Like a unicorn sighting, sequels being better than the original is rare. I am happy to say there has been a unicorn sighting and it comes in the form of Deadpool 2. Warning, spoilers ahead…
I’ve always been a big fan of Ryan Reynolds and I will admit to even liking him in Green Lantern. But its Deadpool that Reynolds has found his calling. In DP2 Deadpool fights baddies by day and has plans of parenthood with his Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) by night. Those plans are put on the backburner and he soon finds himself enrolled as an X-Men trainee with Colossus (Stefan Kapicic) and Negasonic (Brianna Hidebrand) keeping a watchful eye. It doesn’t take long for Deadpool to show he may not be X-Men material when he and the team meet a mutant named Russell (Julian Dennison) with fireball hurling abilities and an attitude to match (no pun intended). An incident puts both Deadpool and Russell on ice at a prison for mutants where there powers are suppressed.
In pure Terminator fashion, a super solider from the future name Cable (Josh Brolin) shows up with one mission: to kill Russell. Killing Russell in the past saves Cable’s wife and daughter in the future. Deadpool now finds himself as Russell’s protector standing in the way of Cable’s vengeance. To say Cable is a formidable opponent is an understatement and Deadpool ends up enlisting help from an unusual assortment of wanna be heroes. The lone standout is Domino (Zazie Beetz) whose superpower hinges on luck. And boy is she lucky.
From there the action, the wise cracking jokes and visual gags are aplenty but it’s all Ryan Reynolds who makes this work and while DP2 could have been a letdown as so many sequels tend to be, it is far from that. Many superhero flicks tend to be too serious (I’m looking at you DC Universe), Deadpool 2 is the exact opposite. It is pure fun and hijinks with a comic book twist that even if none of it makes any sense, you’re okay with it because you’re too busy laughing.
Directed by: David Leitch
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Zazie Beetz, T.J. Miller, Brianna Hiderbrand, Morena Baccarin, Julian Dennison and Stefan Kapicic
R 119 Mins
DEADPOOL 2 – **** (out of 5 stars)
May the Dork be with you,
JPB
The Dork Knight
