“Deadpool 2” is almost perfect for what it wants to be: a gratuitously violent, meta-farce that holds its audience’s attention largely with its unique humor; still, it falls short when it tries to have an actual message. While most of the time it has something important and/or funny to keep it interesting (and this is already more than most movies can say), many of its gags and bits — from where its strength is meant to come from — sometimes damage the story, resulting in a film that’s only slightly above average.
In his sequel, the fourth-wall-breaking mercenary, Wade Wilson/Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) comes face-to-face with Cable (Josh Brolin), a soldier from the future who is there to kill a troubled teenage mutant, Russell (Julian Dennison). After suffering a horrific tragedy, Deadpool finds a deeper purpose for his skills in protecting Russell from harm; he teams up with several mutants to form the X-Force meant to take down Cable and save the kid. I found this sequel to be significantly more engaging than the first. “Deadpool 2” manages to keep it interesting right from the start. While there is some “lazy writing” (as Wade himself admits) in terms of some plot holes and numerous jokes that don’t work, the story works in just enough ways to keep you locked in for an hour and 50 minutes.
When you have something that’s runs mainly on jokes and gags, many of those are bound to not land. Making a movie that’s purposely packed tight with humor is quite risky; when humor is hurled at the audience at every turn, much of it is bound not to work — and a few repeated jokes can even become a bit annoying. Watching this is like watching someone throw handfuls of darts at a bullseye: some are bound to land nearer to the center than the rest, and maybe a few will hit perfectly right on the mark. All that said, whenever Deadpool’s jokes do land they make a hilarious impression. “Deadpool 2” doesn’t take itself seriously, and just the fact that there are so many jokes causes us not to take it seriously either.
The whole meta-gag is never lacking here: Deadpool speaks directly to the audience, he’s aware that he’s making a movie, references a ton of pop culture, and even does and says things as Ryan Reynolds himself. Personally, I was expecting to be exposed to way too much of this since that was my experience with the first “Deadpool”. However, the whole self-aware bit wasn’t at all annoying as I expected. Just like all the other jokes, some of these land, and some don’t, but, overall, I enjoyed most of the clever fourth-wall breaking, especially the lightning-fast references and cameos from other superhero movies.
In the end, “Deadpool 2” tries too hard to have an actual theme, in this case it’s the theme of family that is very unnecessary (and very forgettable when its completely overpowered by, of course, the humor). It’s perfect that Wade wants to find purpose after suffering great loss, but it’s pretty hard to believe that he’d give up an eternal bliss for a “family life” with the X-Force. Cable’s own final, salvific decision is also just as awkward and feels, again, lazily written. I realize I’m being way too critic-y for a fun superhero movie that doesn’t even take itself too seriously, so I say again that this movie is almost perfect for what it wants to be; at the end of the day, despite what anyone says, Deadpool’s movies will go down as some of the funniest, most memorable superhero movies ever made.
