero jokes than pop culture or traditional jokes. The first 30mins are lackluster and it seems to drag along until Cable shows up. I felt the jokes within this time didn’t really land and I remember feeling bored, but this may be just my taste. Despite this, I did enjoy the moments when the film would joke about its own elements like writing, cinematography etc.
This is an entertaining film, the director David Leitch has done well in bringing a satisfactory sequel to Deadpool fans. I feel however it had lost a bit of magic from the first film and more effort is needed for future installations. You have perfect characters, but there are still avenues needed to be explored to find a perfect story. Deadpool 2 felt it was trying to be bigger for the sake of being bigger not for the sake of moving forward. Still, I was laughing, I was entertained and I do feel that this is the best that could have been with the hype around it.
Rating: 3.9 / 5 Jimmy Changas
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