Deadpool 2 (2018)
Prepare for the second coming.
Postponed due the holiday, a certain super powered person was getting impatient to be witnessed. The first came out, and it was enjoyable - much to plenty of peoples happiness, although perhaps making a character who somehow gives people an excuse to act like a butt hole so mainstream could be considered a misstep by others. This should be another case of “I see no reason why this shouldn’t be as fun as the first,” but I also can’t help but wonder if it will be able to keep up with the new and exciting considering how much of the first could be chalked up to the “newness” factor. Either way, the gun is dialed past the pop culture references, let’s see if we mere mortals can handle it or are going to end up broken like a fourth wall.
Humor is subjective, and I always make a point to point this out. Largely, this is in part to remind people that just because I got laughs doesn’t mean they wouldn’t come out of a movie shouting “that was way to rude! How inappropriate” or the likes, but just as much to emphasize that I might not be nearly as amused at something someone else was. A good portion of the more unique humor of the first, I would argue, was the fourth wall breaks - things like funny credits, or the direct interaction of Deadpool to the audience. There is still indeed some of this, but not all of it ends up being as impressive the second time around. The opening James Bond style credits don’t really have the same comedic impact as the first directly ripping on the production process, but visually do have some nice chimes and really tie in with the whole pop-culture side of (as far as the movies) the character. Some of the other jokes, be it a slapstick style visual gag, a reference, a pun, a run-on, or some combination of the batch work to various degrees. I laughed a few times, I groaned a few less times, and a bunch sort of just sat in a middle ground area. I’d state that really only one joke feels like it over-runs it’s coarse, but that’s just my opinion. Comedy is rough to judge, but for the most part if you enjoyed the first there’s plenty more in the second, so it shouldn’t be found that disappointing even if some of it doesn’t have that new-car paint.
The plot goes about it’s business in a somewhat normal action flow - it has some high point action set pieces, and plenty of low-current slow moments for set up or to try and make things perhaps a bit more emotionally connectable. I do suppose you could say that it’s based around a character arc for the main, and to some extent there does seem to be some progress there - but given the reasoning behind it I wouldn’t go so far as to say the character is a changed man, as it doesn’t necessarily strike as something that would forever stick. Still, it’s there to sink into a bit, with the sidekick have a rather generic revenge plot filled with humor from them being a kid still, and the seeming main antagonist serving as the mysterious time traveler whose story really doesn’t need any fleshing out given the almost simply stated Terminator style premise that pops into most peoples minds, but gets some development added later on - and also in turn gives that character a little bit of an arc as well.
The pacing is done fine, and most shouldn’t find themselves getting too bored. There are some times where we get the old rewind “how did I get here” trick, and with the sparse inter-cuttings of the doomsday future to flesh out the time traveller’s story it’s barely past being as straightforward as possible. The average person won’t be getting lost here, unless it’s because they are overburdened with pop culture references. It might just be because it’s been a while since the first, but I certainly feel like they’ve turned up the references here. Some of them, perhaps not the most welcome. Others end up really adding an extra punch of humor. Some do a bit of both while also leaning one way or the other. A lot of it is towards movies, but certainly comics in general and other formats get thrown in there as well - and if people aren’t quite as familiar with the references they might not get the most out of the scenes, despite not getting too lost.
My finger points.
The actors do a pretty good job here. It’s not always going to win an Oscar or anything of that sort, but everyone involved seems to be having a blast with their roles on screen, even if that screen time can be pretty darn short if you aren’t on the cover. Lines are delivered well, and the balancing help to make sure you aren’t lost when someone says something. Various accents and the likes also make it pretty easy to really tell whose talking when you hear voices, with the only real imaginable hang up being people trying to tell if Deadpool is talking or thinking, even though I’d argue it’s usually pretty obvious if your paying attention at all. Stunt people do a good job here too, and some of the choreography is quite fun to watch. Heck, some of it is even called out by the movie - such as “that dude’s actually on fire.” Some of that falls more under the fourth wall than anything else, but overall you won’t really dislike characters because of someone’s acting - if you dislike them it’ll more than likely be because of their character.
Effects gets to have some good fun here as well. With the obvious action scenes getting thrown across the movie, with plenty of mutants existing about, things could get pretty fun for the department. Most of the more elaborate stuff ends up happening because of either Deadpool or Cable, and things like their involvement in explosions, cuts, shock waves, dismemberment, fires, and gunfights all look good and are enjoyable to watch, Plenty of absolutely bizarre things work their way in, really playing with the recovery side of Deadpool when it comes to the action - a lot of which can be played off for comedy. Some of the CG elements might not be the most convincing, and perhaps it might take some folks out of the movie, but it’s also something that really doesn’t feel that out of place in the movie either. Costumes get to be plenty, and I wouldn’t be surprised if someone told me that there was plenty of little nods to outfits that existed in other media throughout the movie either - my particular favorite probably being the Vanisher, who at one point is literally just a parachute floating around. I don’t know why I found that so funny, but I did and I can’t help it.
The sets also come in plenty of varieties, and it helps keep things interesting for the eyes as we go. Audio doesn’t want to be too left behind, bring a full force of various music that I can recognize and will have stuck in my head due to outside association - such as Take On Me or Bangarang - although most the rest of the soundtrack that exists (or at least what feels like is there) does it’s job as well. The Juggernaut fight song (Fighting Dirty or You Can’t Stop this Mother ****** IIRC) was both amusing and annoying at once. Some of the music choices feel like they can conflict with the action on screen at times - not usually in timing, but perhaps in theme - and it does somewhat make me feel like they probably missed some great pun-styled selections they could have gone with, but none of the music is particularly bad stand alone, and it’s also admittedly a bit of a nitpick and preference thing.
Missed the opportunity to use “Dead Pool” as a squad name.
If you enjoyed the first, you’ll enjoy the second. It does lose some of it’s charm at times, but it also helps make up for the parts that it lost by either adding in new elements or upping the ante on older elements. We see the return of some older cast members, but some new ones pop up and have some pretty rocking parts as well. The action elements are fun, the slower elements can actually be serious for at least a bit, but even with the seriousness the movie never stops making jokes be it for the better or worse. I really can’t do much better a job of summing it up than the first line - if you’ve seen the first you know exactly what to expect and whether or not you’ll enjoy it before even turning it on. Pop culture references, comedy, action, cursing and violence - what else could you really want out of a sequel to Deadpool?