Ryan Reynolds seems to love Deadpool and hate himself. Not literally, of course, but the amount of pot shots he’s taken at his career and persona are easily entering the millions at this point. Now he’s back with his latest adventure with the Merc with the mouth in “Deadpool 2”, a sequel to the 2016 smash hit. Is it dead on arrival or an adventure of crude intentions?
Without a doubt, “Deadpool 2” is funny. The way that Reynolds and the character of Wade Wilson move from joke to joke, line to line so rapidly and effortlessly is almost Oscar worthy at this point. However, while the film is extremely funny, it keeps the jokes coming at a far faster pace than the original. This isn’t a bad thing, it simply means more jokes, but it does lead to a few scenes feeling quite overstuffed with humor and plot.
Plot is another interesting area for “Deadpool 2.” The first film didn’t set the world on fire, but it did manage to twist its tale of revenge and identity crisis into a fun romp that made fun of itself while also being a good story. ‘Deadpool 2” still makes fun of its plot and the general nature of it, but it feels far less consistent that before.
That in part has to do with the film’s more serious story. Deadpool has hit rock bottom this time, and writers Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick and Ryan Reynolds do a great job exploring it. The film is visually more distinct than the previous and the fights are also far more excellent, no doubt due to director David Leitch and cinematographer Jonathan Sela’s work on “John Wick” and “Atomic Blonde.”
It feels like a bigger film, and while it does have issues getting started initially, it eventually overcomes them with reckless abandon. It leaves nary a dull moment for viewers, rocketing along at a solidly scatterbrained pace and leaving the next plot development completely up in the air.
Regardless of how the film turns out, Reynolds and crew have nailed the perfect mixture of unexpectedness within the plot itself. Due to who Deadpool is and his nature of making things up as he goes along, it allows a sense of unpredictability to set in that never feels cheap. Sure, you know what he wants to do, but “Deadpool 2” manages to utilize the idea that he has no idea how he’ll do it far better than its predecessor.
Everyone seems to relish in taking Wade to his lowest points yet, and it results in an entertaining adventure throughout. Its wonderful to see how dark things get to drive such a silly character to this point, and the ways in which Wade deals with these events are both heartbreaking and ridiculously hilarious.
However, there is a busy and uneven first quarter of the film before it finds its stride, and it’s definitely the weakest part of the film. Coincidentally, it is the funniest though. It has the best gags and jokes, and the rest of the film certainly isn’t devoid of them, they just aren’t as in your face as during the film’s opening moments.
There is the film’s biggest problem though. Tone. Not only does it want to tell a serious story involving Deadpool’s regrets, his inability to die, thoughts on himself status as a hero, and his self-worth, but it also wants to make jokes in and around those moments. That’s fine, and it works for the most part.
This even plays to the films advantage in most cases. Seeing Deadpool contemplate his life while eating toaster strudels is a delightfully non-sequitur way to tell a story and it works so well. The pure absurdism of the characters and world mix so well with the darkness of his journey to create a truly unique film. It leads to a weird feeling within the humor though. Only a handful of moments, but still there.
Some of the jokes and sequences in the film just have the sense of cynicism to them, losing the carefree breezy nature of the rest of the humor and turning to a bloody late-night Adult Swim version of gruesome. These moments are few, but they stand out and contrast with the rest of the film. They just feel uncomfortable and highlight the film’s tonal issues.
By the end of the film however, everything balances out. “Deadpool 2” has a well-intentioned sweetness to it, wrapped in a darker story than before. “Deadpool 2” is the rare sequel that can stand toe to toe with its original. Its darker, deeper, funnier and manages to make its few flat jokes and messy beginning fade into distant memories by the end. As Deadpool himself says in the trailer, “Stop at two. You killed it.” 4.5/5
Photo Courtesy of 20th Century Fox, Kinberg Genre, The Donners' Company, and Marvel Entertainment.