A hilarious sequel that stands on its own baby legs (Deadpool 2 review)

Well, Deadpool 2 has done it. It has joined the rankings of ‘Terminator 2’, ‘The Godfather 2’ and ‘Shrek 2’ for sequels that outshine the original. I always felt the first film wasn’t as groundbreaking as it thought it was, and while entertaining, it lacked enough humour and action to really make it fantastic. Where the first film lost out, this one picks up, and boy did it do a good job of it.

Admittedly, the plot is fairly thin, but it still outshines the originals bog-standard revenge motif. Deadpool finds himself dealing with loss while he also goes on a soul-finding mission to save a kid who is on a road to destruction. First off, the characters are so much more fleshed out in this film. I always find that where origin films suffer from having to set up characters, sequels have the ability to run with the already established characters. Not only that, we get more backstory, more heroes and several interesting villains with justifiable motives.

Cable is a great new addition to the cast. Josh Brolin channels his inner Terminator and proves for a second time that 2018 will be his summer (having already played Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War). Similarly, Julian Dennison (of ‘Hunt for the Wilderpeople’ fame) is brilliant as Russell Collins/Firefist, and brings great comic timing and sympathy to the role. A heavy dollop of well-timed cameos, both from Marvel characters and A-List celebrities, and you have a great line up.

What really sells this film though is the heavy mix of humour and action spectacle. Deadpool is hilariously self-referential, and this film only furthers that. He makes pops left right and center to exposition, lazy writing and Ryan Reynolds himself, and while sometimes this gag is used to cover an actual plot hole or scripting issue, it is appreciated and always gets a big laugh. Having avoided every trailer for this film, I was hearing the jokes for the very first time in the movie, and every single one of them hit. The rate of jokes was higher than most comedies these days, and about the same as every Adam Sandler movie combined. Ryan Reynolds is an actual credited writer on this film, and it is all the stronger for it, because he brings great cynicism and sarcasm to the dialogue.

The scale of this film too is much bigger, and features much more action than the original. The gore and gross out humour are on par, but somehow felt more justified in this instalment. And another ‘baby appendage’ gag warranted on of the biggest laughs in the film, just as it did in the last.

Some down sides to the film include two C-Bombs being dropped which felt totally undeeded, an unnecessary Wilhelm Scream that was just out of place, and minor issues dubbing over Deadpool when his mouth under the fabric isn’t moving in time to what he’s saying. However, it was big, loud and hilarious, and the spectacle did somewhat cover these lazy mistakes.

Overall I found Deadpool 2 to be wonderfully entertaining. A James Bond style opening, and a hilarious final Green Lantern gag, and the team have created a great second outing for Marvels most controversial movie star. A fully enjoyable night out to the cinema that proves how fun blockbuster cinema can be. After Infinity War, it’s just the superhero film we needed.