It's safe to say that Deadpool 2 has comfortably avoided sequelitis, with many standout moments
even surpassing the the first.
Nevertheless, this hugely entertaining "family film" with a twist is not without a few small
flaws.
So buckle up and check the weather forecast, because we're jumping into gale force winds
to present the five best, and the five worst, things in Deadpool 2.
Spoilers ahead.
Best: A perfect X-Force
First appearing in comic book form in 1991's New Mutants #100, X-Force's feature film arrival
has been eagerly anticipated since Cable was first teased in Deadpool's post-credits scene.
"But I can tell you one thing and it's a bit of a secret. The sequel? We're gonna have Cable."
Fortunately, their arrival doesn't disappoint, with Cable, Domino, and Russell fitting into
the team effortlessly.
By the final act, when Deadpool's outfit is charred in a nod to his grey-suited X-Force
appearance, it's clear Wade has found his "F-word."
Worst: No long-shot action
Deadpool 2's action definitely isn't bad.
But fans of director David Leitch's previous projects, particularly his work on John Wick,
may feel short-changed.
The reason could lie with Leitch's filming style.
Both Keanu Reeves as John Wick and Charlize Theron in Atomic Blonde performed the majority
of their own stunts.
BUT THAT WASN'T AN OPTION FOR MUCH OF DEADPOOL 2.
Leitch told the Hollywood Reporter:
"You need those actors to want to do it.
Otherwise you won't get those genuine characters on the screen."
Reynolds, however, fractured vertebrae in his neck on the set of 2012's Safe House,
and, understandably, hasn't performed his own stunts since.
Best: Domino's luck
As the sole survivor among the new recruits during the X-Force's inaugural mission, Domino
clearly has what it takes.
In the comics, Domino's superpower is subconscious telekinesis that kicks in when she's in high-stress
situations.
This force field manipulates her surroundings, and is responsible for jamming the chambers
of guns or manipulating mirrors to blind her enemies at just the right moment.
The first time we really see her use those powers is a beautiful moment in Deadpool 2.
Cars somersault and explosions erupt around her as she nonchalantly escapes harm.
Like Final Destination in reverse, she defies odds in breathtaking fashion.
Worst: An under-utilized supporting cast
Most of the first movie's side characters returned for Deadpool 2, and they were joined
by a ton of newcomers.
The scope is larger, yet Deadpool 2 runs just 11 minutes longer than its 2016 predecessor.
With so many characters vying for screen time, something had to give.
Morena Baccarin's Vanessa is the most obvious oversight.
Her romance with Wade was integral to Deadpool.
In the sequel, Vanessa is shot right at the beginning, making her little more than Wade's
off-screen motivation.
Reactions to test screenings saw her role as "wasted," and it's hard to disagree after
watching the final cut.
Best: Hilarious cameos
Deadpool's meta humor is primed for scene-stealing cameos.
In the first movie, Stan Lee appeared as a strip club DJ, and Deadpool wore a printout
of Hugh Jackman's face as a mask.
"In case the other fell off."
Deadpool 2 raised the bar with a host of hilarious appearances from familiar faces.
Old footage of Jackman appears in a callback to X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but that's nothing
compared to the rest.
Deadpool's low budget relative to the rest of the X-Men movies has been a running, self-aware
joke.
"I'm gonna wait out here, okay?
It's a big house, funny that I only ever see two of you.
It's like the studio couldn't afford another X-Man"
In Deadpool 2, Wade finds himself back at the X-Mansion after being saved by Colossus.
As he again rants about the lack of X-Men, Professor Xavier, Quicksilver, Nightcrawler,
Storm, Cyclops, and Beast appear in a room behind him.
A Hollywood A-lister makes an appearance, too.
After colliding with a power cable during the botched X-Force mission, Vanisher's invisibility
cuts out and the audience can briefly see his real face, which looks a lot like Brad
Pitt's.
Last but not least?
Heavily disguised cameos from Alan Tudyk and Matt Damon, who appear briefly as a pair of
friends who get future-tased and have their truck stolen by Cable after he arrives from
the future.
That's an awful lot of hidden star power.
Worst: X-Force Xed out
While Domino, Russell, and Cable were amazing additions to Deadpool 2, what about the team
members who were introduced only to be brutally executed?
On their first mission as a team, Bedlam, Zeitgeist Shatterstar, Vanisher, Domino, and
Peter skydive into high winds, and one by one, they're all obliterated in gory fashion.
Screenwriter Rhett Reese revealed they deceptively shot footage to use in trailers to imply the
characters' larger role in the movie.
It does make for a funny sequence, but laughter aside, some viewers couldn't help feeling
cheated by the quick deaths after that setup.
These lesser comic book characters have fans, their demises were a disappointment for anyone
hoping to see a crew of semi-obscure Marvel heroes in action.
Best: LGBTQ representation
Deadpool 2 is the first superhero film to openly include LGBTQ characters in the form
of Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Yukio, whose romance is a matter-of-fact subplot throughout
the film.
As for the subtly pansexual Deadpool, his attraction to Colossus is amped up this time
around.
As well as the occasional metallic fondle now and again, Deadpool serenades him Say
Anything-style after the pair fall out, and it's a good thing, too, because Colossus comes
to Wade's aid during the battle against Juggernaut.
Worst: No true supervillain
While the formation of the new super-group takes center stage in Deadpool 2, the movie
lacks a true big bad guy.
The sadistic headmaster of Essex House is as close as we get to outright villainy.
But it's possible that a certain genetically altered someone has been lurking in the shadows:
Mister Sinister.
The supervillain made his first full appearance in The Uncanny X-Men in 1987.
The alter ego of Nathaniel Essex, he shares a name with Essex House, the orphanage Russell
escapes from, perhaps a tantalizing hint of Sinister's involvement.
He's been teased since a post-credits sequence of X-Men: Apocalypse, but it's a little frustrating
that he hasn't appeared yet.
Best: Mid-credits scenes
It wouldn't be a Marvel movie if you didn't stay glued to your seat during the closing
credits, eagerly awaiting an extra scene.
This time, Wade outdoes his riff on Ferris Bueller's Day Off with not one, but three
mid-credits scenes.
By the film's conclusion, Cable's time travel device is used up and he's stuck in the present
after using his final charge to save Wade's life.
After the credits roll, Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Yukio fix the device, and, naturally,
Wade quickly uses it to wreak havoc.
First, he travels back to save Vanessa.
Easy choice.
Deadpool's next stop is to go back in time again and save X-Force member Peter, but he's
just getting started, he then makes his way into 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine, where
he makes quick work of his first onscreen incarnation, shooting the much-maligned mouthless
Deadpool repeatedly.
Then he visits Ryan Reynolds, and shoots him immediately after he reads the Green Lantern
script.
As Deadpool, Ryan Reynolds used the opportunity to not only poke fun at himself, but to capture
the kind of "what-ifs" fans love to hypothesize about.
"I'll tell you who should not have on your show.
Ryan Reynolds.
Huge a-hole."
Worst: Missed opportunities
Not only did the movie lack a clear villain, but that vacancy could've been filled by at
least one character who had screen time: Black Tom Cassidy.
He amounts to nothing more than a briefly seen brute, but in the comics, Black Tom has
the ability to channel energy into destructive, forceful blasts, and a "grander version" of
the character was originally scripted as Deadpool 2's main villain.
However, as Rhett Reese told CBR, they reduced his role, saying:
"His powers are to move organic material around, the entire orphanage, and the trees, everything
was flying around, and the hailstorms of wood, it was really cool, but it was also really,
really expensive."
"Well we don't have that kind of money."
However, there's still hope; Reese confirmed that Black Tom could return from beyond the
grave at a later date.
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