Deadpool 2 (R)
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Caution: spoilers.
This is the sequel to Deadpool. It came out in May 2018, but I didn't see it until 2024, on opening weekend of "Deadpool & Wolverine". On December 24, 2018, a PG-13 edit of the film called "Once Upon a Deadpool" was released. I haven't seen that version, but I'd like to. As usual, there's a ton of fourth wall-breaking, and I found the sequel just as funny as the first movie. And of course the music choices are perfect.
So, Deadpool spends a lot of time killing bad guys. Then on his anniversary with Vanessa, some buy guys show up at their place to kill Deadpool. They fail, but one of them ends up killing Vanessa. Deadpool later tries to kill himself, as he blames himself for Vanessa's death, but of course his attempt fails (even though he was blown to pieces). Colossus then takes Deadpool to the X-Men's mansion to recover. He recruits Deadpool as an X-Men trainee, and he's briefly reunited with Negasonic Teenage Warhead as well as her girlfriend Yukio. (Both of whom I think were underused in the film, but I did enjoy the minor recurring theme of Deadpool and Yuko just liking each other.) Colossus later takes Deadpool to stop a rampaging mutant kid named Russell, who calls himself Firefist. After Deadpool calms him down, the authorities put a power-suppressing collar on Russell, who tells Deadpool that he was abused by the people who run the mutant rehabilitation center/orphanage where he lived. So Deadpool kills one of the abusers, but Colossus stops him from killing the other one, and both Deadpool and Russell are sent to a prison for mutants called the Ice Box.
A cybernetic soldier from the future named Cable (Josh Brolin) travels back in time to kill Russell, who we will later learn that as an adult had killed Cable's wife and daughter. (I guess at first we're meant to think he wants to kill Deadpool, but I guessed right away that he was actually after Russell.) Deadpool tries to protect Russell, who ends up befriending another prisoner, Juggernaut. During Deadpool and Cable's fight, they break free of the prison and Deadpool's power-suppressing collar is removed. He soon goes back home, and makes plans to free Russell during a prisoner transfer convoy. To do this he assembles a team of mutants (and one non-mutant) to help him. He calls the team "X-Force". (Dopinder wants to join, but Deadpool doesn't let him.) But only one of the mutants, Domino (Zazie Beetz), survives long enough to take part in the effort to stop Cable from killing Russell on the convoy. (She survives because she is lucky, which is her super power, but she's also a badass.) However, Juggernaut protects Russell from both Cable and Deadpool. He also agrees to help Russell kill the headmaster of the orphanage. So Deadpool and Domino reluctantly team up with Cable to stop Russell, but Deadpool makes Cable give him a chance to deter Russell from killing the headmaster, thereby preventing him from starting down the path that leads to his murdering Cable's family. Deadpool is eventually helped by Colossus, who fights Juggernaut while Deadpool talks to Russell.
And I guess I don't want to go into any more detail about how the movie ends, except to say that Deadpool is ultimately successful in stopping Russell from becoming a killer. And there's a mid-credits scene that's pretty important, so be sure not to skip that.
Um... so, yeah, it's a pretty funny and badass movie, with some real drama as well. I wish I could do the film justice in my review, but I just can't. There were so many little things (like Deadpool calling Yukio Pinkie Pie) that I enjoyed, and now (less than a day after watching the movie) I can't remember all of them. But at least I remember those things collectively bumping my rating up from "quite liked" to "kinda loved".
Followed by "Deadpool & Wolverine", which is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, rather than Fox's X-Men franchise.