I think I may need to take a break from comic book movies.
I went in ready to like Deadpool 2 a lot. I really liked the first one. I think I did. I remember liking it, anyway. Everyone keeps saying this one is as good as the first one or even better. So, maybe that one really wasn’t good either. I do think that Deadpool had the advantage of being the first R-Rated Marvel movie since Blade in the 90s. (I think. I’m not going to look it up.) It was definitely a fresh twist on the modern comic formula, and it worked really well. Deadpool 2 follows that formula again in terms of style, but there’s a major attempt at making him a more sympathetic character. I don’t think this works as much. Obviously, they had to give Deadpool something to do this time around where the first served as origin story and revenge film. This occurs two-fold, first they kill off his girlfriend pretty early. I’m not sure we ever really cared that much about his girlfriend in the first place. Maybe it’s just me. Secondly, they give him an abused child mutant to save from turning into a maniac. This is amped up by The Terminator Cable coming from the future in order to kill the kid before he goes full murderer.
Honestly, now that I think about it, the plot is pretty much that thin. Also, Deadpool in the movies is kind of like Spawn. Dead or about to die, makes a deal with the devil (figuratively in this case) that isn’t what he bargained for in order to stay with the love of his life, but ultimately hides from her because he’s a hideous monster now. This movie is Spawn(ish) sorta meets the Terminator. Deadpool is even protecting a kid (Mutant John Connor) from the fake Terminator. Maybe he’ll fight an alien with acid blood in the next movie.
It’s not all doom and gloom, because there are some very funny scenes. The best being the introduction of X-Force (and everything needs more Terry Crews), and the end credits scenes were maybe the funniest thing in the movie…..wait, that’s probably not a good thing. *gulp* However, considering the sheer number of jokes fired in rapid succession it was inevitable that SOME were going to stick. Also, I don’t think this is a spoiler, but they introduce and seemingly kill off Juggernaut for no particular reason. There had to be better use for him, even if this appearance was 8,000 times better than the X-3 version which is best not talked about.
Deadpool 2 was a much more expensive (almost twice the budget) version of Deadpool, but it doesn’t really seem that way watching it. In a world of franchises there were going to be sequels. Especially, when the first movie grossed almost…800 million dollars!? Holy crap, that’s absurd. Anyway, Deadpool 2 has a razor thin plot, 8 million jokes of varying quality, some 8th tier X-men, and is ultimately superfluous.
As a comic movie:
As a real movie:
