One has to feel sorry for Deadpool 2 right out of the gate as it came into the 2018 movie season with perhaps the worst position among comic books: having to follow up both Black Panther and Infinity War at the box office and in the critics’ ratings. Both were game-changing films that have wound up among the highest grossing films of the year and of all time; Deadpool 2 was a high profile follow up to one of the biggest sleeper hits of all time and wound up being disappointed for any number of reasons.
While the easy one would be to say “it didn’t quite capture the magic of the first one” that would be incorrect. The failings of Deadpool 2 come from a film that doesn’t quite have the singular focus from minute one that Deadpool did.
Simple premise: Wade Wilson, aka Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) has just lost the love his life (Morena Baccarin) and has lost direction in his life. When Cable (Josh Brolin) comes to the present from the future to kill a child who’ll grow into a much eviler man as an adult Deadpool and the X-Men now have to come together to try and stop it.
The film’s problem is that it takes a lot of what made the first film work, the sort of tongue in cheek style and showcasing a ton of the first act in flashback, and does it to a much more absurd degree. Deadpool 2 keeps this same format, of telling a first act in flashback with asides to the audience, but it’s much less focused this time around. This film is more bloated with things that don’t wind up mattering early on that the film really doesn’t get started until about the 40 minute mark or so. Cable’s arrival is what drives the film, and makes it interesting, and that it takes what feels like an eternity for him to arrive is almost depressing.
From there the film isn’t an amazing action comedy like the first; it’s just good as there’s a lack of focus looming over everything. The first film paid off jokes multiple times throughout whereas this film doesn’t quite have that manic intensity and timing. It’s a shame because Josh Brolin and Reynolds make for an interesting pair on screen.
Brolin is terrific in the role, complete with a physique from a comic book, as the gruff no-nonsense soldier from the future. He steals so many scenes from Reynolds that it’s kind of amazing in a number of ways. Brolin and Reynolds would be an interesting pick for a buddy cop film, like a rehash of 48 Hours, and Deadpool 2 gives us a tease of what a pairing between the two could be.
Deadpool 2 had
There’s a ton of extras; most of them are EPK pieces but it gives you some insight into the filmmaking process.
20th Century Fox presents Deadpool 2 . Directed by David Leitch. Written by Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick and Ryan Reynolds. Starring Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Morena Baccarin, Julian Dennison, T.J Miller, Jack Kesy. Run Time: 119 minutes Rated R. Released on DVD: 8.21.18
