Deadpool 2

Couple of late reviews heading towards you, Deadpool 2 today and Solo: A Star Wars Story coming in a few days (hopefully). Sorry for the delay with these ones, the likelihood is many of you have seen them already but I've been busy, for one I just got engaged! I think that's a good enough excuse... Now please enjoy my review of the Deadpool 2.

I enjoyed the first Deadpool film but I did not love it. It was comedic and I enjoyed the adult take on the superhero genre. However, as much as it tried to be subversive it fell flat on the execution, since its own story followed the basic superhero tropes and rarely diverted from the tired template. I didn’t have high hopes for Deadpool 2, the trailers looked interesting but I just wasn’t completely hooked or invested in seeing another outing from the character. Maybe that’s why I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the sequel when I saw it the other evening.

Deadpool 2 follows the titular character as he brings together a team of mutant rogues to protect a young boy with supernatural abilities from the brutal, time travelling cyborg, Cable. There’s a lot more story in this one than the last and - although it doesn’t break any tropes - it is definitely a lot more interesting to watch play out. Deadpool himself points this out within the film and although that’s not as smart as actually breaking away from those tropes; it is quite funny to see him literally try and force an arc for his loud mouthed and annoying character throughout the film. New cast members, Josh Brolin, Zazie Beetz and Julian Denninso as Cable, Domino and Firefist are also very welcome additions to the sequel, all killing it in their roles and practically stealing the show.

Comedy is subjective so it’s difficult to talk about the comedy in Deadpool 2 as if my opinion of it is the only one that matters. There were many times throughout where the audience were in hysterics and I was sat their stony-faced and vice versa. I personally thought the hit rates of jokes were quite high in this film, I found it a lot funnier than the first. For me, this seemed to be because they scaled back on the amount of ‘dick’ jokes, making way for some smarter and more thought out writing. There’s still a lot of misses but there’s always going to be with the high amount of jokes in the film to begin with. I did find that the so called ‘subversive’ jokes or meta commentary to be the weakest ones though, with the jokes that play out as part of the story being stronger overall.

When it comes to the comic-book-y-ness of the film, there’s a lot to love. I particularly love how this franchise just completely disregards the X-Men universe it’s supposed to be a part of and just has fun in the sandbox of the world. There’s some great characters in here and some surprising ones as well that, if you can look past the dodgy CGI for, then you can have a lot of fun with.

It’s difficult to really talk about Deadpool 2; firstly, because what plays out should be left to be discovered by the audience but also secondly because I just enjoyed it, nothing more, nothing less. It hasn’t left a lasting impression on me but I had fun in the cinema. I enjoyed the action scenes which were done so much better this time round; possibly due to half of the John Wick directors, David Leitch taking the helm. You’re not going to have the same experience you might have had with Infinity War earlier this year but you are going to get a couple hours of escapism and some laughs along the way. I like what Ryan Reynolds is doing with character and I actually left this film looking forward to seeing what he gets up to next; whether that be a threequel or as a supporting character in another film.

This film made its audience in the first instalment and if you liked that one then you’ll probably like this one (possibly even more like me). But if you hated it then this is definitely more of the same; slightly better done but it’s not going to change your mind. Now we’ve got this sequel out of the way I’d like to see Deadpool go in a different direction and actually make a subversive film with a story to match instead of the smug wink and knowing nod that these two films like to delve into. I enjoyed you Deadpool 2, I laughed quite a lot and it made me want to see more, but next time deliver on what you’re fighting for; something different. I’m rating the film a 3.5/5.

What did you think of The Merc With a Mouth’s second (kind of third) outing? Loved it or hated it, let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!