It was always going to be a tall order to make a sequel to the incredibly well received Deadpool film. When the first film appeared, mostly due to the persistence of Ryan Reynolds, it became a box office hit that fans and critics delighted in. The follow up would have to be very careful to tread the fine line between staying true to the original while breaking some new ground and moving the characters forward.
The good news is that Deadpool 2, to a certain degree, fulfills that remit. Just like the first outing, we get all the gore, ultra violence and humour, all factors in Deadpool’s success. From the first scene, we know pretty much that the producers have stuck to their guns and the eager audience I saw it with managed to exhale a collective sigh of relief upon the realization that things looked ok. We have everything we wanted to see, and an opening credit sequence that was just sublime. The mix of ridiculous joyful anarchy and surprisingly touching moments worked quite well, and the first act is really fun.
When we actually get into the meat of the story however, there are some clunkier set pieces. The plot itself is more rip off than homage, and even for a film that delights in pop culture references and 4th wall breaking one liners, I felt it needed just a little more. I know that it’s Deadpool, but I may have enjoyed something just a little more different than what we actually got. I can understand the need to keep things simple in a film that actually has more fun with it’s set pieces and characters but by the start of the second act, you do get a feeling that you know exactly where everything is going. They even nod to the audience about foreshadowing at one point, sure that’s funny in the film, but if the plot was used in any other franchised super hero property, there would have been more than a few raised cyborg eyebrows.
Luckily though for Deadpool 2, the main thrust is the action, the gags, the violence and the Easter Eggs. You are caught so off guard by the action, that a silly thing like plot becomes your second thought. On the plus side, Deadpool 2 is just a fun film. It’s got some terrific gags and some exciting scenes, so it’s a great sequel that shouldn’t disappoint the fans. All the leads are great, there are some real fan boy cameos and there’s a line of dialogue that will leave 90’s comic book fans with their jaw dropped in hilarious astonishment. It’s a line that will only be appreciated by such a small percentage of the audience, that it makes you wonder how they managed to keep it to the final draft.
The film itself has definitely managed to find itself burdened with a bigger budget. I say burdened, as often films such as Deadpool work better with tighter constraints on their purses. It means all involved actually have to work harder to produce their vision, a big budget can often cause it’s own problems, and looking at some of the CGI, I couldn’t help but wonder if things had slightly got away with themselves. There are big moments, fitting for this sequel, but with Deadpool coming in at $58 million and making $783.1 million, Deadpool 2 will have to really hit the ground running to try and maintain that trend.
At the time of writing it’s hard to pin the budget down, but I would venture it was more than the first film, making it an even tougher target to hit for the production team. With the film arriving in cinemas between Infinity War and Solo, it has a lot of competition to contend with, however I have faith it will certainly do good enough box office to secure a 3rd outing. All in all it’s a fun movie to spend the night with, and it’s refreshing to see super heroes being sent up in such a glorious way. There’s a mid end credit sequence that is just genius, so sit tight for that and enjoy.
