Deadpool 2 – Movie Review
Deadpool 2 – R
Release Date: Fri 18 May 2018
2016’s Deadpool was nothing short of a miracle. Ryan Reynolds, who had played a bastardized version of the character in the dreadful X-Men Origins: Wolverine had gone on to fail at another comic franchise with 2011’s Green Lantern. Meanwhile Reynolds and director Tim Miller made a proof of concept for an R-rated action-comedy that was pure Deadpool but the folks at Fox who owned the rights to the character passed. And then someone leaked that proof of concept, and the fans started demanding it.
Deadpool went on to become the second-highest grossing R-rated film ever (hat tip to Passion of the Christ) and became a major factor in 2017’s Logan letting Wolverine’s swansong also be R-rated and glorious.
Deadpool 2 was, of course, green-lit instantly but did not make it through production unscathed. Director Tim Miller left the production, and there were rumors of disastrous test screenings and massive re-shoots. So does Deadpool 2 have that same spark?
It is impossible to ask that Deadpool 2 somehow regenerate the sheer novelty, execution and cleverness that went into a movie that took years to be a real production. Deadpool 2 is nothing if not self-aware, and it expands the roster of characters to give Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) more of a role as a hilariously inept leader of men instead of someone to constantly break the fourth wall.
There are some great moments in Deadpool 2. Overall, it is a better paced movie than it’s predecessor which slammed into a run-of-the-mill final boss battle. Consequences are introduced. Sort of. The cleverest bits are the ones better enjoyed on screen than in a review.
My only real gripe with Deadpool 2 is some lazy action scenes. For example, the first fight between Cable and Deadpool takes place in an enclosed and uniform setting. All of the choreography and cutting is too close and too fast to know what’s going on. There’s less of the creative use of slow motion shots or Rube Goldberg machine style take-downs. (Thank goodness for Domino.)
Deadpool 2 is a raunchy, fun time at the movies. It doesn’t have the soaring highs and novelty of the first, but it also doesn’t have the clunker of an ending. It’s an easy recommendation for me to make.
Amber, Aaron, Cal and I saw it in the theater and had a discussion in the car:
