TL;DR

• Beat the sequel curse – better than the first one
• Better story with more heart
• Story takes a surprising direction
• Not bogged down in origin storiesPlenty of jokes and references, never falling short on comedy
• As much a comedy as it is a superhero film
• Breathtaking, exciting action sequences
• Humanises Deadpool more
• Returning and new characters all a joy, but never steal the light from Reynolds
• Best post-credits scene yet (yes, even better than MCU)

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Despite the wide variety of characters in Marvel comics, Deadpool has always been a unique; the Merc with a Mouth has won the hearts of comic fans worldwide and more recently the hearts of film fans too with 2016’s Deadpool. The first film was an excellent portrayal of the character, Reynolds proving the perfect choice for playing the inimitable Wade Wilson. Hopes were naturally very high for the sequel, but, as with all follow-ups, there was a worry that it wouldn’t live up to the original; that it would perhaps go too far or be just a rehash of what we’ve seen before. Fortunately, that’s not the case – if anything, Deadpool 2 is better than its predecessor, with a better story, more characters and much more references and humour. Still, although this film succeeds on every level, it still struggles to be quite as unique and memorable as the titular character himself.

Wade Wilson/ Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) is perfectly content balancing his life as a ruthless and wise-cracking mercenary and his home life with friends Weasel (T.J. Miller) and Dopinder (Karan Soni) and loving girlfriend Vanessa (Morena Baccarin), until an unfinished job results in a consequence that tears his life apart. Distraught and in an effort to build his life anew, he joins X-Men Colossus (Stefan Kapicic) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand), eventually journeying to stop out of control mutant Firefist (Julian Dennison). Little do they know, however, that soldier from the future Cable (Josh Brolin) has a similar mission, only intending to kill him instead. Soon Deadpool rallies together a group of unlikely heroes, such as Peter (Rob Delaney) and Domino (Zazie Beetz) with the intention of saving Firefist from his turbulent future.

The story in Deadpool 2 is hugely better and more entertaining than the previous one, jumping straight in with full-on Deadpool action and leading on to a genuinely engaging narrative. Unlike the first, this one doesn’t have the handicap of being bogged down in an origin story. This results in a better story with much more heart and more even more comedy. In fact, the story takes a fairly surprising turn, taking us in an unpredictable direction. Despite the sheer volume of promotion for this film, it’s commendable that much of its plot details were not leaked ahead of time. As much as it mocks fellow superhero films, in this respect it’s an improvement on Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, a film that was famously criticised for giving away the main antagonist at the end as well as the inclusion of Wonder Woman.

On top of this, it has a different feel to a lot of other superhero films and comes across as notably fresh even in an already saturated genre dominated by the MCU. A lot of this has to do with how Deadpool is different and how humour is at the heart of both the character and the film. There are plenty of references which can make anyone laugh, particularly film and comic fans though. It takes a certain boldness for a film to ridicule itself, but it definitely works to its advantage here. There’s even wise-cracking and jokes in the middle of intense action scenes, never falling short on laughs. These jokes make the otherwise breathtaking and exciting fight scenes that much more enjoyable. It’s just as much a comedy as it is a superhero film, arguably even funnier than most comedy films released. This is precisely what we need in this genre, making Deadpool 2 stand out even though coming out just weeks after record breaking superhero film Avengers: Infinity War.

Since wise-cracking and comedy is at the heart of Deadpool’s character himself, it then comes as no surprise that this is without a doubt Ryan Reynolds’ film. Once more completely throwing himself into the role, he’s proven himself yet again to be perfect as Deadpool. This film managed to give him a chance to humanise the character, giving us amore emotional Wade amongst the ceaseless joking. Not that our titular hero gets edgy at all – that duty is served perfectly by newcomer Josh Brolin. Even though we’ve just seen him as Thanos, he makes an excellent adversary to Deadpool as Cable (although he’s still called Thanos once in one of many great one-liners), with a large heart underneath the gruff, rugged persona. Another newcomer, Zazie Beetz also fits in very well as an opposite to Deadpool, rolling her eyes at all his jokes and quips, often effortless managing to steal the spotlight in some of the action scenes. Julian Dennison too is very welcome in his role, only his comedy talents seem slightly underused – still, he’s gone from Hunt for the Wilderpeople to a more mainstream film. Hopefully this is a step in the right direction for a up and coming star. Other supporting characters return fresh-faced and excited to continue, but they never manage to steal the spotlight from Reynolds.

Anyone who enjoyed the first film is guaranteed to enjoy the second. Everything that we liked from the former returns, this time bigger and better; more story, more characters, more action, more laughs, more heart – think Avengers was the only excellent superhero film this year? Think again. It’s almost as if Black Panther was a starter, Avengers was the main, Deadpool 2 is dessert, and Ant-Man and the Wasp will be coffee. Not only is it impressive for Deadpool to stand among the MCU titans, but dessert has never been so fun.