Bigger, better and most importantly- funnier!

Rating: 10/10 (21 May 2018)

After surviving a near fatal bovine attack, a disfigured cafeteria chef (Wade Wilson) struggles to fulfill his dream of becoming Miami's hottest bartender, while also learning to cope with his lost sense of taste. Searching to regain his spice for life, as well as a flux capacitor, Wade must battle ninjas, the yakuza, and a pack of sexually aggressive canines, as he journeys around the world to discover the importance of family, friendship, and flavor - finding a new taste for adventure and earning the coveted coffee mug title of World's Best Lover.
That was the synopsis of Deadpool 2 as released by Twentieth Century Fox. Typically, loony, irreverent and fun as the movie itself.
Deadpool: Fuck Wolverine. First he rides my coattails with the R-rating, and then, that hairy motherfucker ups the ante by dying! What a dick! Well, guess what, Wolvie? I'm dying in this movie.
As it was in 2016, there was Deadpool on one side, and there was everything else from Hollywood on the other side. Wacky R-rated humor paired with obscene violence, and frequent fourth wall breaking paired with a narcissist of an anti-hero, Deadpool set a template that only Deadpool 2 could hope to match up. And match up it did, with oodles of style.
Deadpool: And every good family film starts with a vicious murder - Bambi, The Lion King, Saw VII...
2017 may have been Wolverine's year but 2018 is Deadpool's. And as he points out just before he mourns Wolverine's death in a montage that will send most James Bond themes to shame- this is a family film. The Merc with a Mouth has gone global, diligently killing bad guys, while dreaming of starting a family with Vanessa. But one of his targets escape and kill Vanessa, leading to the unkillable Deadpool becoming suicidal.
Deadpool: George Michael was right, I'm never going to dance again
Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead try to make Deadpool into a X-Man but then shit happens. Machete don't tweet, and Deadpool no X-Man.
Colossus: We have rules. You are not judge, jury or executioner.
Deadpool: Fuck your rules! I fight for what's right, and sometimes you gotta fight dirty.
Deadpool ends up in a prison for mutants where their powers are taken away by a collar strapped on to the neck and waits for his death because with the collar on, his superpower is just unbridled cancer. As he quietly resigns himself to grow some tumors, he finds another reason to live- defending a young mutant (Firefist) destined for bad things from a super soldier from the future- Cable, whose family has been murdered by Firefist. In the future, of course.
Cable: Who are you?
Deadpool: I'm Batman.
And then it begins. Even though Cable in the movie is 5'11 only unlike the comics, Deadpool is badly mauled by him in round 1, and Deadpool assembles a team to take him on. Zietgeist, Bedlam, Shatterstar, Vanisher, Domino and Peter make up X-Force, because-
Deadpool: Thank you, Bedlam. I was always appalled by the blatant sexism in the group's name. X-Men? *Men*? The point is, our group will be forward-thinking. Gender neutral. From now on, we'll be known as... X-Force.
Except for Domino- the mutant with the ability to manipulate luck, none of the other X-Force team members make it beyond 2 minutes of screen time. And soon, the "coolest Marvel character never to be used as of yet in the right way" is unleashed- Juggernaut
Deadpool: It has always been a dream to see my face reflected in your helmet.
Juggernaut: I will rip you into half
Deadpool: That is exactly what Juggernaut will say.
Ripped in half he is, and like in Deadpool, Wade had to slow-grow a hand, this time he has to slow-grow a pair of legs. Soon, my enemy's enemy is my friend mentality takes over, Cable, X-Force and X-Men unite to take down the big bad while also preventing Firefist from becoming a killer. And kudos to the editing team to fast forward the climax just when it seemed it will go all Groundhog Day.
As they say, it is often not the actor finding the role, that the role finds the actor. Ryan Reynolds channelizes all of his rom-com pedigree to sell this chaotic comedy. All the other actors do a great job too, including Josh Brolin as the diametrically opposite Cable, Zazie Beetz as the straight faced Domino, and TJ Miller as the weaselly Weasel. Besides there is a host of blink and you miss celebrity cameos that are worth the price of the ticket- Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Alan Tudyk, the entire X-Men cast, and a thousand pop culture references (my favorite being John Cusack's boombox scene from Say Anything when Deadpool serenades Colossus) that will demand incessant viewings.
Bigger, better and more cohesive that the first, with a funnier script, extended special effects and great characters- Deadpool 2 sets the bar even higher for R-rated action comedies.
I am not saying that Deadpool 2 is the best movie of the year, but it is most definitely the one that you will laugh in the most. As Deadpool says, hope the Academy is watching.