Oh hi everyone, it’s Jason on Jack-FM here with another well rounded & totally unbiased review of a comic book movie.
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Deadpool was the first comic title that I “seriously collected” when it first came out in 1997. I grew up reading comics, for sure, but this was the first time that I specifically went to the store to buy a title by name. I adored the first movie because it did a really great job of telling a pretty basic story in Deadpool’s stereotypical style, and the sequel just adds to it in fantastic fashion.
As a quick reminder, all of my reviews are spoiler free, so feel free to read this without fear of me ruining the surprises or story beats.
In the first movie, Wade Wilson’s Deadpool begins mid story, then flashes back to how it all started, as he goes through his origin then has to “rescue the girl.” The sequel starts out nearly identically, with him in the middle of an action, before cutting to the “how we got here” story.
After the opening credits though, it’s a completely different story, with our “hero” having to make a fairly significant character arc by the end of the film, all while really doubling down on the satire of the entire superhero movie genre. There are LOTS of jokes that poke fun at the Marvel universe, the DC universe, the comic era that Deadpool was created in, and the usual tropes that these movies are so fond of.
The story synopsis is pretty simple: Deadpool attempts to help the X-Men deal with a particularly volatile teenage mutant. Meanwhile, Cable time travels from a dystopian future where the kid has turned into a villain, and is dead set on killing him before he can become a true threat. Hijinks ensue.
The really cool thing about DP2 is the fact that it isn’t afraid to show just how TRULY TERRIBLE so many of the characters from the mid 90’s era of comics really were. Saying more would be spoilery, so I’ll just leave it at that.
Colossus & Negasonic Teenage Warhead return from the first movie, and they’re just fantastic. It’s also really cool to see a same sex couple in a superhero movie that just exists without cliché or titillation. With so many LGBTQ stories being sidelined or erased entirely due to a fear of losing out on box office dollars overseas, it was quite nice to see it just exist as normally as it does in everyday life.
There are a TON of new characters introduced, but the standout newcomer is Zazie Beetz as Domino. She absolutely kills it in the role of a mutant with “luck” as a power, and totally steals the show once she’s introduced. I want more of her on screen, she was fantastic.
The movie is chock full of easter eggs, inside jokes, fantastic cameos, and campiness, but the thing I liked best about it is that while it doesn’t take itself seriously, it does tell a really great story.
Also, while there is no stinger at the very END of the credits, the mid-credits scenes are some of the most cathartic I’ve seen, and well earned. Don’t miss them.
FINAL WORD – If you enjoyed the original Deadpool movie, and you don’t mind a bit of blood or a LOT of swearing, you’ll really like the sequel. It’s smart, it’s fun, it’s hilarious, and it’ll make you feel things.