A rare case of a sequel being better than the original

Rating: 8/10 (15 May 2018)

It's no secret that the first Deadpool movie was a huge hit, mainly because of its unique approach to a comic book movie, emphasizing comedy through its parody of various pop-culture references. Two years later, we now have the sequel, "Deadpool 2", directed by David Leitch, which is the eleventh film in Fox's X-Men film franchise. Deadpool 2 manages to be a slight improvement over its predecessor with plenty of the usual laughs you'd expect, despite having a plot that seems a little too familiar.
Deadpool 2 is seemingly set shortly after the events of the first movie, with Ryan Reynolds returning as Wade Wilson/Deadpool. In this, Deadpool is up to his usual antics: fighting crime, making jokes, and embarrassing criminals. However, things soon take a turn for the worse when he comes across a young mutant named Russell (Julian Dennison), who's currently being hunted by a cybernetic soldier from the future named Cable (Josh Brolin). To stop Cable, Deadpool forms a group with other mutants and calls the group "X-Force". It's an interesting story, but the problem here is that some of the aspects of the plot feel a bit too familiar. It's basic plot is very similar to "The Terminator", a robotic guy hunting down a young boy because the boy is important in the future in some way, shape or form. Of course, it's not exactly the same, as Deadpool 2 obviously has its own narrative elements that separates it from The Terminator, but the basic plot outline is a bit too similar. Nevertheless, the story does manage to be an improvement over its predecessor, as that movie had a very formulaic and predictable plot that bogged down the overall experience. Deadpool 2's plot, while familiar in a way, is much more coherent, unpredictable, and overall more engaging and satisfying.
What I really like and respect about the Deadpool series is that they don't follow the traditional comic book movie guidelines. Instead, it tries to be its own unique entity with its crude jokes and parody. Like the first film, it often breaks the "fourth wall" by making jokes about various other pop-culture fads and even other movies. It's a comic book movie but also a parody of everything that's popular in today's culture. It's certainly not "kid friendly" like Marvel's MCU movies, which is why it has an "R" rating. Although some may not like that, it's a refreshing and unique take on the superhero genre that helps keep it from getting stale. The movie has its fair share of jokes, but where it improves upon its predecessor is the quality of the jokes. I found myself laughing more often while watching this one compared to the first one where it only had a few decent laughs. Even though Deadpool 2 lacks the surprise element when it comes to the comedy because we knew what to expect coming into it, it still manages to be funnier than the first one, which speaks to the quality of the writing by Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and Reynolds. Speaking of Reynolds, he is just as good here as he was in the first movie. Many actors and actresses fit their superhero roles well, and Reynolds as Deadpool is no exception.
All in all, Deadpool 2 delivers exactly what you would expect: comedy, action, and an overall good time. It ends up achieving the rare feat of improving upon the original, even if it's only a slight improvement. In the summer of big blockbusters, Deadpool 2 makes it two for two so far.