Monday, May 21, 2018

Deadpool 2: No Subtitle or Anything (Seems Like a Wasted Opportunity To Me) (a movie review post)

I suppose the first question people will have about Deadpool 2 is, "Is it as good as the first one?" Which is a more than fair question considering how out-of-the-box the first Deadpool was. It's the kind of thing that can be difficult to followup. You know, just how sophomore releases from bands sometimes end their careers.

You'll be happy to know that 2, in this case, is just as good as the first. I'm not going to go as far as some reviews I've seen and say it's better, because I don't think it is, but it certainly doesn't fumble the ball.
To mix a bunch of metaphors.
Maybe I should say drop the mic? Except that means something completely different.
If this was Deadpool, this would be the point he'd stick his head in your screen and say something about where you could put the mic.
Or the ball.
Or something about balls.

Actually, I went to see it as a double feature, which you might say is a lot of Deadpool, but it didn't feel like it. And that's without an intermission between the two films! The second one flowed pretty seamlessly from the first and continued on with the same tone and humor, so I would say the two movies are pretty on par with each other.

And, you know, sure, I could pick it apart; like the plot in the second one feels a bit contrived, but it feels more contrived than it actually is. When you want to introduce a time-travelling character from the future, it's hard to do other than to just have him show up. Which is not to say they didn't provide the back story for that, because they did. It all works just fine, but it felt a bit contrived, at least to me. Not enough to actually bother me, just enough to notice.

The one thing that is decidedly better is the closing credits scene, and that's saying a lot considering the scene at the end of the credits from the first movie is one of the best ones ever done, almost as good as the one from Ferris Bueller. And this one is better. So much better. If the movie had sucked but still had this end-credits scene, it would be still be worth seeing. Yes, it's that good.

A few other good things of note in the movie:

Josh Brolin. You have to hand it to him; he's captured roles of two major Marvel characters. That's pretty impressive in my book. And, well, I like Josh, and he does a good job as Cable.

Zazie Beetz: She's awesome as Domino. I don't really remember much about Domino from the comics other than that she was supposed to be a big deal character. I have a stack of issues of her first appearance in fact and, for a while, she was a big deal character. I guess. But I have no strong memories of her beyond her introduction. Which just so happened to be the first appearance of Deadpool, too.

X-Force: OMG LOL!
Now I can't wait for this movie.

Brad Pitt: What? You didn't know he was in the movie?

Basically, if you liked (loved) the first Deadpool, there is no reason to expect that you won't feel the same way about this one. They even managed to make an opening credit sequence that nearly matches the opening credit sequence of the first one in yummy goodness, and that's saying something considering the opening sequence from the first Deadpool may be the best opening credit sequence ever made. Or, at least, since Star Wars dispensed with one altogether.

7 comments:

  1. I didn't think it was better either but certainly just as good. And yes, there is an X-Force movie coming!

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  2. It's pretty amusing that Josh Brolin is both Thanos and Cable. I guess there's no Thanos in the mutant universe, is there? Did they mention that (I haven't seen it yet)? Honestly, this is one of the few movies that could get away with bringing it up.

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    1. Jeanne: In the comics, there is no "mutant universe;" it's all the Marvel Universe, and the X-Men were involved in the Infinity Gauntlet stuff. However, at the moment, in the movies, the X-Men are off in some pocket dimension because of licensing agreements. Hopefully, that's all about to change.

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  3. I can't wait to see this! I loved the first one. My kind of super"hero" movie. And the opening credits on the first one perfectly set the scene. I think people would have known right off whether they'd enjoy what followed or hated it.

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    1. Shannon: It's probably the best opening credits scene EVER. The second one is good, too, but nothing comes close to the first one.

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  4. I must admit total disinterest in the Deadpool movies. I realize I may be cheating only myself. But I guess I can live with that.

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    1. TAS: I was ambivalent about the first one myself. I was never a Deadpool fan as he was still kind of a nothing character when I quit collecting. Needless to say, I was more than pleasantly surprised.

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