Deadpool 2 (2018) Review

I went into South London’s Peckhamplex this Sunday with the lowest of expectations. This is not a humour, genre, franchise or actor that appeals to me and I thought I’d heard enough jokes about balls to last me a lifetime. Foolish me.

Ryan Reynolds is what I’d typically describe as a loafer. He has that all-so-rare, almost-paranormal ability to endure a slew of bad films and emerge with a career in tact; it seems fitting that he would play a superhero with powers of invincibility.

Off-camera, Reynolds is socially anxious, at-times obnoxious and regularly zips from press conferences to red carpet events with all the poise of an eight-year-old on Prozac. He tweets regularly about ‘penis bouquets’, he loves to read comics, he has invented a twin brother whom he impersonates. In short, at 41 years old, Reynolds is a man who struggles with growing up. Like it or not, that is part of the appeal of Deadpool. It is a series that basks in its own absurdity, that declares its crassness with pride and that will, under no circumstances, apologise for it.

The plot is something of a forced event. There is a tenuous bridge built between the first film and the second, you can almost hear the traintracks as the film lugs forward in its singular direction. The final conclusions are unearned, the moments of sentimentality are undermined by constant gags and key characters are underplayed. It’s a good thing, then, that the jokes are so damn funny.

Deadpool 2, much like the first instalment, wants to give the impression that it doesn’t care about such trivialities as tight dialogue but this is a well-woven ruse; under its casual sheen, there is an incredibly well-disciplined and hard-earned humour powering the event forward. Mark Kermode has often said that the more fun had on set, the less fun had viewing the film. Seeing Deadpool 2, you would imagine it was a riot for everyone involved and yet the startlingly high hit-rate of its gags suggests that the writers behind the scenes laboured over every second of screen time. It has all the fingerprints of a creator who has developed his sense of humour over years of toil and for whom immaturity has become something of a coping method.

The best moments come from Deadpool playing off the supporting cast. Cleverly, they are all written as dry, sardonic or serious types and work well juxtaposed with Deadpool’s go-lucky sort of humour. There are a few gags that poke fun at Deadpool’s ability to regenerate, recycled from the first film, but these remain entertaining and a scene involving the ‘X Force’ will leave your sides hurting.

So, for all of his loafingness, Reynolds has proven that he is, after-all, very funny. What’s more, he has shown respect for his craft and a willingness to poke fun at himself. After seeing Deadpool 2 you will find that two and a half hours of testicle jokes can wear down even the hardiest cynic and that, perhaps, there is still room within the superhero genre for some self-deprecating silliness.

★★★☆☆