Deadpool 2: This time, with Feelings

The following contains spoilers for Deadpool 2. I’m not a monster, you have been warned.

The hardest question not to ask upon exiting Deadpool 2 was “how did this hold up to the first Deadpool?” The movie stands more easily in relation to itself (or a weird fan fiction version of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and a chemically altered Spiderman). My friend and I who had gone to see it talked about the merits of this latest fourth wall breaking superhero first:  the soundtrack, the X-Force, matter of fact treatment of queer relationships. Deadpool 2 did deliver as a deeper and more meaningful iteration of its predecessor while still being ridiculous and funny ride through love, loss, and recovery. There are a lot of great things in this movie I could talk about: luck as a superpower, the unexpected Vanisher cameo, Peter. But I’ll focus on some story and trope elements of the movie that are subverted to one degree or another. Otherwise this review would never end.

The initially proffered antagonist of Cable (Josh Brolin) becomes more complicated as the story wears on, morphing from taciturn time traveling super soldier to a reluctant ally and butt of jokes about tolerance. His motivation is a repackaging of the “if you could go back in time to kill Hitler, would you?” His family is murdered by a future Firefist (Julian Dennison) and he goes back in time to save them by killing a teenager. When asked why he doesn’t go back in time to kill Hitler or something to that effect, the answer is your standard ‘might break the timeline’. To which Deadpool asides, “lazy writing”. I’m not sure this is a detraction from the story. It seems that in the writer’s hand waving over the usual time travel tropes, they allow their characters to wink at the audience, knowing that we know a deeper investigation of time travel mechanics rapidly unwinds. We’re all really here for other reasons, so chill, audience, more fight scenes and middle fingers are on your way.

Deadpool 2 manages to keep the fourth wall breaking funny even when we know it’s coming. It seemed more limited than the first installment, but more up on the pop culture references. There are more snide asides, winking at the audience to get in on the joke, even if Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) isn’t explicitly talking to the viewers. This is definitely a movie that knows people want to be in on the joke, or get that particular reference. From the Bond-esque title sequence peppered with lines alluding to what just happened, jokes about a character called Black Tom (Jack Kesy), and digs at arbitrary time travel restrictions as ‘lazy writing’ has the feel of a Mystery Science Theatre 3000 commentary track delivered by the titular main character.

More than just a comedy, Deadpool 2 manages to hold an empathetic storyline that at its heart is a redemptive story about reaching a troubled teenager who is capable of extreme violence. In the end, when it seems like Deadpool is actually going to die, I got a bit choked up and wondered if the writers were actually going to kill off the marquee hero. Sure, the finale was a near bait and switch of heartfelt final lines with nope, I’m not quite dead! But until Cable, who until that last moment was saving the last burst of time travel (lazy writing) to go home, uses that to save Deadpool are we assured he will live.

Fitting in with movies like Thor: Ragnarok and the first Guardians of the Galaxy, Deadpool leans heavily on the soundtrack. From popular songs like Thunderstruck to a track by DJ Shadow with Run the Jewels (Nobody Speak) there were grand choral arrangements that included the line “Holy Shit Balls”. The classic packaging of something that Bach or Beethoven would have composed is contrasted with the Juggernaut’s fight with Colossus and the viewer almost misses what the choir is saying against the setting on the screen. Credit where credit is due, the soundtrack deeply enhances this movie.

The most predictable aspect of this movie was Wade losing Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) early on in the first act. Her death at the hands of a criminal Deadpool hadn’t quite killed yet kicks off Wade’s arc for the movie. Throughout the movie there are a few times Baccarin appears to offer otherworldly advice to Wade, alluding to a larger purpose before he can join her in death. This is a well documented trope, fridging. In short, a character (overwhelmingly a woman) dies or is harmed in some way as a catalyst for the usually male protagonist to get on with it, do something great, get revenge, etc. Others have written about fridging in greater depth and with more knowledge than I have so I won’t belabor the point, but in a movie that in some ways subverts our usual expectations of what a superhero movie is, it is, to quote Deadpool, “lazy writing”. While this is part of the history of these comics and characters no adaptation for the screen is a 1:1 match. I’d like to see more out of these movies where a hero is motivated by something other than the death and/or abuse of a loved one.  

Admittedly, the post credit scenes seem to subvert this. As an audience member I was left unsure if the post credit scenes are canon, since the last one involves a gleeful Deadpool shooting Ryan Reynolds in the head as he holds up the script for Green Lantern. However, the central conceit of Deadpool’s motivation for the film remains. Even if Vanessa is alive for a possible Deadpool 3, she still sat out most of the movie.

All in all there is a lot to like here, with the obvious caveat so long as gratuitous swearing and violence don’t bother you. For those who like movies that seem to know they are movies, embrace it, and chat with you while you watch, Deadpool 2 delivers.