Deadpool 2

An excellent sequel to an excellent first part about a talkative Canadian who talked the head off Death. The second part has logically lost the moment of surprise, so it makes up for it with bigger explosions and number of stars (not in the review). All the important X-people are back! What’s more, setting up the X-Force and their first mission is super. After Thanos, Brolin is issued with another ultimate hard-guy. There’s less time traveling than I expected, but that is probably being saved for some post-credits scene. A perfect, feelgood family film. (17/05/2018)

Deadpool 2 is a touching family melodrama about the importance of traditional values, with a hero who wants to kill himself most of the time, vomiting acid and brutal action scenes accompanied by dubstep or Enya (decide for yourself which is worse). It is as comparably entertaining as the first one, though at the same time darker and more layered emotionally and in terms of storytelling. ___ Retrospectively (like a large part of the first instalment) only the first 20 minutes or so are narrated, after which film-noir turns into a buddy movie (from prison). Only the second half is a superhero team flick (Rob Delaney as Peter deserves a spin-off). The protagonist’s objective and the role of the villain (again played by the excellent Josh “Thanos” Brolin), who arrives on the scene relatively late, unexpectedly change several times. Everything is connected by the melodramatic background with the late/impossible reunion and (re)construction of the family. This primarily involves the main protagonist’s inner conflict, not the destruction of the world as in other comic-book movies. Therefore, I was not bothered by the numerous entirely serious scenes without self-deprecating humour (besides, if you have one of the characters refer to the screenwriter as an imbecile after some bad dialogue, nothing about that bad dialogue changes). Thanks to those scenes, you take the characters more seriously than they take themselves and the conclusion stimulates the right emotions (in this respect, Deadpool is more self-sufficient than Infinity War – in order for you to be moved, you do not have to know the preceding 18 films; you only have to know what you have seen over the past two hours). ___ The best bits are the opening credits parodying Bond movies, the post-credit scenes (or rather mid-credit scenes, as nothing remains after the closing credits) and jokes that truthfully call out the shortcomings of comic-book films that lack good humour, something with which Deadpool abounds. Besides the competition from DC, this is again captured mainly by X-Men, referred to as an outdated, gender-incorrect metaphor of racism from the 1960s. Conversely, it freezes routine action scenes with confusing editing (with the exception of a few more fluid moments, which with their choreography bring John Wick to mind), which, as in the case of most major productions of this type, was probably not under the control of the director himself, but of the second unit (and subsequently the people in charge of CGI). ___ Despite that, Deadpool 2 is very good summer entertainment whose creators managed to come up with enough ways to surprise us both with content and with the construction of the story and by using the conventions of various genres even without the possibility of somehow repeating the “wow effect” of the first film from beginning to end. 80% (16/05/2018)

Luckily, Wade wasn't kidding this time either. It is indeed a family film. Without it, the puzzle of gags, charming lines, over-the-top situations, and breaking of the fourth wall would fall apart, but this time the plot foundation is even stronger than before. The first installment took too long to see what it could get away with, the second one jumps headfirst into genre clichés and isn't afraid to undermine them so much that I couldn't believe my eyes (the X-Force airdrop). I didn't trust David Leitch at all, so the relief that Ol' Red is in good hands was ultimately more than surprising. (05/06/2018)

Deadpool directed by the guy who killed a dog in John Wick is back, and it's the ultimate smash, earning the title of best film of the year so far (only Mission Impossible 6, Sicario and Jurassic World have a chance to beat it). Avengers: Infinity War was admittedly more fateful and darker after the second viewing, but I was slightly bored in the first half, since there aren't that many jokes and action in the space of two and a half hours. In contrast, Deadpool 2 is an uncompromising ride like a motherfucker from start to finish, where black, sarcastic, racist humor alternates with sickeningly brutal action that made my balls shrivel. Josh Brolin as Cable gets another medal (I hope this guy will only get cast as a villain), the pop culture references are all over the place like in Ready Player One, the action is more brutal than any exploitation film, the humour is funnier than any comedy, and the pace is faster than a TGV train. I myself don't know what other movie would have so many genre ingredients combined and that to me makes it a true film nerd orgasm (I was blown away by the similarly minded Kingsman last time). People who appreciate story over humour, action and violence won't be so happy. The handshake scene is one of the best Marvel has ever had. The whole theater applauded. PS: Domino is a Lucky Pussy! 11/10. (17/05/2018)

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it." This is exactly what the makers of Deadpool 2 followed, sticking to the sequel rules and simply trying to cram more of the things that audiences enjoyed last time into one film. And it works. It's still just as cheeky, gritty and fun. Plus, thanks to a new director, we get a level better action sequences, and besides, the trailers are far from spelling out everything that made it into the film. It's a shame about the slightly more rushed start, but even so, Deadpool 2 is at least on par with the first. Or rather, it surpasses it in every way. (26/07/2018)