It’s time once again for tacos and chimichangas. Unless you’re Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) going through some tough life moments such as dealing with pyromaniac, Russell Collins (Julian Dennison). To be fair the kid hasn’t had the time of his life either if you know the allegory behind X-Men. If that isn’t enough, then half-man half-machine assassin, Cable (Josh Brolin) can spice up the escort mission in trying to save his family with Russell’s blood on his hands. But the Merc with a Mouth won’t have it to the point of assembling a team dubbed the X-Force with possibly the funniest plane entrance in a long time.
The sequel to the 2016 Reynolds redemption seemed like a no-brainier at first. But after Tim Miller was replaced by Atomic Blonde helmer, David Leitch, there were definitely visible cracks. And in hind-sight it’s a very difficult act to follow, even when ignoring the new bar Avengers: Infinity War set. While the first film brought a mockery to what was becoming stale, this ironically falls into its own traps. But to its credit, the action is easily the best upgrade that somehow keeps the super-hero car chases fresh despite the repetitive nature. All that’s missing is a shot for shot remake of Stanley Kubrick’s Eye’s Wide Shut with these characters given how they flaunt much more than their personality.
Some of the best things from the original (no major spoilers here) are literally axed off making this less an evolution and more a change in management, which isn’t what superior sequels do. With a character like Deadpool, it’s really hard to develop him outside of his fourth wall breaking and lust for violence without tonal whiplash. Perhaps it’s following that same nature of the source when humanizing Wade, but even in the comic it was jarring. That’s why it doesn’t start to pick up until the second act when body parts are flying and things aren’t taken as seriously. Good thing Josh Brolin is a perfect grounded foil to Wade’s childish antics. And Domino (Zazie Beetz) easily outshines the rest of the X-Force when worst comes to worst. She gets a lot of laughs purely out of her luck that would make Jigsaw go insane in how she avoids death around every corner. Considering the lack of Colossus (Stefan Kapičić) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) the compensation is appreciated.
Deadpool 2 is certainly bigger than its predecessor, but better is still questionable. This is a tricky balancing act that wasn’t visible until getting up close and it’s hard to pinpoint what would’ve improved re-capturing that insanity. But it’s still a lot of laughs even with hit and miss jokes. If you’re not expecting too much, this will definitely be a lot of fun. But if you want a balanced evolution for the character, either go in with lower expectations or play the video game. It’s still hard to hate someone like Deadpool with all the passionate sweat, blood and tears Reynolds poured into this after all these years. That and the mid-credit scenes alone are worth the price of admission.
TheCinematicBandicoot 
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