Raunchier and bloodier, ‘Deadpool 2’ doesn’t disappoint

You’re a smart-mouthed cancer survivor, forcibly given the power of regeneration through painful torture. What do you do for fun?

That’s right, take ass and kick names. Or is it the other way around?

It doesn’t matter, because Deadpool is back, and he’s doing all of it.

Deadpool 2
Rating: R
Running time: 119 min.
Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, Josh Brolin

Directed by David Leitch, Deadpool 2 stars Ryan Reynolds as the titular anti-hero and Josh Brolin as Cable, the serious father figure counterpart.

After reuniting with his beloved Vanessa, played by Morena Baccarin, Wade Wilson’s alter ego and ‘Merc with a mouth’ Deadpool wants to settle down and have a family. A series of events swerve Deadpool out of this zone and into protecting Russell, a young teenage mutant played by Julian Dennison, from dying at the hands of Cable, the time-traveling badass who doesn’t give an eff about you or your problems.

Against film industry trends, 2016’s Deadpool made marks in both box office sales and with critics, by being an outrageous superhero movie unlike any to which we’ve grown accustomed.

Captain America: Civil War, Iron Man, Doctor Strange and The Avengers: Infinity War all align with Marvel’s traditional superhero values. Deadpool’s distinctly R-rated F-bombs and sex jokes, though, earn their own franchise without the tamer guardrails usually afforded by the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Deadpool 2 has ambitions to be better, bigger and filthier than its predecessor. The verdict: It’s awesome, like a monkey finding the juiciest and ripest banana in the bundle.

Putting aside the humor, the violence and heartfelt storyline, Deadpool 2 had already won me over with its larger-than-life marketing stunts, starting with the ‘Wet on Wet’ teaser. The marketing team flew over the bar of what can be done to sell an already-anticipated movie, and it’s beautiful.

20th Century Fox sold DVD’s and Blu-Rays with Deadpool plastered onto iconic movie covers. For example, the Cast Away cover shows Deadpool’s head instead of ‘Wilson’ the volleyball. Even if these marketing antics are at times raunchy and distracting, that’s exactly what Deadpool is known for.

In the days leading up to the premiere, the advertisements became the Flavor Flav of the release date. And what’s to say about the movie? Deadpool 2 is moving and awe-inspiring in truly messed up and bloody ways.

I was worried about it not being able to carry itself as a comedy-action movie, but Deadpool 2 strikes the ideal balance to fulfill the appetite of both comic book fans and the average movie-goer. Not all the jokes land, but the majority do. The meta humor and the fourth wall breaks are tight, and if there were any more references made specific to the audience, I may have broke down from paranoia.

Even when the more serious part of the movie plays out between Vanessa and Wade, I still felt attached to the crazy parts. Those more genuine moments are earned, for the most part. One scene near the end falls short. When a travesty is about to happen, the scene never fully lets go of the humor, rendering it somewhat pointless. I wasn’t invested in the tragedy and knew it was just a hoax.

Other scenes with interplay between characters are earnest — especially when we learn of the similarity off Cable’s and Deadpool’s backstories, and why the time traveler wants to kill this kid.

Ryan Reynolds embodies this character. It’s difficult to think of him now as any other character besides Deadpool, and he embraces it, something I’d hope he’d do now that he can’t escape being cast as an anti-hero.

Reynolds’ commitment to the character shows in references he scripted into the film.

In 1991, the X-Force made its first appearance during the “New Mutants #100” comic book. Deadpool 2 brought to life this newest formation of the X-Force, and what a way to introduce them. A huge left turn with some of these characters added to why I distrust movie trailers. However, their moment left me and the rest of the theater laughing out loud.

Hardcore comic book fans should keep their eyes peeled for that black and white X-Force uniform from the “Uncanny X-Force #1” comic book. There are bountiful Easter eggs throughout Deadpool 2, which is why I’ll have to see it again to catch all of them.

The Merc with a mouth’s legacy lives on, with plenty of bawdy jokes, sliced limbs and broken fourth walls.