Review #1,344: 'Deadpool 2' (2018)

In the years Ryan Reynolds spent trying to persuade 20th Century Fox to greenlight a Deadpool movie since the abomination that was the character's first big-screen appearance in X-Men Origins: Wolverine in 2009, nobody quite expected the reception it would eventually receive once the 'Merc with a Mouth' was finally unleashed onto unsuspecting audiences. Least of all Fox executives, who only gave it the go-ahead when footage was leaked onto the internet and fans went crazy. When 2016's Deadpool raked in over $700 million and became the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time, the suits were soon rubbing their hands together and dreaming up a sequel. Creative differences led to original director Tim Miller departing, and in stepped John Wick co-director David Leitch, with Reynolds also receiving a writing credit for the follow-up.

After a marketing campaign that was even more meta than before and teases of comic-book favourites gracing the big-screen for the first time, Deadpool 2 arrives with high expectations, not only to deliver on the comedy side, but to further subvert a genre that now seems to dominate the big release dates each year, with Marvel alone delivering three features a year. So does the sequel improve on the first? Not really. Although Deadpool 2 increases the violence, cursing and fourth-wall breaks, there's a slight whiff of corporate tampering to the final product. The Merc's first solo outfit loosely hung itself around the faintest of plots, with time jumps switching between Wade Wilson's journey from simple mercenary to cancer-ridden super anti-hero, and his quest for revenge against the man who took pleasure in torturing him over a lengthy period of time. The low-budget, guerrilla-esque approach was all part of its charm, and the role fit Reynolds' smirking sense of humour like a glove.

Deadpool 2 received a much higher budget and allowed for even more creative freedom for the writers, but in doing so has lost some of what made the original so refreshing and punkish. The story involves time-travelling cyborg Cable (John Brolin), who journeys back to our time to assassinate a young mutant (played by Julian Dennison) before he can grow up to become the monster responsible for murdering his family. Deadpool, who is still being courted by the X-Men and recovering from his own personal tragedy, takes it upon himself to protect the boy, who he feels can be saved and turned away from his fate. Along with old pals Colossus (Stefan Kapicic), Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand), Weasel (T.J. Miller) and Blind Al (Leslie Uggams), Deadpool puts together a team he dubs 'X-Force' to help him take down such a formidable foe. Can our hero overcome this seemingly unstoppable man-machine with a gun whose power turns all the way up to 11? And more importantly, is dubstep still a thing in the future?

There is far more story to sink your teeth into this time around, and there are unexpected emotional beats for a character who is essentially a pop culture joke machine. But as it goes with most sequels, bigger rarely means better, and Deadpool 2 ends up becoming the type of film it's supposed to be making fun of. There is plenty of action but there is a weightlessness to it, which wouldn't be a problem if the director wasn't at least half responsible for the crunching physicality of John Wick. That said, Reynolds and fellow writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick keep the laughs coming thick and fast, whether it be Reynolds' wink-winking at the camera or the gross-out physical comedy, with Brolin proving to be the perfect straight-man to Reynolds' blabbermouth. One particularly memorable scene had me crying, despite it ultimately being a rip-off of another movie I won't mention for fear of spoilers. Movie-goers may be divided but comic enthusiasts will appreciate the service they receive, with countless Easter Eggs and in-jokes to spot, as well as the inclusion of the likes of Shatterstar (Lewis Tan), a rather goofy hero that nobody ever believed would make it onto the big screen. Reynolds can rest on his nest egg for at least another film.


Directed by: David Leitch
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Morena Baccarin, Julian Dennison, Zazie Beetz, T.J. Miller, Stefan Kapicic, Brianna Hildebrand, Leslie Uggams, Eddie Marsan
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,018: 'Deadpool' (2016)

It is evident for around 5 minutes of Gavin Hood's disastrous X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) that Fox were onto something with their casting of Ryan Reynolds as the gobby mercenary Wade Wilson aka Deadpool. That was until he had his mouth sown together and turned into a super weapon before he could resemble anything like the character who had garnered a legion of loyal readers in Marvel's comic-book world. Talks of a reboot were in the air even since, and despite Reynolds' public support of the movie and obvious fan anticipation, it felt like it would never happen.

With Fox now piecing their beloved and highly lucrative franchise back together following Days of Future Past's re-setting of the timeline (deleting Hood's movie and Brett Ratner atrocious X-Men: The Last Stand in the process), the 'Merc with a Mouth' finally arrived to glowing reviews, fan adoration, and a box-office taking that was beyond anyone's expectations. The early trailers teased that the character would be at his foul-mouthed, sarcastic best, and although Deadpool is set firmly within the same universe as Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, it certainly doesn't follow the same rules.

Deadpool is all about Deadpool, and so the plot can be summed up within the same sentence. The climax essentially plays out throughout the entire movie, with Ryan Reynolds' already-suited-up hero ambushing a gang of bad guys on a freeway and taking them out in various gruesome ways. We flash back to his time working as muscle-for-hire in New York, where he meets escort Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) at a bar and the two fall in love. Wade soon learns he has aggressive cancer, and, without Vanessa's knowledge, volunteers for an experimental treatment that he soon learns consists of torture at the hands of Ajax (Ed Skrein), who hopes to awaken latent mutant genes in his subjects. He escapes the lab with the ability to heal but permanently disfigured, with a plan to take revenge and win back Vanessa.

A lot of Deadpool's success has been put down to its R rating, and the film certainly flaunts its freedom to make dick jokes and kill its characters in a variety of gruesome ways. While this may be the case to some degree, it seems that people forget Deadpool is, most importantly, offering something different in an already-overcrowded superhero market. While the filthy sense of humour does grate at times, especially whenever Wade's friend Weasel (T.J. Miller) is on screen, Deadpool is anything but the traditional brooding superhero with the weight of the world on their shoulders, he is selfish and self-absorbed yet motivated by his love for Vanessa, repeatedly breaking the fourth wall and informing us that he is fully aware of his role in the movie. When he is dragged by X-Men Colossus (Stefan Kapicic) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) to Professor X's mansion, he wonders whether it will be Patrick Stewart or James McAvoy awaiting him.

But the low-key approach, although refreshing, also shrinks the movie. The fragmented narrative offers a slightly new take on the origin movie, but take this away and the film still falls into the same genre trappings. There's the love interest, the life-changing experiment, the forgettable bad guy - all tropes covered in a hundred films before it. So without an enticing plot to sink the teeth into, a lot falls on the charisma of Reynolds as a character intended to provoke a strong reaction. Thankfully, Reynolds gives his best performance, a role worthy of his natural screen presence and slightly idiosyncratic delivery. Whether the humour is for you or not (it certainly made me laugh out loud throughout), you have to admire director Tim Miller's belief in such a risky project, and it will hopefully open the gates to the possibility of more adult superhero movies in a genre always in need of fresh input.


Directed by: Tim Miller
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, T.J. Miller, Ed Skrein, Gina Carano, Stefan Kapicic, Brianna Hildebrand
Country: USA/Canada

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie