“Deadpool 2” accomplishes an incredible feat: it manages to be a good action movie, hilariously satirical comedy and genuine social commentary all at once.
The story of “Deadpool 2” is not entirely original, it is a time honored formula consisting of a hero selflessly protecting someone from villains who are hunting them, like in “Terminator” or “Logan.” However, the story itself is not boring — it’s innovative enough to avoid cliche, and isn’t even the main focus of the movie. Deadpool isn’t about the story — it’s about the senseless violence and humor. So while “Deadpool 2” does not have an exceptionally strong story, that does not stop it from being a good movie.
The actors are brimming with emotion and flavor. Everyone — from the comic relief to the more serious and grittier characters — performs masterfully, and it is noticeable that all the actors care about their performances. None of them are merely phoning it in, which helps the movie possess a lot of heart throughout with the genuinely funny comedy and actual emotion some scenes contain.
But of course, it wouldn’t be Deadpool without violence, and in this regard, “Deadpool 2” really shines. It turns out that when an action hero is unkillable — because he quickly heals from any wound — it allows for incredibly unconventional action scenes that no other movie could show and still be respected. A different action movie such as “John Wick” could never reach the same peaks of action because there has to be some semblance of realism. But Deadpool can throw all that out the window and instead be shot, cut and bruised infinitely in any fight. While that might remove the tension in action scenes, that doesn’t matter, because the action is made to be over the top and absurd. For instance, Deadpool can choke a guy with his own broken arm, or jump onto a moving vehicle, miss, splat on the pavement and then spend the rest of the scene crawling menacingly. However, the action doesn’t have to rely on this novelty, as the conventional gun-shooting and chair-gripping parts are still just as good as any other great action movie.
The core nature of Deadpool is to be a funny anti-hero, and the movie does this justice by being inundated with humor, especially humor poking fun at other comic book heroes. From the first scene mocking Wolverine to the last end credits scene making a meta joke about how Ryan Reynolds has a terrible acting career, “Deadpool 2” never lets up on the humor. Each joke is funny in its own right, and not dwelt upon long enough for it to become stale. This leads to a genuinely funny movie that doesn’t rely on the boring formula usually associated with “comedy” movies — the nice, clean jokes that have been told a thousand times before, and those that are too bland to be entertaining or funny. Instead, “Deadpool 2” uses its “R” rating to add just the right amount of edge in its humor, to keep the jokes fresh and funny without relying on the shock factor of its jokes.
“Deadpool 2” is not content merely being a funny action movie, it also takes a more serious tone with its social commentary. As Deadpool himself remarks in the movie, mutants such as the X-men once served as an allegory for race and racism, but this movie shifts the metaphor. Now mutants reflect homosexuality. Can a radical Christian preacher trying to electrocute the Jesus into people and make mutants ashamed of themselves be anything but a thinly veiled reference to homosexuality and “conversion therapy?” It is no coincidence that this film has the first openly homosexual character in a Marvel superhero film, despite the outcry against the character not being the main hero. Through its depictions of mutants, “Deadpool 2” has actually been able to send a real message about sexuality along with all of its violence and humor, which really makes it incredible.
Because this movie is so much rolled into one, it is hard to judge as an entirety. But it doesn’t take a genius to realize that if every aspect of a movie is good, then the movie is good. The action, the humor and the social commentary of the movie are all superb and make the movie what it is, and “Deadpool 2” is a truly great movie.
