“Prepare for the Second Coming.
Wisecracking mercenary Deadpool battles the evil and powerful Cable and other bad guys to save a boy’s life.” – Letterboxd Synopsis
Deadpool 2 is a proper sequel. This is the first time I’ve watched it again in some years and it still holds up really well. While If you were to ask me what was my favorite of the two back when I first watched it, I would’ve said Deadpool 2 was better but while I still really enjoy it, I do think it’s just a step behind the first with its comedy and some of its action and visuals. Still, it has its great moments, and I had a great time watching it.
This movie continues the story of Wade’s love life and his quest to do better while fighting against his training and nature all within the framing of him telling someone a bed-time story. We get more X-Men in this movie which is always lovely. Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead return and so does Yukio from The Wolverine, although not played by the same actress. We get Cable played by Thanos (Josh Brolin) himself and a bunch of jokes about him that are hilarious to me and I’m glad the bit even carries over into the third movie. My favorite new character who really stole the show for me was Domino. I absolutely loved her and the way her powers were presented in this movie. Her scenes were my favorite by far but also everyone had their moments and funny bits. The character interactions continue to be great in these movies and it adds so much.
Rewinding a bit, this movie focuses on a plot point that so many X-Men comics and basically the entire saga of X-Men fox movies focus on and that’s the treatment of mutants and how that fear and festering hatred from both sides will eventually lead to utter destruction in the future. Whether it be a civil war causing mass destruction like in Last Stand, the creation of the mutant purging sentinels like in Days of Future Past, or how Cable’s future in this movie is riddled with war and mutant terrorist that lead to his daughter dying and him going back in time to prevent that. The obvious allegories are obvious but it’s a solid plot point and gives Cable just enough depth and the story enough weight for the later decisions to have impact. There’s a very explicit theme in this movie that Deadpool harps on. He believes that one moment can define a good man, and he is trying to find his moment. And while I don’t fully agree with that statement, it’s a very in character thing for Deadpool to believe it and it’s a strong anchor point that guides his crazy decisions and really defines his character in this movie and ultimately works well in the conclusion of this movie and also the setup for the next one.
Once again, I have to praise the action scenes in this movie. They were fun, easy to follow, funny at times. I love how they play with Deadpool’s, almost immortality in these fights and how he’s become extremely more reckless in his fighting style compared to how he was portrayed in X-Men Origins Wolverine (there’s even a direct scene poking fun at this which was funny). The CGI isn’t really the best, though. I think the character that suffers the most is definitely Juggernaut. He just looks out of place. Even Collosus doesn’t look the best, but maybe he just always looked like that. It doesn’t fully takeaway from everything, but it’s still jarring, nevertheless.
So yeah, Deadpool 2 was a proper sequel that does well to not only continue Wade’s personal story and growth but also keeps within the spirit of the first movie while standing well as a sequel and setting up the third movie on a personal level. I don’t think it’s as good as the first movie, it has its hilarious moments and great actions scenes and it still has a good chunk of that heart that the first one had, but it’s still just not quite there. Regardless, it was a great time getting to rewatch this. I still love this movie.
Deadpool 2: 9/10
