Film review: Deadpool 2

That rhymes.


Warning! Danger, Will Robinson!
Here be SPOILERS for Deadpool 2!

Here we go with another movie review. To keep myself on track (because I could probably talk about Deadpool the character until I die of starvation), I’ll keep it to 3 words.

Characters

Nope, not me blagging a way to talk about Deadpool the character until I die of starvation. This is more about the others who turned up - Vanessa Longhair, Domino the fucking awesome, Negasonic Teenage Awesomest X-Men Name Ever, Yukio the barely-there but very important girlfriend, Actual Swearer Colossus, Brad Pitt and the Red Shirts (that sounds like a grunge band), White Thanos and Ted, Weasel, Blind Al, and the irrepressible Dopinder. Not to mention the point of the story, Russell, who was both a focus and a trope-breaker.

Russell was a great pick because he was The One That Didn’t Fit - he starts off by saying he’s only side-lined to the ‘orphanage’ in the first place because they don’t make plus-size supersuits. That alone made me happy - and then the future is laid out for us by White Thanos (Josh Brolin) and Ted (his daughter’s teddy bear, conveniently hanging from his belt), whereby we see the damage done by excluding people if they don’t fit in. Throw in some casual torture designed to ‘cure’ people of their natural persuasions, and you have us at the next point:

Metaphor

Not in a Drax kind of way, but in a ‘oooh, I see what you did there’ kind of way. We have Deadpool who’s stuck living when he’d rather die (such a Tumblr meme it would be reblogged faster than a Loki survivor gif), we have Russell being tortured to make him something he’s not, to make him fit in with society by not being a mutant (uhm… sexual orientation correction, anyone?), and we have Josh Brolin telling us that When he comes from, the Earth is pretty fucked. Ok, that’s not a metaphor, but it does mirror what’s going on right now and not even subtly. It’s a lot more than the first Deadpool movie gave us, which means not only have they not fucked it up, but they’ve managed to add more on top. Which makes it even better.

Merc with a Mouth

Is it me, or is countless F words and 2 C words a bit much for a 15 certificate? Not even the mindlessly swear-a-minute fun of Baywatch could keep up with this movie. I’m not complaining for myself - I was rolling around trying not to laugh so loud that I missed the next line. However, when people complain that their 6 year old was scared in Avengers: Infinity War when it was a 12A in the UK, I wonder if these people actually think back to the last Deadpool movie, realise how sweary it was, and then not let their 12 year old go to see Deadpool 2. I know you can’t protect everyone forever, but whoever they paid to make that movie a 15? Shame on you. The blood, the viscera, the non-stop blue and frankly purple jokes, the swearing that turned the air black - this was no way a 15 certificate. I wouldn’t want you to cut it and I wouldn’t want you to change a thing - but don’t pretend it’s less than it is. Parents and the BBFC can bitch about the ‘does watching violent TV and films make you violent’ all day long, but they’re the ones not doing anything about providing protection barriers for younger minds.

That said, Deadpool’s typically motor-mouthed quips and insults were a joy. It’s almost as if Fox is doing its best to distance itself from the drama going on at the House of Mouse version of the Marvel universe right now. Whether they do another film or not, this one will forever live in my memory for such momentous fun as an entire operatic chorus going full-on John Williams meets Triumphant Mozart by singing HO-LY SHIT-BALLS for half the brilliant Big Boss battle. You have the one-liners, you have the trope-killers, you have the put-downs and Ryan Reynolds’ quiet, deliberate delivery of some cinematic history. All in all, this movie is more than just Deadpool Does New Zealand - this is a barrel of sarcastic, desperately-clinging-to-humour-to-laugh-at-the-darkness black comedic fun, and it was just the right amount of irreverent in-jokes, easter eggs and tongue-in-cheekiness I needed after Infinity War.

Verdict: Are you kidding? Run, don’t walk, to see this 9.5/10 movie - and that’s as high as I go. Make sure you stay for the 2 - count them, 2 - mid-credits scenes (there is no after-credits scene in the UK). Comedy genius, and just at the right time, if you're a fan of the other Marvel universe.

Until next time: soopytwist.