Deadpool 2 is brilliant, okay?

City Press Movie Review

Movie: Deadpool 2

Director: David Leitch

Starring: Ryan Reynolds (duh!), Josh Brolin

Rating: Four stars

“Deadpool 2 is annoying and bad,” writes Tribune News Service’s Katie Walsh. “It’s a whole lot more of the same, but to extremely diminishing returns. It’s a thin facsimile of the original film, eschewing storytelling for disorganised bits of hyper-violent cheekiness.”

Time Out’s Philip De Semlyen wrote: “It’s a long movie and when its star isn’t on screen and cracking wise, the boundary-pushing shocks and endless self-references wear thin.”

Village Voice’s Alan Scherstuhl said: “Rather than face its own moral incoherence, Deadpool 2 blinks.”

All of this, of course, is true. Deadpool 2 pulls out every trick in the book to avoid sequel malaise and that often makes the film feel overwrought and heavyhanded – that extra satiric cherry on the top when the dessert is already overly sweet. But if you’re a sucker for Marvel’s red-suited antihero, none of that is going to matter to you – you’re going to spoon it all up and enjoy every minute of it.

The plot, in case you care about the plot and aren’t just there for the meta jokes, sees DP gather a new force of heroes to save a mutant boy from himself.

Among them is one of the freshest new Marvel characters on the scene, Domino, played by Atlanta’s Zazie Beetz.

Domino’s superpower is luck. And, if you don’t believe that’s a superpower or can’t picture how it would play out, just wait and watch.

Playing the film’s villain Cable is Josh Brolin. Yup, the same guy who plays Thanos in The Avengers, a fact that leads to plenty of one-liners in this film.

There are gleefully over-the-top fight sequences (often hyperviolent to suit the R rating), too many pop culture references to count, colourful and lovable characters and quips that come at you every second (some might be too fast to catch, so better watch the film at least twice). It’s everything you’d expect from a Deadpool sequel. Ryan Reynolds shows us why he’s the comic universe’s most beloved character, while cab driver Dopinder (Karan Soni) reappears in a bigger role. Soni is unexpected gold and, with bartender Weasel (Silicon Valley’s TJ Miller) and X-force non-mutant Peter (Rob Delaney), provides many of the film’s laughs.

Is Deadpool 2 as good as Logan? No. As monumental as Black Panther? No, again. But will it have you laughing all the way through and quoting one-liners for weeks after? You bet your red leather-clad ass it will.