Review: Deadpool 2

Arriving two years after its predecessor became the 2nd highest grossing R-rated film in U.S. history, Deadpool 2 returns with even more mayhem and merriment and is much approved on almost all fronts. Where the original, directed by Tim Miller, was a fairly entertaining hot mess, the sequel, directed by David Leitch (credited as "one of the guys who shot the dog in John Wick"), is, shall we say, more streamlined in its chaos.

Two years after killing the man who made him into a mutant, Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) seems to be in a happy place. He and girlfriend Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) have started talking about having kids. He's become an international assassin for hire, dispatching the gangsters and unspeakable monsters that no one else will touch. He's still grousing about Wolverine, who had the gall to cement his hero status by sacrificing himself at the end of Logan, but guess what, Wade assures viewers, "I'm dying here too." With his powers to heal himself, Wade makes good on that statement several times over - one dismemberment results in arguably the film's grossest sight gag - and, when he's struck by tragedy, he becomes even more determined to shuffle off his mortal coil.

Of course, there wouldn't be much of a film if our wisecracking protagonist met his end, though screenwriters Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick and Reynolds certainly have fun trying to prove otherwise whilst also deepening and propelling the narrative. As Wade himself asserts, Deadpool 2 is a family film - Wade may not have the family he wants, but he has the family he needs and that family comes in the form of the X-Men, specifically Colossus (voiced by Stefan Kapicic), who convinces him to be a trainee in Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Naturally, Wade doesn't play by the rules during his first assignment, which is to talk down a young mutant Russell (Julian Dennison) who, in addition to possessing fire-generating abilities, also has anger management and daddy issues. Long and convoluted story short, Wade must amass his own crew in order to save the wayward kid from Cable (Josh Brolin, lending the film a deadpan gravitas that nicely complements Reynolds' loosey-goosey snarkiness), who has traveled from the future to kill Russell.

The film truly hits its groove in its tremendously stronger second half when Wade and his X-Force attempt to waylay the prison truck transporting Russell whilst fending off Cable. Leitch once again deploys his background as a stuntman to maximum effect, staging an action sequence that is not only fantastic in execution but has a clarified sense of space and purpose with tricky beats that are hit to perfection time and time again. The sequence, and the film in general, also serves as a great showcase for Zazie Beetz's super chill and charismatic badass, Domino, who proves beyond a shadow of a doubt exactly why luck is her superpower.

Perhaps the most commendable thing about Deadpool 2 is its ease in its own skin. Deadpool tried way too hard to prove its edginess; the sequel, on the other hand, is keenly aware of its strengths and delivers the goods, not only in its superb action set pieces and snappy sense of humour, which punctures not only itself but other superhero films ("You're so dark," Wade observes of Cable, "Are you sure you're not from the DC Universe?" is one of the film's best lines), but also in its boatload of cameos, including one blink-and-you-miss-it moment from one superstar who, surprisingly, has never been in a superhero film.

Deadpool 2

Directed by: David Leitch

Written by: Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Ryan Reynolds; based on the Marvel comics by Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Morena Baccarin, Julian Dennison, Zazie Beetz, T.J. Miller, Brianna Hildebrand, Leslie Uggams, Jack Kesy, Karan Soni, Stefan Kapicic