He’s back, and running his mouth on nitrous oxide, pinging jokes left right and centre, trading insults with a bigger supporting cast. Reynolds is definitely in his element as he continues his epic comeback to big screen entertainment in the second installment of the highly successful Deadpool saga.
Check out our look back on Deadpool ahead of Deadpool 2.
A social commentary that’s not to be taken literally
One thing about number 2 is that it’s certainly bigger (that was me being a potty mouth, don’t judge, this is a Deadpool piece!). And by that, I mean bigger in scope. There are more characters, more locations (it even moves across Planes of existence), and generally more substance packed into this one, all the while retaining the witty charm of the first.
The plot in a nutsack is fairly straight forward; events lead our lunatic in a red suit to cross paths with a raging teenage dirtbag mutant, who laments the fact that he can’t be a superhero because they don’t make plus size outfits.
Turns out our inter-galactic, time-travelling villain, Cable (is that supposed to be a supercouple nickname for Cain and Able?) is after this kid, and after having his morals tested, Pool decides to team up with a bunch of not-so-super-heroes to save the kid from mortal peril.
Sound corny? Good, it’s supposed to be. What people didn’t realise about this film is, like its predecessor, it’s a complete, and utter pisstake. It’s not supposed to be taken seriously at all. There aren’t any sophisticated plot devices, the story itself doesn’t make sense, it’s all a jumble of mismatched images, but you know what? If that’s what you don’t want, why don’t you watch Silence of the Lambs instead, and leave this one to the pros?
Reynolds delivers again
Right from the get go, this was Ryan Reynold’s movie yet again. Even with Josh Brolin on a roll (keep Brolin rollin’), and the impressive Julian Dennison (you might’ll remember him from Taika Waititi’s Hunt for the Wilderpeople), Reynolds made sure that his fans got what they came looking for: jam-packed humour and some truly touching moments (featuring MTV’s acoustic version of A-ha’s take on me that made me cry more than when Leo froze in Titanic).
He just seems to carry the rest of the cast on his shoulders, leading from the frontlines, and never a dull moment as he moves from scene to scene, lashing out at everybody and anybody, friend or foe, as this awesome train wreck of a film unfolds for all to see. One thing that differs in this movie, is Pool’s wider range of emotions that make this more than a laugh-out-loud flick (the Academy better be watching).
If you want one reason to go watch it, it would be Reynolds, and I do hope they make a pointless, plotless Deadpool 3, just so I can keep watching something honest for a change that’s not stuffed to the brim with hardcore social commentary for our snowflake generation (I know I’ve referred to myself as one in a previous article, but heck even snowflakes need a break).
Heck, he even somehow manages to make a mockery of the whole inclusion thing, and many will walk away remembering him referring to Dopinder as the ‘Brown Panther’! Sometimes, we all need to laugh at ourselves a little.
Shout out to Dennison and Dopinder
We’ve already mentioned him a couple of times, but Julian Dennison deserves a shout out. He played his part well, pretty much carrying on from playing Sam Neill’s foster kid in Wilderpeople. Or maybe this could be seen as a precursor to that film (child services, watch out!).
The stubborn defiance that he has come to portray so effectively is unleashed full blast here, and honestly the one thing I was missing was his catchphrase “I didn’t choose the skux life, the skux life chose me” (go watch Waititi’s film if you’re still puzzled).
And hey, for fans of the highly underrated Dopinder, played by Karan Soni, you’ll be pleased to know that he is far more involved in this film, and plays a crucial part in setting things right for Pool and co. Brownie points for our favourite cab driver, who’s definitely more popular and fanciable than his cousin Bandhu now.
Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead are back, but it’s Domino that stole the show
Our beloved, do-gooder aluminum giant, Colossus, and his buddy, NTW (aka longest superhero name ever) are here again, and other than a couple of surprises for the ultra-stoic, emo teenage rebel, they pretty much do what they do best; bring the goods when Pool’s going down under.
But they’re essentially background characters in comparison to the hilarious Domino. With Zazie Beetz stepping up to the plate for the role (boy did she need a good comeback after geo(shit)storm!), it was yet another fresh twist of jokes galore, especially since her superpowers are, well, ‘luck.’
Her scenes had a certain fluidity to them, whether it was sticking incredulous landings or death-defying dodges, they were choreographed to perfection, with almost no cuts or spazzy cam shakes (Iron Fart, I mean Fist, take note).
Final verdict
Again, with this film, what you see is what you get. It’s not Inception, and it has no real character development. But, you know what? Just go out there and enjoy it. Let go of all your inhibitions, don’t log onto IMDB to check what the critics have said, just so you can blindly agree with them. Let your hair down, breathe in and out, and just say ‘let’s do it’.
Deadpool 2 was, in a word, ballsy.
