Deadpool 2 Review - A Worthy Sequel?

Runtime: 119mins | Director: David Leitch | Rating: 4 Stars

Without a doubt, now is the greatest time to be a Marvel fan - it seems every other day we are getting served a new film and, for the most part, they are excellent.

Despite early rumours of poor screen-testing, I am pleased to report that Deadpool 2 is no exception to this.

Picking up shortly after the first, ‘The Merc with a Mouth’ is doing what he does best – killing bad guys. However, he later has a change of heart and teams up with the X-Men to try and do some good. When Cable (Josh Brolin), a time-travelling super-soldier from the future shows up to try and kill a mutant child, though, Deadpool’s (Ryan Reynolds) job gets a lot harder. As a result, he forms the X-Force – a motley crew of superheroes including Domino (Zazie Beetz), whose superpower is luck. Yup. Literally, just luck. And, Peter - a regular guy, and my new idol.

So, what’s it like?

Well, Deadpool 2 is pretty much everything you’d expect it to be – lots of fourth wall breaking and hyper-violence whilst Ryan Reynolds fits in as many jokes as he can.

Now, initially, I was convinced that Deadpool 2 would flop. After all, there are only so many dick jokes you can make before it starts to get boring – something I had an issue with in the first film. Also, after the wildly unexpected success of the first, it set a very high bar - one I didn't think they could top.

Somehow though, they did. And, this is mainly down to the fact that they learned from their mistakes.

Rather than sticking to often prevalent toilet humour of the first, Deadpool 2 is a lot wittier. Of course, it’s still puerile and exaggerated, but it’s done so with more class and imagination than the first which provides more laughs as a result. And, when delivered with Reynolds’ natural comedic timing, it’s a guaranteed recipe for success. He was born to play the role.

As well as being funnier, Deadpool 2 also manages to be more sincere. Another criticism I had of the first was that whilst it was very funny and a lot of fun, it lacked depth. Essentially, the whole thing was one long joke. 

Deadpool 2, however, has genuine moments of emotion which were needed and definitely helped improve the film. Whereas the first Deadpool was a self-titled ‘love film’, the second is about family, and this is where the most sincere moments are provided.

For me though, the cherry on top was Josh Brolin as Cable.

Having just played Thanos in Infinity War, arguably, one of the biggest and best villain roles to ever appear on screen, it seemed an impossible task to play another so quick in succession. Of course though, being Josh Brolin, he nails it.

As soon as you see and hear him, you forget he played Thanos – he immerses himself in the role as Cable, including getting shredded for it, and gives a great performance - the man is a machine. Literally.

The most common criticism of superhero films, in general, is that the villains are generally weak, and this was no exception for the first Deadpool. Sure, Ed Skrein was entertaining to watch to a point, but he was the same as any other villain and very forgettable.

Cable, however, is fantastic. He has a believable and compelling motive, is a lot of fun to watch, and as you’d expect, is also extremely funny. What more can you ask for?

All in all, Deadpool 2 is a very well done sequel – it’s funny, has some incredible cameos and Josh Brolin, in particular, gives an incredible performance. It also has a surprisingly good theme song sung by Celine Dion of all people (which you can listen to here). 

If you liked the first Deadpool, I highly recommend seeing it - you won't be disappointed. If you didn’t like it, this isn’t for you - maybe go and watch Green Lantern instead?

To watch the trailer - click here.