The first Deadpool movie was one that was never really supposed to happen. It wasn't until the leaked test footage of the now famous car chase scene from the first movie that the movie was officially greenlit. After a record-breaking release in 2016, there was no doubt we would be seeing more Deadpool in the future. Now it's 2018 and we just saw another huge release in Deadpool 2. To think the studio didn't even want to release these movies at one point...
So the first movie was a surprise that a lot of people never saw coming. The first time Deadpool was in a movie they completely ruined him pissed off a lot of fans. There was also the fact that the movie was rated-R and Ryan Reynolds just came off a really bad Green Lantern movie. Despite all of that the movie was a huge hit financially and critically and eventually led to one of the best comic book movie ever made (in my opinion) in Logan. With the surprise factor gone and audiences now knowing more of what to expect, can Deadpool 2 live up to the hype and expectations?
I'll start right off by saying, I did not love this movie. Not to say that it was bad, because it was actually very very good, but it just didn't draw me in like the first one did. Maybe that's because of the aforementioned surprise factor being gone or maybe that the overall movie wasn't as strong as it's predecessor. The jokes are a little more hit and miss than the first movie, though I still found myself laughing or at least chuckling at most of them. There's a lot of references that you'll either get or not understand, but that's to be expected. I'll say that the writing is still as wonderful as it was the first time around and Ryan Reynolds is still amazing as Deadpool. The two new characters Cable and Domino (Josh Brolin and Zazie Beetz (yeah, I know)) are also done fantastically.
The story picks up after the first Deadpool and revolves around Deadpool himself trying to save the life of a young orphan boy named Russell. A soldier from the future has arrived in the present day to kill Russell and prevent future tragedy. Deadpool must go against the soldier named "Cable" by assembling a new team to keep Russell safe. The story pretty much plays out exactly how you would think it does, with some good laughs and even a surprise or two along the way. Special shout-out to the after the credits scenes for being probably the best after-credit scenes ever.
The action in this movie is definitely taken up a notch from the first movie. Lots of great fight scenes and flips and tricks with much better effects. The effects still have some really noticeable rough spots here and there, but still an improvement. It's all very fast-paced, but still very watchable and filmed well. As mentioned before, Cable and Domino are two great additions to the series and I can't wait to see more of them in the X-Men universe. Domino has really fun action sequences that I won't spoil if you haven't seen them yet.
Overall Deadpool 2 is a very fun time that goes by really fast. The few things that I didn't like are incredibly overshadowed by all the things it does right (which is almost everything). As I mentioned before, I still like the first one more, but it's actually almost neck and neck I think. Maybe after I get to watch it again my opinion will change, but time will tell. I loved all the characters in this movie and I'm incredibly excited to see more of them and hope that they keep improving like they did here. Because honestly, this is the kind of movie that is really needed in the world that we live in today, that is to say, a world where comic movies dominate the box office.
Overall Grade: B+