Deadpool 2 (2018)
Director:
David LeitchStars:
OK, obviously none of that happens, except for Wade blowing himself
up—and if you've ever read a comic book in your life, or seen a movie,
or drawn breath, you know that a superhero film doesn't start with the
hero offing himself unless it plans to undo the damage as soon as
possible. "After surviving a near fatal bovine attack, a
disfigured cafeteria chef (Wade Wilson) struggles to fulfill his dream
of becoming Mayberry’s hottest bartender while also learning to cope
with his lost sense of taste." That's how 20th Century Fox's official
website summarized the plot of this movie when it first came out, which
should give you some small indication of the level of sobriety the
filmmakers have brought to this venture. Even when "Deadpool 2" is being serious, or trying to fool you into thinking it's being serious, there's a gleam in its eye that gives the game away.
The script, credited to Reynolds, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, finds the mutant Deadpool meandering his way to the X-Mansion and joining various X-Men members—including Domino (Zazie Beetz) and Colossus (computer effects plus the voice of Stefan Kapičić)—as they try to protect an alienated, rebellious teen mutant called Firefist (Julian Dennison) from assassination by the Terminator, er Looper, er mercenary-from-the-future Matthew Cable (Josh Brolin, aka Young Nick Nolte Returned, playing his second Marvel character in less than a month).
There are striking similarities between certain, um, elements
in this film and "Avengers: Infinity War"—a fluke of timing, surely;
the movies don't even share a studio (yet). Among them: a thorough
working-out of the old, mostly rhetorical comic book question, "How dead
is dead?" "Deadpool 2" treats the topic about as thoughtfully as it
can, without ever, for one millisecond, seeming as if it might look real
suffering in the eye. As in the first "Deadpool," the backbone of which
was an unexpected cancer diagnosis, Wade and other characters suffer
loss and disappointment, but nothing that can't be fixed or amended
through machinations that are already implicitly promised in the hero's
opening narration. There's some unpleasantness, but the cheeky dialogue
and cheerfully cynical voice-over ensure that we'll never have to
marinate in it. It's just not that kind of film. More so than any other
superhero movie, including the original "Deadpool," this one is the
R-rated comics equivalent of one of those knowingly featherweight Bob Hope and Bing Crosby "Road" movies (for a full list, click here),
in which Hope' and Crosby's fast-talking vagabonds wriggled out of
tight spots through sheer shamelessness and verbosity, pausing to break
the fourth wall and tell the viewer that now might be a good time to go
out for popcorn.
The result feels a bit like a lavishly produced,
superhero- and supervillain-stocked standup comedy special, with fight
scenes, chases and explosions spliced into footage of the hero telling
you about the wild couple of weeks he just had. Reynolds repeats the
original "Deadpool" dynamic of giving the movie at least five times what
it gives him in return, turning neediness, self-pity, desperation and
narcissism into different kinds of comic fuel. There are constant
acknowledgements that you're watching a movie, and a formulaic one at
that (right before the the start of the film's third act, our boy
declares that if his plan succeeds, everybody gets to go home early
because there'll be no need for a third act). There are seemingly
random (but not really) pop culture references, including a comparison
of the melodies of "Do You Want to Build a Snowman" from "Frozen" and "Papa, Can You Hear Me?" from "Yentl."
There's shtick galore, including quite a bit of slapstick with a body
count, plus some retroactive criticism of the Marvel brand's attempts to
be capital-I Important ("We're the X-Men, a dated metaphor for racism
in the '60s!" Deadpool declares, right before a big setpiece). There's
even a protracted bit of mugging near the end that's reminiscent of early Jim Carrey.
I
originally agreed with this site's less-than-enthused review of the
first movie, which was "edgy" in an obvious, trying-too-hard way,
occasionally wearing its "R" rating with all the misplaced pride of a
middle school boy sporting a chocolate milk mustache as if it were a
Sam Elliott-style soup strainer (although—kudos!—the details of
Wade's cancer treatment and sex life with Vanessa were truly unexpected
for a film that expensive). But the array of PG-13 superhero films that
preceded and followed, and that all seemed hypnotized by their own ashy
solemnity to one degree or another, made the original "Deadpool" feel
like a necessary counterweight. The more often I stumbled across it on
TV over the past few years, the more I appreciated it. (The inept and
obvious "Suicide Squad," which came out a few months later, showed how not to do that kind of movie.)
And
there's something to be said for a film that knows what it is, and is
serenely content to be that thing. Except for a few individual lines and
sight gags, a brilliantly over-the-top action-comedy sequence near the
midsection, and some characteristically sharp performances (including
the one by Brolin, who imbues what might've otherwise been a
granite-jawed killer meathead with recognizable humanity) there's not
much to fondly recall here. But since "Deadpool 2" shows no sign of
wanting to rewrite a whole genre with its audacity, we might as well
concede that it does the job it apparently wants to do with
professionalism and flair, and that the faster we end this piece, the
faster you can go on social media and complain about it.
Official Sites:
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
16 May 2018 (Philippines) See more »Also Known As:
DP2 See more »Company Credits
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Color:
ColorAspect Ratio:
2.39 : 1Did You Know?
Quotes
Deadpool: Doing the right thing is messy. You want to fight for what's right, sometimes you have to fight dirty.See more »
Soundtracks
9 to 5
Performed by Dolly Parton
Performed by Dolly Parton
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