Bookshelf Battle

Is the second verse as good as the first?

Time to make the chimichangas, 3.5 readers. BQB here with a review of “Deadpool 2.”

It’s hard for me to say anything disparaging about this movie, 3.5 readers.  The first film was witty, clever, funny and all in all and left me with that feeling of, “Wow, I’ve just seen something new and different.”

Thus, when you go to watch a sequel, there’s often a feeling that maybe the guild is off the lilly and in a way, that’s true.  You’ve met Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool now and you know what he’s capable of, both in terms of action and hilarity.  So while that “new car smell” isn’t there anymore, you still expect a quality ride and that is delivered.

In this go-around, Deadpool, the merc with the mouth, finds himself in the unenviable position of being an X-Man trainee, short shirt and all.  While working with his old pals Colossus (Stefan Kapicic) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Briana Hildebrand), he comes across the chubby and angry, wayward adolescent Russell/Fire Fist (Julian Dennison), who has been making mischief with his fire shooting hands and can’t seem to be controlled by anyone.

Enter Cable (Josh Brolin), a grizzled soldier from a future where Russell has wreaked havoc on earth with his power.  He wants the kid dead, but Deadpool believes the boy can be redeemed.

Thus, our favorite trash talker in red creates “a super duper fucking group” featuring a wide ranging cast of characters I won’t get into other than to say that Zazie Beetz is a delight as Domino, the somewhat naive super hero whose one and only power is luck…marvel as trucks seem to crash just in time to avoid hitting her, there’s always a soft surface for her to land on when she falls and so on.  In a way, she’s a parody of every hero who manages to always narrowly miss a bullet, a collision or what have you.

It’s a great film – lots of action, lots of laughs.  Lots of inside jokes that you need to be a comic book nerd to get – i.e. Deadpool spends considerable amounts of time screwing with Professor X’s helmet and wheel chair, and continues to make Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern jokes galore.

The test of a good comedy for me is if I laugh uncontrollably and here, I did several times.  So, I do feel bad for pointing out that we’ll probably never get that crisp, fresh out of the wrapper feeling with Deadpool again, but the film doesn’t disappoint.

STATUS:  Shelf-worthy.