Movie Review – Deadpool 2

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Grab your chimichangas, because Deadpool is back!

 

Before I begin…

 

If the first movie wasn’t a good enough indicator for parents out there, Deadpool 2 is NOT for kids. No matter how much it ironically calls itself a “family movie”, this would absolutely scar your ten year old for life. Deadpool 2 is R rated for a reason.

 

With that PSA out of the way, Deadpool 2 is amazing and you adult-ish people should totally watch it. Rampant with fourth-wall breaking jokes, jabs at other Marvel properties, f-bombs, and weird baby legs, this sequal is mostly just as fun as the first movie, and exactly as good.

 

I say mostly, because there are serious depictions of child abuse and suicide. Family and loss are running themes throughout the plot, and are handled surprisingly maturely (given that this is Deadpool).  Subsequently, Deadpool 2 feels like a much darker follow-up to the first installment.

 

Ryan Reynolds reprises his role as the merc with a mouth, wherein he forms the team X-Force in order to protect a young mutant from Cable. And yeah… that’s about it. Hijinks ensue, and there is some wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff, and things blow up. A lot.

 

Deadpool as a franchise really takes advantage of their R rating.  Not every joke sticks the landing, but the humor is edgy and takes unexpected chances. The fight scenes are visceral and almost require a second viewing to catch all the gory details. Deadpool 2 is a hard R to be certain, and pulls no punches.

 

The side characters really shine in this sequel. The X-Force team factored a little less in the plot than I had anticipated, (given their prominence in the trailers), but contributed to some pretty out-there shock humor. Of the all the new characters introduced, I’m not sure who I liked best- Domino or Cable.

 

Domino was a surprise break-out character for me. She claims her super-power is “luck”, which lead to some of the best lines and action scenes in the movie. Regardless of how they work, her powers made Domino a merc to rival Deadpool. I found out that her comic series recently rebooted and I plan on picking up the first couple of issues this week.

 

Cable’s almost Terminator-like pursuit of his target made his scenes action-packed and thrilling. He is super broody and serious which makes him a natural foil to Deadpool, and their dialogue together is just priceless. After his stunning performance as Thanos in Infinity War, it kind of feels like Josh Brolin can do no wrong right now.

 

I was thrilled to hear that FOX is starting to seriously look at an X-Force movie, which would be an excellent companion to the Deadpool series… if they keep the cast and R rating. Going off of recent interviews with Ryan Reynolds, it’s very early days so only time will tell.

 

There are a total of five post-credits scenes in Deadpool 2. They all happen in rapid succession immediately following the movie climax, so you don’t have to sit through all the credits to see every one. They are delightful, and worth crossing your legs and waiting an extra few minutes.

 

So leave the kids at home and treat yourself to a fun grown-up night out!