Hot Damn!

Rating: 7/10 (9 February 2019)

This was great. In fact, I liked this more than the first one. Deadpool 2 , since it doesn't have to do the whole origin story thing, can focus more on action and, most importantly, characters. That's actually something that makes this film different than it's predecessor: it focuses more on the characters, their struggles, motivations, and arcs. This makes it more than just another action movie.
Ryan Reynolds has continued to prove that he was destined for this role. He absolutely nails it again, but this time, showing more of the merc's emotional side, and allowing him to take a break from making one-liners and have some actual character development. And my, there's a lot of that here.
There are lots of new characters here. My favorite of them has to be Cable, played by the always intimidating Josh Brolin. His character comes in almost out of nowhere and instantly declares himself to be a badass on a mission. And despite the advertising and the first third of the film, he actually isn't the main antagonist. That doesn't mean we don't get cool fight scenes of him against Deadpool. Thank goodness for those. If he's going to be in the upcoming X-force movie, I'll be one happy camper.
Domino, the other new character, is a perfect middle ground between Deadpool's jokiness and cynicism, and Cable's stoicism and seriousness. The most surprising thing about this character is her 'schtick'. She is extremely lucky, meaning very improbably things always turn out in her favor. Props to the makers of this movie for putting in a useful and unique female character, and not a Black Widow clone. I would love to see her again in a future movie.
Overall, this is an R rated superhero movie that stars a trigger-happy Canadian, a grumpy dude with a robot arm, and a very lucky black woman, all the while dealing with themes of loss and family. If you told me this a few years ago, I would have laughed in your face.
We are here and now, ladies and gents.