Wed | Jul 17, 2019

‘Deadpool 2’ stupidly somewhat satisfying

Published:Monday | May 21, 2018 | 12:55 AMDamian Levy/Gleaner Writer
Ryan Reynolds as the fouled-mouthed mutant in Marvel Entertainment's 'Deadpool 2'.

The year is 2016. In a time of civil war and the dawn of justice, superhero movies are less like escapist fantasy and more like grim reflections of our day-to-day lives. Batman became a torturer, Captain America an enemy of the state. Enter the merc with a mouth on himself, Deadpool. With his irreverent yet juvenile brand of comedy, matched with gruesome and bleak visuals, Deadpool was the refreshing shake-up the genre desperately needed. Who knew superheroes could be funny?

Back by very popular demand, Deadpool returns to cinemas to do the same thing again. That's not necessarily a good thing. Sure, Deadpool will always provide content that you won't see anywhere else, but since we've already seen that done, it feels a tad stale. After a hilariously violent opening sequence, Deadpool decides that while being a lone gunman is fun and all, what he really needs is to belong. Too bad that the child he chooses for his new family is being hunted by the one-armed time-travelling cyborg Cable, played by Josh Brolin.

What follows is a pretty funny action movie that's constantly bombarding you with joke after joke after joke. Most of them are pretty funny, but at a certain point, you're more or less just exhausted. Deadpool is as amusing as he is annoying, and his demeanour is that of a hyper violent child who's beside himself whenever someone says a dirty word. However, whenever Ryan Reynolds' performance wears out its welcome, there's a cast of characters there to balance out the film. Most notable is Zazie Beetz, whose superpower of 'luck' gives her character a sense of quiet confidence, as opposed to Deadpool's reckless insecurity.

I very much enjoyed Deadpool 2 when I enjoyed it, but when I didn't, I found it to be tedious. The plot is basic and, for a film that prides itself on innovation, also a little derivative. Josh Brolin's Cable is essentially a discount Terminator, and the humour is hit or miss, albeit more hit than miss. I had enough fun at the cinema for me to recommend seeing it, but perhaps not at full price.

Rating: Half price.