Film review: Deadpool 2

I’d like to do a fourth wall breaking joke here where I talk directly to the reader referencing pop-culture. But I sort of do that anyway so… Hi everyone… the spice girls were good weren’t they?

Deadpool 2 is the sequel to 2016’s unexpected box-office steamroller and features more of the trademark shtick. Irreverent humour, fourth wall breaking, extreme violence, it’s all here. This time, Deadpool has to save a young mutant from assassination by a time-travelling cyborg named Cable. It’s basically Terminator 2 except Sarah Connor is invincible and John Conner is a kiwi. Also, there are more jokes about genitals.

I don’t mind the first Deadpool, I like it more for what it represents than for what it is. Fox relented and let creators go all-out on a character they loved and it paid off. But the humour isn’t hugely my bag a lot of the time and the sparse action isn’t greatly exciting. I’m happy to say, though, Deadpool 2 fixes almost all my issues with the first movie. A lot of the jokes are still crude and juvenile but there’s a lot more of the references which I find a lot funnier. Every time Wade takes a shot at DC, Marvel or even Fox’s X-Men films it’s hilariously rewarding for those who keep up with this stuff.

The new cast is a lot of fun. Josh Brolin takes a break from Infinity Warring everyone to play Deadpool’s straight-man Cable and is perpetually grim and furious. Deadpool’s team are also hugely enjoyable, including TJ Miller (meaning I had to revisit this guilt complex). And, of course, Ryan Reynolds is fully committed. He delivery is spot-on and he can carry it off when it gets emotional, which, surprisingly, is quite often.

The action is hugely improved too. There’s a lot more inventiveness in how Deadpool dispatches waves of anonymous gunmen and the introduction of a very comic-booky villain at the end of the second act mixes things up for the better.

Pour finir, Deadpool 2 fixes every issue I had with Deadpool and keeps everything that made it so popular in the first place. It’s fun. Go see it if, of course, you’re old enough. And even if you aren’t, just tell Mam it’s another Avengers movie.

Oh and the mid-credits scene for this movie may be the loudest I’ve ever laughed in a cinema. Don’t miss it.