My sister Linda and I took in an evening movie, viewing the sequel to the highly successful Deadpool film. Deadpool 2 was rowdy riotous fun, with some surprisingly touching deeper messages.
It’s late, however, so here’s a quick review!
Deadpool 2 stars Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Morena Baccarin, Julian Dennison, Zazie Beetz, T.J. Miller, Leslie Uggams, Karan Soni, Brianna Hildebrand and Stefan Kapicic. This action/adventure/comedy, directed by David Leitch, carries an R rating for language, violence and sexual references, and has a run time of 1 hour and 59 minutes.
Wade Wilson, AKA Deadpool (Reynolds), is a mouthy mercenary with a dubious superhero status. Deadpool describes himself as a bad guy, who goes after other guys who are worse than him. His superpowers include above average strength and the ability to heal from any injury, making him impossible to kill. In his line of work, that’s a handy trait.
Things quickly go awry when Deadpool’s work follows him home, causing him to lose his long time girlfriend Vanessa (Baccarin), and altering his life. He seeks healing at X-Mansion, home of the X-Men. During his time there he, Colossus (voiced by Kapicic), and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Hildebrand) engage in a stand off with an angry 14 year mutant. Russell/Firefist (Dennison) is unstable and holding people at bay at an orphanage for mutants. When Deadpool realizes the boy has been abused at the home, he kills an attendant. He and Russell are arrested and detained in a prison for mutants.
A cyborg from the future, Cable (Brolin), arrives with the intention of killing Russell. Cable knows what the boy becomes as an adult. He hopes to change the future and save many lives by removing Russell.
Deadpool escapes from prison and confers with his small circle of friends…Weasel (Miller), Blind Al (Uggams), and Dopinder (Soni). He forms a team to help him stop Cable and rescue Russell, with the hope of changing the boy’s heart and his path. His new team quickly falls apart, leaving only Domino (Beetz) to help him, until Colossus, Warhead, and Dopinder join them.
When a new threat arrives, one that urges the boy on to foul deeds, Deadpool and his team must decide whether to end a life that greatly impacts the future…or to save the mutant boy by appealing to his humanity and his heart.
While my description above is a short and accurate summary of the film’s story, it fails to capture the outrageousness of a Deadpool movie! These films from the Marvel Universe differ from the others in the franchise. Deadpool’s character is more of an anti-hero than a typical superhero. He’s funny, obnoxious, curses…a lot…spouts innuendo…a lot…and doesn’t hesitate to use extreme force to rid the world of bad guys.
And yet, Deadpool…played perfectly by Reynolds…has a good heart. He just has to get his heart in the right place, his girlfriend tells him.
In a quirky, out of the box, off the wall kind of way, Deadpool 2 is about family, friendship and transformation. It’s about growing into the person one is meant to be and being willing to change.
The Deadpool films aren’t for everyone, and certainly are not for children. But I enjoyed this latest adventure in the Marvel Universe with the unlikeliest of heroes. I smiled. I laughed. I teared up. And I look forward to seeing where Deadpool journeys to next.
