Produced by Simon Kinberg,
Ryan Reynolds, Lauren Shuler Donner
Written by Rhett Reese,
Paul Wernick, Ryan Reynolds
Based on Deadpool created by
Fabian Nicieza, Rob Liefeld
Directed by David Leitch
Starring Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin,
Morena Baccarin, Julian Dennison,
Zazie Beetz, T.J. Miller, Jack Kesy,
Brianna Hildebrand, Stefan Kapičić
Deadpool is back with Cable and X-Force in the fourth-wall breaking Deadpool 2! Stuntman and director of Atomic Blonde, David Leitch, directs Ryan Reynolds and Josh Brolin in the sequel to Tim Miller’s 2016 X-Men solo film. That’s right, don’t forget this is the eleventh film in the Fox franchise though this sequel owes more to its own preceding film than any of the Bryan Singer movies.
By nature, Deadpool 2 is a raucous, ridiculous ride. Controversial comedian T. J. Miller returns as Weasel and Gotham‘s Morena Baccarin comes back as Wade Wilson’s fiancé, Vanessa.
Tiny dick jokes? Check. Introduction of a brand new X-Team? Check. A swole Josh Brolin as Cable? Check, and bonus points for Thanos jokes. Making fun of ‘Martha’ and the dark and gritty DC Movie Universe? CHECK!
Being self-aware is sort of what Deadpool does, and Deadpool 2 carries on not only the spirit of the comic book character but also adds too and completes the story of the first movie. I had doubts when Tim Miller was let go of the sequel and thought it would be hard to bottle lightning twice with this kind of movie.
Perhaps it is easier to do a send-up than to take the genre entirely seriously, that I don’t know, but these Deadpool movies are a hell of a lot of fun. The “R” rating for Deadpool 2 probably has something as much to do with the scads of hands chopped off within 5 minutes of the movie opening than it has for the number of bad words.
Wade’s taxi friend Dopinder returns in the sequel, desperately trying to be DP’s sidekick but never quite gets there, no matter how many Tony Robbins books he listens to driving the getaway car for our Merc With a Mouth. Deadpool has returned to his roots as an assassin for hire when we catch up with him at the beginning of the movie. The rest of the movie is told in a flashback when it is revealed that ‘Deadpool Must Die’.
I don’t aim to spoil the film in this review but I will reveal that the buildup with Céline Dion’s Ashes social media campaign to promote the movie pays off with an opening credit scene straight out of classic James Bond or better yet, Skyfall. In a way, Deadpool is an assassin but I never quite drew an immediate Bond comparison until now! You’ve seen the poster with Deadpool being showered in bullets á la Flashdance, that is taken from this Broccoli Bond parody sequence!
Most of the cast from the previous movie returns, Colossus, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Blind Al and of course the X-Mansion. We’re introduced to Zazie Beetz as Domino, a young mutant named Firefist played by Julian Dennison, Terry Crews as Bedlam, Bill Skarsgård as Zeitgeist, Lewis Tan as the alien Shatterstar and of course our favorite comedian Rob Delaney as Peter. Peter’s just a beekeeper that showed up to Wade and Weasel’s casting because he saw the ad. Delaney’s mustache could be the star of the show.
Of course I’m burying the lede here, the breakout movie star is already starring in the biggest movie of the summer. One wonders which movie was more fun for Brolin to film? My guess is his starring role as Nathan Summers/Cable. Is he Scott Summers’ son? Who’s Hope? Why the scorched teddy bear? You’ll have to watch Deadpool 2 to find out. It is hard not to love a guy like Brolin in an ‘action comedy’ role.
Starting with K in Men in Black 3, this guy with a chiseled face coupled with the rigorous training he did to look like a Liefeld drawing, Brolin plays the tough guy that when he jokes or does something small like take lip balm out of one of his many pouches makes the theatre erupt in laughter. Why wasn’t this movie called Cable and Deadpool?
After an impossibly grim explosion, Colossus takes Deadpool back to the X-Mansion to piece himself back together. This Deadpool is nearly immortal from the damage done to him, in fact, blown to bits or ripped apart like C-3PO does not slow him down. While recovering, he steals the Professor X’s chair for a joyride around the mansion and Colossus asks him to join the team as a trainee. The movie takes off on its mission to take on Firefist after a distress call. Let’s just say he’s not embraced as part of the team and Deadpool and Firefist are both locked up!
Oh, and Negasonic Teenage Warhead has a cute girlfriend now and her name is Yukio, she’s an assassin.
As far as Easter Eggs are concerned, we’ll have to see it again to notice more, because Deadpool 2 wears it’s humor out on its sleeve for the most part. Sure there are cameos, but also Dopinder’s cab has an advertisement for “Alpha Flight Travel Agency”. A familiar villain that was in a previous X-Men movie (bitch!) also fucks some shit up for the X-Force team and is portrayed more to scale than he was the last time.
Deadpool 2 is big and dumb and fun and silly and violent and is exactly what a comic book movie should be, big and dumb and fun. We’ll have to wait to see if we will see more of Cable and Deadpool if they both survive the end of the events of Deadpool 2, but I have to say, I’m delighted to say that Ryan Reynolds did it again.
The comparisons to Logan and Jackman aside, both Reynolds and Brolin can now occupy the headspace of fans like RDJ does for Iron Man. Will we see Jackman, Robert Downey, Jr., Ryan Reynolds and Josh Brolin in a Marvel movie one day? Probably not but GOD, I hope so!
As soon as you can, see Deadpool 2 for the Josh Brolin movie of the summer!
Chimichangas not included.
