Review of DEADPOOL 2: Rip-Roaring References

May 21, 2018

I really enjoyed the first Deadpool movie two years ago with its extreme R-rated humor and violence. I rated it a 9/10 (MY REVIEW) and was one of my top 5 movies of 2016. Teaser trailers for the sequel began coming out a full year or more ago, with stupid comedy sketches, like Deadpool taking too long changing in the phonebooth or Deadpool painting landscapes. 

This sequel still had all of Deadpool's rapidfire irreverent action-comedy that we enjoyed immensely. Those meta wisecracks he delivered when he broke the fourth wall were very funny, like critiquing the writers' lazy writing, introducing his own CG-battle scene coming up next, among so many others. I liked how the joke references stretched not only within Marvel but also into DC territory, with Deadpool even introducing himself as "Batman". 

I really liked the nostalgic 1980s soundtrack. "All Out of  Love", "9 to 5," "We Belong," "If I Could Turn Back Time" and "Take On Me" were used in the most unexpected scenes. Even "Tomorrow" from "Annie" accompanied a violent scene. "Yentl" was referenced to a lot and even compared to "Frozen." Haha!

The opening credits was a spoof of James Bond, with Celine Dion singing the seriously dramatic "Ashes" while crazy joke "credits" were rolling up (like introducing director David Leitch as "the guy who killed the dog in John Wick"). 

The main story of this sequel was about Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds in all his deadpan motor-mouth glory) and his encounter with a kid mutant Russell Collins (Julian Dennison), who calls himself Firefist because of his ability to generate and launch fireballs from his hands. Abused by the staff of the orphanage where he was being kept, Collins had become angry, unstable and very destructive. 

Deadpool also had to face the wrath of Cable (Josh Brolin -- yes Thanos himself), a cyborg soldier from the future who had traveled back in time in order to terminate Firefist, who had murdered his family. In order to protect Russell from Cable, Deadpool tried to form his own little group called X-Force with disastrously gory (but hilarious) results, with only the super-skilled, super-lucky Domino (Zazie Beetz) left to carry on the fight in some of the most-breathtaking action scenes in the film.

Wade's girlfriend Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) was here, but had a less happy story arc, yet she was very much Deadpool's main reason for living. All the gang from the first movie are still there: Blind Al (Leslie Uggams), Weasel (T.J. MIller) and Gopinder (Karan Soni). His X-Men friends were also present: Colossus (Stefan Kapičić) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand), who had now hooked up with ninja mutant Yukio (Shioli Kutsuna). 

There were several "blink and you'll miss it" cameos from stars like Brad Pitt (as Vanisher), Matt Damon (as a philosophical country hick), Terry Crews (as Bedlam), James McAvoy, Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan (in their X-Men roles), and Hugh Jackman (as Wolverine). It was Ryan Reynolds himself who played the comebacking hulk Juggernaut. 

These cameos were just some of the multiple outrageous surprises and pop-culture references that "Deadpool 2" had in over-supply. These little comic gems and Easter eggs were coming out so fast and furious, that you may need another viewing to catch or recognize them all. That "Basic Instinct" reference was so insanely hilarious! The Ryan Reynolds-deprecating mid-credits extra scene may just count as one of the best extra scenes of all time. 8/10.