Movie Review -- Deadpool 2

Today we have the sequel to one of the best R-rated comic book movies of all time. Here is Deadpool 2. It comes to us from a different director this time; is that good or bad? Let's find out.

The story begins with Wade Wilson/Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) living the high life as a wacky mercenary. However, things get dark real quick when tragedy strikes. Heartbroken, he is taken in by the X-Men after an explosive suicide attempt. Soon they have to respond to an out-of-control mutant kid named Russell (Julian Denison). Deadpool tries to diffuse the situation in his own unique style, which unfortunately lands him and Russell in prison. 

As if things couldn't get any worse, the prison soon comes under attack by Cable (Josh Brolin), a mutant from the future who's determined to kill Russell at any cost. Realizing he needs help to protect the kid, Deadpool assembles his own unique team of heroes. I won't bother listing them because aside from Domino (Zazie Beetz), they're completely worthless. The team jumps into action but things manage to get even worse when a certain X-Men heavyweight (whom I won't spoil) gets involved. Nevertheless, Deadpool is determined to save Russell, but hate-filled kid might be too far gone, and is rushing to seal his fate. With many lives on the line, can our heroes and antiheroes save the day?

Deadpool 2 is a fun-filled action romp. It's also got some great humor (including an absolutely insane post-credits bit) that is offset by somber moments. This is definitely a more serious affair than the first film. However, that doesn't mean I don't have complaints. Wade Wilson's team of superheroes had great potential, but are ultimately wasted for a joke. Only Domino proves to be any real help, but her character remains shallow. They tried to add more depth to cab driver Dopinder (Karan Soni), and they... kind of.... succeeded (he's a much bigger psychopath now). Also, Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) and newcomer Yukio (Shioli Kutsuna) have literally one attack each for this movie. They do very little.

That being said, would I recommend Deadpool 2 for fans of the first one? Yes, I would. It's still a really good movie that puts most of what DC does to shame. It's just not as good as it could have been.