*Get "Deadpool 2" on Amazon here*
*Get Deadpool & Cable Modern Era Epic Collection: Ballistic Bromance on Amazon here*
I really really loved the first "Deadpool" film. The shock at that foul-mouthed, winking, bloody film surprised even a normally jaded me, and I liked that Ryan Reynolds finally found a vehicle custom fitted to his talents. The inevitable sequel was announced around the time the first film came out, and some bumps occurred on the way (the original director dropped out, cast member T.J. Miller's dangerous off-screen antics) before this hit theaters and was a smash hit. Put on the brakes, Thanos, because while "Deadpool 2" is a fun time here and there, the shock and awe is muted here, and that old "I've seen this all before" feeling begins to seep in.
**A few spoilers ahead** Deadpool AKA Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds, who also co-wrote this installment) is bloodily killing bad guys around the globe. He gets to go home to his girlfriend Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) before she is killed by one of Deadpool's enemies. Wade goes into a deep depression, attempting suicide in the opening flash-forward scene, but his healing superpowers won't let him off himself. Cue a reason to live in the form of a mutant named Firefist (Julian Dennison), who is in the process of destroying the mutant reform school he was being tortured in. Also, cue our hero's nemesis, Cable (Josh Brolin), who arrives from the future to kill Firefist now before an adult Firefist kills his family in the future. Firefist and Deadpool are captured and have their powers taken, with Cable still out gunning for the boy. Eventually, Deadpool forms an "X-Force," hires a bunch of burgeoning heroes, and decides to save Firefist and the day!
The film's many trailers covered most of the X-Force angles, but what was not expected is what happens to the team, save for Domino (Zazie Beetz, who pulls off her deadpan line delivery to perfection). Domino's superpower is "luck," and the unconcerned look on her face during giant violent action sequences is hysterical. There is a final battle back at the reform school that holds no surprises...
Also holding no surprises is the majority of the running time of this film. There are many a hilarious cameo (Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, the cast of the last couple of "X-Men" films that I didn't feel bothered to see), and Reynolds is in fine form. He made Deadpool all his, and with his and other cast members' asides, this movie feels like an episode of "Mystery Science Theater 3000" if the bots and either Joel or Mike had entered the film and were commenting and involved in the plot line. The supporting cast keeps up with Reynolds very well, with running jokes a-plenty (X-Man...trainee, Leslie Uggams' Blind Al aiming her gun in the wrong direction) as well as bizarre sequences that somehow work in this world (Deadpool's baby legs- a scene you may never forget).
However, "Deadpool 2" gave me the same feeling I had watching "Anchorman 2"'s anchor fight scene- loved the first one, but this time they tried too much, and it fell flat. For every laugh out loud moment I had, I cringed at Jared Kushner and "Fox & Friends" references, both of which felt completely out of place. Deadpool is such an un-PC character, his reaction to Negasonic Teenage Warhead's (Brianna Hildebrand) lesbianism is funny, but this is a Hollywood film, and we have to toe the Liberal line, which suddenly doesn't make Deadpool so dangerous. His unpredictability was a huge character trait in the first film, here his jabs elicit a yawn (and the child molester character Deadpool says looks like Kushner looks more like Steve Buscemi than anyone). Same with the reform school superintendent's religious hang-ups. Why not make him Catholic while you're at it? In all the stories over the years about online sexual predators, how many have had a strong religious heretical background? Christianity is an easy religion to mock, Hollywood continues to do it all the time, here they even pick on "The Passion of the Christ."
Hey, I loved the first film because I didn't have to be confronted with these kinds of glaring smacks to the face, but in this day and age of a Donald Trump presidency, it's going to happen. Another thing that has happened is that I haven't set foot in a theater since the wife and I caught "Zootopia" because I'm tired of all the insults (that's why I simply don't watch new network television shows, and even entire networks, ever). I don't have cable, just over-the-air channels, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and almost a thousand films on DVD and videotape. T.J. Miller, who is funny as Weasel in both films, is currently in the throes of career self-destruction. It's hard to watch and laugh at a performance, but also knowing he settled out of court with an Uber driver after physically assaulting him for supporting Trump.
So, yes, these small offenses begin to take their toll and add up. Sometimes they aren't glaring, but they do turn off. The third installment in the series got back to the spirit of the first film. I'd rather spend this review praising the outstanding action scenes here, or another awesome turn from Karan Soni, instead of miring myself down in Liberal minutiae.
This is MPAA rated (R) for strong physical violence, strong gun violence, strong gore, profanity, brief male nudity, sexual references, strong adult situations, drug use, alcohol and tobacco use.
