Feels kind of like a kids' film, despite its killing and cursing.

Rating: 6/10 (21 May 2018)

Deadpool's musings that his second outing is a "family film" are closer to the truth than he might perhaps think, but not in the way he would hopefully expect. 'Deadpool 2 (2018)' is much closer to a kid's flick than anything remotely 'adult', never mind 'mature' or 'nuanced', and it never uses its 'R-rating' to tell a truly adult tale - that is, one that doesn't pander, talk down or constantly remind you it is aiming at those with an incredibly short attention span. Nor does it use its status to tell a joke that's ever anything other than a reference or a vulgarity that's aimed at the youngest in its limited crowd, whether that be of body or mind. The piece also tends to throw all semblance of canon or continuity into the wind for the sake of being 'funny and random'. This is all to say that the flaws in the humour break down to the fact that a torrid of references and curse-words can't class as comedy, neither should they be held as more important than a persistent world even if the fourth-wall is consistently considered a suggestion, especially when they lack any of the set-up or payoff typically associated with 'joke' construction. Yet, this picture repeatedly falls into this trap while hanging a lantern on its every flaw, including the blatant - and not so blatant - lazy-writing, which doesn't excuse the issues so much as shine more light on them. It also only subverts things in the most expected of ways and doesn't even have the balls to stick to its decisions. It never surprised me even in its most 'surprising' of moments, with heavy build-up heading in the most 'obvious' direction making the twists - either of plot or, more usually, individual scenes - incredibly easily to see coming. This telegraphing is understandable to an extent, as it is often meant to make the typically humorous reveals even more so, but it ultimately ruins the effect of the scenes and becomes grating after a while, essentially being a repeated gag - which this flick additionally has no shortage of. Those who know the character will expect everything he says and does, despite inconsistent characterisation, and those who don't won't understand most of the referential humour that this 'subversion' plays to anyway. The overall movie is very messy and unfocused, barely about anything until it suddenly is and, for all the hype surrounding its admittedly somewhat charismatic and 'cool' villain, it's still victim to the 'bad-guy problem'. All the best moments were in the trailer, for sure, including several alternate ad-libbed lines and a few set-pieces committed to montage in the final result, but there are moments where our central character, and those behind the scenes not related to anything visual, shut up and get out of their own way to allow for some decently enjoyable action sequences. It's when leaning into the anti-hero's anti-death abilities that the picture finds its purchase, with some inventively painful moments playing with a forced elasticity and a new level of bodily harm. Though some of these moments dip a little deep into the CG budget and, as mentioned, the most tangible are reduced to blink-and-you'll-miss-it montage segments, the clashes with Cable and a late second-act chase are rather thrilling. Domino's character is the best in the entire film, even if she is a walking contrivance by design, and I thought her performance was the most enjoyable as well. The finale becomes a little over-wrought, though, despite some entertaining moments, and the ending is an elongated sour note, to say the least. However, there are some nice moments buried beneath its outer layer and it isn't totally tone-deaf. On the whole, this piece is certainly not as good as its predecessor. Even that film doesn't have too much re-watch value, though it remains an enjoyable watch for what it is, so I can't imagine what this will be like on a second go. There are entertaining moments but much of the flick is kind of bland and most of it just isn't funny. The piece is basic, too, despite all the praise it is getting for being a subversive 'antidote'. It takes from other films and amalgamates them in an almost check-list fashion, in a similar way to Deadpool's own rattle-off references, and while it isn't anywhere near as bad as it could've been, it simply isn't anywhere near as good as it should've been, either. 6/10