To give out further plot details would be
spoiler-y – not that the plot really matters.
By that, I don’t mean that story is inconsequential. It’s just that, though the Deadpool movies aren’t technically
parody films, the inexplicable and anything-goes nature of much of its comedy –
especially the fourth-wall-breaking kind – are pretty much comparable to the
dynamic of a parody film (unlike in the comics, where the character’s meta
self-awareness is logical, since it can be explained by the fact that he’s insane
– something the previous movie didn’t establish, which was my biggest problem
with it). Hence, like with parody films,
the gags are on center stage; the plot is peripheral.
This might as well be, as the
plot by itself is unremarkable. The
fantastic fight scenes and set pieces (one of which is a badass chase scene)
can’t hide the derivative quality of its story. It wisely reins in the comedy at times to
build some emotional core, and this works early in the movie, but later on, any sentimental
developments feel dumb and unearned, and any attempts of adding substance (as a
“family movie”) feel pretentious.
But even with its flaws, it
manages to use them to its advantage. For when
there’s bad writing or bad CGI involved, it often makes an acknowledging joke out of
it. And, again, with this movie, that’s
what really matters – the jokes.
Just like its predecessor, this
movie effectively utilizes its R rating and the comedic quintessence of its eponymous character to be a barrel of gut-busting laughs. Its comedy comes in all shapes and sizes –
meta jokes, violent slapstick, toilet humor, dark comedy, cameos, references to
and digs at other franchises, deconstruction of the superhero film genre, soundtrack gags, jokes
out of nowhere, anti-SJW, etc. – and almost all of them hit. My most favorite bits (SPOILERS) – which are
probably everybody’s most favorite, too – involve the X-Force and the
mid-credit scenes.
Much of the comedic juice of the
movie comes from Ryan Reynolds, who at this point is interchangeable with
Deadpool. Seriously, the type of humor
that Deadpool has seems exactly like the type of humor Ryan Reynolds has in
real life (check out his Twitter feed). Moreover,
he’s also using Deadpool as his medium for self-parody. With all its Ryan Reynolds-centric references, I wouldn’t have been surprised if Blake Lively showed up at some point (she didn’t, but it
would have been perfect if she did).
Josh Brolin, who was awesome as
Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, is also outstanding as Cable. Now, I don’t think he looks good as Cable, but his performance for the character is
solid. However, I don’t like how this
movie treated the character. He’s pretty nerfed. The movie
emphasizes too much on the character’s time-traveling cyborg part and neglects the mutant
part. In the comics, he prominently has powerful
telephatic and telekinetic abilities.
But in the movie, no superpowers are shown. I guess that’s just a downpart of an
X-character showing up in a Deadpool
movie, as he or she won’t really be treated with the live-action seriousness he
or she deserves.
Aside from Cable, a couple of
other X-people also make appearances in this movie, particularly when Deadpool
assembles a team – the X-Force, which includes Domino, Bedlam, Zeitgeist, and
Shatterstar. Colossus and Negasonic
Teenage Warhead are also back, but only have the same screen time as before. Nobody really stood out in a major way
(okay, maybe Domino, though, just like with Cable, I wasn’t satisfied with how
such character was portrayed in this movie. That’s why I now think the best kind of X-characters to serve as a Deadpool supporting cast should obscure, negligible C-listers, as no one would really care about any underwhelming characterizations or handling of them).
In the end, a sequel is expected to be bigger
than the original, and Deadpool 2 is exactly
that. It basically uses the same formula
that made the first movie work. The only
difference is that it applies it at a bigger scale than before. But is it better as a result? Well, it may be, but not necessarily (the
first one has the advantage of novelty going for it as well as a surprisingly
effective romance aspect). But even, if
ever, this sequel is just as good as the original, that’s enough to make it one
of this year’s most fun movies.
Miscellaneous musings
(with SPOILERS):
- To preserve the surprise of the X-Force joke, false footage of some them being in fight scenes were shot for the trailers. The misdirection worked, and I heartily approve.
- Mad props to the marketing team for this movie, by the way. The promotional stuff alone should merit great appreciation for this franchise. I especially liked the Celine Dion music video.
- Right from the start, I was no fan of the casting for Domino. She should’ve been white, as the pasty white skin was an iconic look for the character. The afro was also off-putting. Domino is no Misty Knight.
- Ryan Reynolds also served as the voice actor for Juggernaut?! Awesome.
- I didn’t recognize Matt Damon and Alan Tudyk in their cameo roles. Apparently, they were the two men with the pickup truck whom Cable encountered.
- It was cute whenever Yukio and Deadpool greeted each other.
- The writers confirmed that the mid-credits scenes were canon. It means Morena Baccarin’s Vanessa is alive! Yay!
- It’s only perfect for Doop to be in the next Deadpool movie, right?
- It looked like Deadpool was wearing his gray Uncanny X-Force costume when Firefist burned him. Speaking of which, man, I would love the X-Force movie to be centered on that black ops incarnation – Wolverine, Deadpool, Psylocke, Archangel, and Fantomex.
- Once Disney finalizes acquiring Fox, I hope Reynolds’ Deadpool makes the transition to the MCU. Just as in the comics, a cinematic Spider-Man/Deadpool teamup would definitely be delightful. The bantering, if ever, is gonna be great.
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