It started as the movie that almost never was, but aren’t we glad it finally did. ‘Deadpool’ broke every conceivable mould that decades of comic book movies had set in place with its adult language, extreme violence, sex, innuendo and irreverent humour. It took everyone by surprise and the film became a box-office juggernaut. But where to from here? 2016’s ‘Deadpool’ had a “we have nothing to lose” attitude with all parties throwing everything they had into it, including reputations and playing their "second chance cards". Now that they’ve proven the risk to be worthwhile, they ironically actually do have something to lose now - legions of fans, along with their overwhelming hopes and expectations, as well as the butt-ton of money now being thrown at the franchise. So the idea is to go big or go home now, right?
Wade (Ryan Reynolds) is doing what he does best - killing the bad guys for money and living his best life with his woman Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) and attempting to start a family. But when a reconnection with X-Men's Colossus (Stefan Kapicic) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) forces him to cross paths with young mutant in trouble Russell AKA Firefist (Julian Dennison, ‘Hunt for the Wilderpeople’) both Wade and Russell find themselves in mutant prison. Now enter Cable (Josh Brolin, ‘Avengers: Infinity War’) a time-travelling mutant with a real yen to shuffle young Russell off this moral coil, but to get to Russell he has to go through Wade. With a new mission Wade assembles a group of rag-tag mutants including Domino (Zazie Beetz, ‘Geostorm’) now calling themselves X-Force to save Russell and save the day.
SWITCH: 'DEADPOOL 2' FINAL TRAILER
Words cannot describe how much I loved the first ‘Deadpool’, and despite my excitement for its follow up, 20 minutes into the screening it appeared that the film’s ability to match my enthusiasm was going to be a slow burn. While funny and entertaining, don’t get me wrong, it's a bit same same but different - similar jokes, same people, even starting with a wacky scene and pulling the whole “let me take you back six weeks” stuff. Been there, done that. Rest assured, once that crap was over and done with, Deadpool came to party. Indeed, shit gets bigger and better. More blood, more decapitation, more “fucks” (and even a C-word thrown in there), more innuendo and more mutants. They have an R rating (or in Australia's case, MA15+) and they aren’t going to waste it. Oddly though there’s no fourth (or in Deadpool’s case, sixteenth) wall breaks, but there is however a James Bond-style opening credits sequence complete with Celine Dion power ballad. (I hope by now we’ve all seen the awesome accompanying music video.) There’s also growth - last time Deadpool was fighting for love (and vengeance, but mostly the love thing), this time he’s all about the f-word... Family (and also vengeance, but mostly the family thing).
The tone and the jokes are all on point, but this time there’s an added serious element which will catch you off guard.
Gone is director Tim Miller, he's now been replaced with (uncredited) ‘John Wick’ and ‘Atomic Blonde’ director David Leitch, but with the same writers, producers and stars on board there is no straying from the winning formula. The tone and the jokes are all on point, but this time there’s an added serious element which will catch you off guard. A spotlight is being shone on the family and purpose parts of life which lead to some surprising visually and emotionally stark moments. Yeah, I know, WTF man. Don’t worry, it’s still a non-stop laugh riot.
P.S. - once the movie is done don’t you dare move, or you’ll miss out on the greatest post-credit scenes the world of cinema has ever known.