DEADPOOL 2
The merc with the mouth is back for more. Just this time in your lounge.
OUT 7 SEPTEMBER Digital HD 17 SEPTEMBER DVD, BD, 4K EXTRAS Commentary (BD), Deleted scenes (BD), Featurettes (BD), Gag reel
Bigger is better, as the saying goes. But Ryan Reynolds’ merc with a mouth has found a niche as the smallest super on the block. Even when adding time-travelling future soldiers and an entire team-up franchise of mutants to the mix, Deadpool 2 never forgets it’s at its best when keeping things personal.
That’s why, despite a dick-joke-todialogue ratio the likes of which cinema has never seen, Deadpool 2 is a film with a surprisingly robust moral core – the notion that one life is worth saving, even if it risks millions. Wade’s solemn mission to protect fire-flinging abused child Russell Collins (Julian Dennison) may be straight out of the Terminator playbook, but for comicbook cinema it’s a point of difference, which is Deadpool’s speciality.
Reynolds remains perfect casting, and gets a much-deserved co-writing
credit here. Josh Brolin’s Cable and Zazie Beetz’s Domino are both brought to the screen with swagger and provide perfect straight-laced foils for DP. Incoming director David Leitch (John Wick, Atomic Blonde) proves a good fit for the material too, nailing the flippant tone while adding flair to the superior action sequences.
But even with this fresh injection of blood, the element of surprise has gone. And with a bigger budget, the once scrappy underdog comes close to compromising what made it great in the first place. Calling out a boring CGI fight with a meta quip doesn’t excuse the fact you’re putting a boring CGI fight on screen. And there are only so many times Wade can crack wise before the belly laughs give way to wry smiles or stoney faces. Especially poor is a dreadful recurring gag about dubstep, one of many bizarrely dated popculture references. And anyone expecting more from Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) shouldn’t get their hopes up.
Things aren’t necessarily improved by the extended Blu-ray Super Duper Cut, either. Adding 15 minutes to an already packed two hours, the extra material is welcome if all you want is more weapons-grade snark and a great new post-credits scene. But it makes no meaningful improvements at the cost of a tighter theatrical cut. Pick up the BD and you’ll get both versions, as well as a suite of extras, including commentary, two deleted scenes and featurettes, one being an enjoyably frank discussion on the lengths the filmmakers went to in order to preserve the film’s secrets. Jordan Farley