Deadpool 2

[Benjamin Haines]

[mbozzo]

There are many people who saw the first 'Deadpool' movie that might want to see the second 'Deadpool' movie.

[jellydonut25]

I need this movie sooner than May so I can be positive about something.

The dick joke in the Cable trailer is a little much, but that's what Deadpool is. You take the good with the bad, and just enjoy the ride. I at least take some solace in knowing that the Deadpool character's dick jokes and such are more of a defense mechanism and there's a solid person underneath all that who's just trying to use bravado to disconnect himself from caring.

Yeah, MOST people just lol at the dick jokes, but much like I am able to separate my enjoyment of Rick and Morty from its fandom, I can do the same with Deadpool. At a certain point, you have to unplug from fandom because the herd mentality of most fandom is ultimately fairly toxic.

Anyway, Deadpool 2 looks good, and I need it in my life because Godzilla and Cloverfield were turds.

[Henry88]

[mr.negativity]

'Deadpool 2' Joins Unprecedented Superhero Domination at the 2018 Global Box Office

[jellydonut25]

2018: The year where I simultaneously enjoy things and recognize them as having EXTREME problems.

Beyond Skyline - Lots of fun, but an utter catastrophe of a movie.
Strangers Prey at Night - Fun for what it is but a rough sketch of a story at best
Rampage - Fun but so tonally confused it gave me whiplash
Pacific Rim Uprising - Fun but a woeful follow-up to a fantastic first film, lacking the singular vision of its wonderful director
Black Panther, Blockers, Alex Strangelove, Cargo, Revenge, The Endless....I can go through nearly my entire favorite list for the year and find some sizable issues with each and every movie.

Deadpool 2 is no exception whatsoever. I thoroughly ENJOYED Deadpool 2, but it has deep-seated problems. It's clever, but it knows it's clever, and wants you to know it's clever, so it makes sure to do that one clever thing it did 2 or 3 times in order to impress upon you just how clever it is. It's also "clever" at the expense of writing that makes sense. There are multiple issues with logic here, whether it's when Deadpool claims "...but we'll get to him in a moment" and then we never get to him, or when Domino lets a truck drive itself (which is okay for her power set), but the truck seems to maintain acceleration on its own.

There's also an issue with the movie not having a really fully realized villain. That's not to say there is no villain, but he's just a really weak sketch of a character, leaving the action to play out between Cable and Deadpool as the antagonist/protagonist...but seasoned comic readers will know Cable isn't the BAD guy, so it takes far too long to get to the point where he and Deadpool work together (which also means it takes us FAR too long to get to Cable's reason for being in the movie; his motivations aren't made clear until just before the final act begins). The movie isn't very well structured.

ALSO, there's an issue, which was present in the first one but seems a little more egregious here, of the movie just being wall-to-wall jokes. For me, they hit more often than they miss, so that isn't the issue in and of itself, but what IS the issue is that a LOT of these jokes are really extremely obvious lazy ADR voiceovers. There are at least 3 different shots where Deadpool is making a joke but Ryan Reynolds' mouth isn't moving. They're brief, but they become noticeable and distracting and then you start to notice ALL the ADR and it all becomes distracting.

NOW, that all said (and that's a lot to stack against the film), it's still a LOT of fun. Deadpool as a franchise seems bound and determined to be the place to give characters who were shafted in previous X-Men films a chance to shine. Deadpool himself gets that designation the first time out (and to a certain extent, Colossus, though neither Deadpool film has captured the HEART and SOUL of Piotr). Here, it's Juggernaut, a wonderful little cameo that should definitely pacify people who cringed at Vinnie Jones' god-awful take.

Also, it bears repeating that Deadpool 2 is CLEVER. A lot of people find the toilet humor in Deadpool grating, like the people who think Rick and Morty or South Park are just distasteful pot-stirrers, but there is a lot of evidence that the potty humor is calculated, there to pacify the people who expect to see it. The humor at times hits deep, either in a meta sense, a deep-cut sense, or just smarter than your average moviegoer sense. That's not to say it's BRILLIANT or anything, but just clever, and fun.

Furthermore, Deadpool's cast is SPECTACULAR. Ryan Reynolds remains a perfect individual for DP, and returning characters are great to see as well, but the new members of the cast are a delight. Josh Brolin is an inspired choice for Cable, and it's fun to see Julian Dennison again (after his breakout performance in Hunt for the Wilderpeople). The true standout though is Zazzie Beats as Domino. Whether it be her showcasing her luck powers or just her wonderful attitude, Zazzie steals every scene she's in.

The action is also excellently staged and the perfect level of stakes for a Deadpool movie...perhaps even a little LOW stakes. I assumed Cable was sliding back in time to prevent some sort of apocalypse...but it turns out that he's trying to save HIS family. That's a nice undercutting, honestly. Keeping these first few movies lower stakes gives us something to BUILD UP TO. That's a feature so very many superhero franchises lack. They always go so big so early that they either have to futilely attempt to go BIGGER or scale things BACK and feel more underwhelming. Deadpool 2 is able to keep its stakes roughly the same, but position them through more action sequences. It's a little more serious, but that's important for the natural growth of the character and his willingness to start/join a team. Up to this point, Deadpool is an unkillable badass who never loses. He needs a reason to want to have others around him.

Deadpool as a franchise knows what it is, knows what it isn't and plays to its strengths and generally ignores its weaknesses. If the first one wasn't your thing, you will probably be even less enamored. If you were in the first one for the lulz, you might think this too heavy or uninspired. If you liked the first one's willingness to be its own thing, without the weight of an impending cinematic universe, and smaller scale storytelling that feels like a slightly overstuffed comic issue (in a good way...maybe a two-parter), then Deadpool 2 will probably delight you as it did me.

[mr.negativity]

[jellydonut25]

PG-13 Deadpool?
Someone is prepping for the Disney Deadpool.

[Dr Kain]

[lhb412]

They could have a lot of fun with a comedic re-edit. I dig there being different versions of films.