Deadpool 2 (2018): ‘Marvels Loving Self Parody Sequel’ – A Film Review

Introduction

Ryan Reynolds. Coming from TV, making a break into cinema and having an impact with films like Van Wilder: Party Liaison; only to be unfortunately tripped up heavily with X Men Origins: Wolverine and Green Lantern, and then taking these shortcomings and turning them on their head with Deadpool – his career seems interesting. At very least it has been for him. Wade Wilson or Deadpool, may have gotten a strange start with X Men Origins: Wolverine but Ryan Reynolds chased this character for years and a chance happening got Deadpool made. Subsequently it became one of the highest grossing 18 (R) rated films.

Whatever luck came to make Deadpool possible, it worked. Even before Deadpool came out, the sequel was announced and end credits, short films and many trailers continued to tease it’s coming. The sarcastic and self-referential smart-arse mercenary anti-hero (and mock super hero – especially of X Men) was geared for a comeback and in Deadpool 2, Ryan Reynolds makes for his first writing credit. His involvement is so at the centre of this film, that his career makes its way into this film on numerous occasions.

Paragraph One

Fourth wall breaks and references to film franchises be abound, as the superhero lovingly bashes and parodies a genre that has gotten incredibly big as of late – despite difficult beginnings. The time that Deadpool came out, we were about due for a good comedic take on the genre and Deadpool’s wit (and Ryan Reynold’s) were fine tuned to make it all possible. This sequel takes these parodies a step further and the comedy throughout just gets better and more polished (bigger budget), as characters develop and expand before us. Sufficed to say that the Deadpool humour should be expected by now.

The Other Paragraph

Remarkably the sequel doesn’t fall into the many traps sequels have, save for the forcing of first film characters into the plot where not necessarily needed (sorry Dopinder (Karan Soni)). Otherwise rather than finding difficulty with the material, the continuation is a lot of the same embellished. Perhaps its saved by the self-referential style that it knowingly makes fun of, whilst being a loving part of, but Deadpool 2 continues to create laughs out of the genre. Cameos are brilliant, spot Brad Pitt and Deadpool missing his friends. SPOILERS: Recruiting a team, from auditions to ceremonious beginnings, is handled in an amusingly fresh sense of style. END OF SPOILERS.

Conclusion

Though one doesn’t necessarily need to have seen the first to get this film, the humour is very similar. More than knowing the original, there is definitely a sense in which knowing Ryan Reynolds career is worthwhile. The in jokes work well to bring you in and is very much in Deadpool’s style, but nods are to a general knowledge that contemporary audiences are usually gifted with and assumed to know. As previously noted, this is part of his style and should be far from a criticism but be his branding – as such. Deadpool 2 keeps in line with the big fun joke that he and Ryan Reynolds is riding and it just so happens a lot of us are too.

Synopsis

Deadpool’s girlfriend is killed and he blames himself. He subsequently agrees to help Colossus (Stefan Kapičić) and gets wrapped up with a mutant kid and sent to jail, whilst they’re hunted down by Cable (Josh Brolin).

Deadpool starts a journey of discovery as Ryan Reynolds explores the conventions of super hero films to form groups that fight for the greater good and erasing time lines like The Terminator.

After surviving a near fatal bovine attack, a disfigured cafeteria chef (Wade Wilson) struggles to fulfill (sic) his dream of becoming Mayberry’s hottest bartender while also learning to cope with his lost sense of taste. Searching to regain his spice for life, as well as a flux capacitor, Wade must battle ninjas, the yakuza, and a pack of sexually aggressive canines, as he journeys around the world to discover the importance of family, friendship, and flavor (sic) – finding a new taste for adventure and earning the coveted coffee mug title of World’s Best Lover.

Ratings

Entertainment:
Performances:
Predictability:
Technical:

A Note on My Reviews

Please read ‘On Reviews‘ for a guide to how I write film reviews. Any spoilers are appropriately marked and, though I personally prefer to know little about a film before seeing it, there is a synopsis below the review for any who wish to see one.

Films Mentioned

Deadpool (d. Tim Miller USA 2016)

Deadpool 2 (d. David Leitch USA 2018)

Green Lantern (d. Martin Campbell USA 2011)

The Terminator (d. James Cameron USA 1984)

Van Wilder: Party Liaison (d. Walt Becker Germany/USA 2002)

X Men Origins: Wolverine (d. Gavin Hood USA/UK 2009)

Deadpool 2 (2018): ‘Marvels Loving Self Parody Sequel’ – A Film Review

Leave a Reply Cancel reply