Oh, feelings how thou conflict thee. Am I supposed to cry, laugh, or feel pain while watching these Deadpool movies? Ok, the answer is definitely laugh. But one of the great things about the original film is that it balanced the gratuitous violence and humor with a great amount of heart, allowing Marvel to make its first romantic comedy. Yes, there was a great amount of action, death and violence, but at its core it was a comedy and a love story. Deadpool 2 continues this balance, letting you know within its first 10 minutes that it is a family film, or at least a film about family. Was it as successful as its predecessor in this claim? I haven’t figured that out yet.
Deadpool 2 starts with Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) taking on more “bad guys” after the events of the first film. With the love of Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) at home, Deadpool seeks to begin more of a life outside of being the Merc with a Mouth. But when a time-traveler named Cable (Josh Brolin) comes from the future to threaten the life of a young mutant (Julian Dennison), Wade takes it upon himself to bring together a team of rogue “heroes” to take Cable down.
Everything that was great about the original film is back and better than ever. It is extremely hilarious, action-packed, fourth-wall breaking, and filled to the brim with references. All of this together has created one of the funniest comic-book movies of this decade. They took the formula of the original and built on it. Somehow, amongst all the talk about genitals, sex dolls, drugs, and violence, Deadpool (1 & 2) is able to create an emotionally uplifting story at its center. This is especially due to the movie’s ability to take care in serious moments so when the comedy returns, the drama still holds weight. The relationship between Vanessa and Deadpool carry a true heart that allows you to feel the love and warmth through all the dirty jokes. So, when something life-changing happens to them, don’t be surprised if a tear or two actually fall down your face. The relationships between the characters are what hold together Deadpool’s ability to create the raunchiest family film ever (it’s fun for all ages!... but you probably shouldn’t bring the kids).
Ryan Reynolds continues to prove he was born to play this character since it was finally given its proper R-Rating, and continues to understand that one of the biggest draws of Wade is his great chemistry with friends, enemies, frenemies, and the audience alike. We have already established the truest love story in comic-book film history between him and Vanessa. He still has great comedic timing with Dopinder (Karan Soni) and Weasel (T.J. Miller). Colossus (Stefan Kapicic) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) continue to be amazing morality foils to Deadpool’s antics, and the writers made a great choice in giving more focus to this dynamic (I’m still mad at X2 at how little they utilized my favorite X-Man by relegating him to metallic babysitter. Seriously, this is all we got from him in X2).
C'mon Son
The addition of Domino (Zazie Beets) and Cable enhance the entertainment. You can feel Thanos’ pain and emotion in his portrayal of Cable, and this juxtaposition to Deadpool’s outlandishness elevates his serious performance. But it’s Domino that steals the movie. After the initial screenings of Deadpool 2, the audience notes screamed for more Domino and the specifically added more scenes for Beets.. And yet, that still wasn’t enough. Every scene she is in makes it feel like the other characters are in her movie. She matches Ryan Reynolds’ sarcasm, quick-wit, action prowess, and charisma in every way.
We want and need even more Cable and Domino, and I am not surprised that Reynolds stated that Deadpool 3 may actually just be X-Force 1. Hopefully it will be an X-Force movie, because this underutilization of new characters is one of the main reasons I have hesitations about whether this sequel is as successful as the original. Deadpool 1 walked the dirty jokes right up to the line of being corny, and unfortunately DP2 crossed the line more than once. Too many of the gags and one-liners didn’t land or ran too long, and one of the major instances of legit comedic disappointment revolved around a scene with some of the new characters. This type of “lazy” comedic writing is a fourth-wall breaking comment made by Wade in the movie, and it’s this self-deprecating humor that makes my final decision on the movie so tough. The one-liners may not always hit, but everything that is “meta” and self-aware (even around the one-liners) is smart and surprisingly elegant. Every single reference in the film his gut-bustlingly funny and will have you wanting to see the film multiple times to try to catch the dozens of subtle jokes you may have missed. The question becomes do the brilliance of the meta jokes outweigh the eye-rolling nature of the corny ones. When I left the theater yesterday, I was giving DP2 a 7/10, but today it has risen up to 8.5/10 desperate pleas to Hugh Jackman to don the claws just ONE MORE TIME!!!!!! We will see if watch number 2 will help answer my score-fluctuating question.