Better still, the jokes extend beyond the insulated world of superheroes. There are historical references, allusions to current events and surprising moments of absurd humor that make it seem as though screenwriters Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick and Ryan Reynolds were riffing off each other. The movie has a free-flowing feeling to it, as though it were being made up on the spot, except that it moves quickly, like something that has been planned well and trimmed to the essentials.
The new “Deadpool” takes a page from the X-Men series. Russell (Julian Dennison) is a teenage mutant, in a school for mutants, who freaks out under the stern hand of the schoolmaster and starts throwing fireballs everywhere. That’s his special power, being able to fling destruction. Meanwhile, an all-powerful, time-traveling mutant named Cable (Josh Brolin) has arrived to kill the young mutant.
For some reason, Deadpool, who has never really cared about anybody but his girlfriend (Morena Baccarin), takes a sympathetic interest in the young man, despite the kid being a pretty nasty character. He decides that he wants to protect young Russell, and to that end he sets out to assemble a crack team of superheroes — except this is a “Deadpool” movie, so the superheroes aren’t all that super or heroic.
In the original movie, Deadpool was obnoxious, crueler and more mentally ill than arch, but “Deadpool 2” smooths out some of his rough edges. Director David Leitch introduces a lighter tone, and the story completes the effect. This time Deadpool is an underdog, fighting a force greater than himself, in order to protect someone who maybe deserves it and maybe doesn’t. It’ll be interesting to see how the admirers of the first movie react to this switch.
Despite the fast pace, there are stretches in the movie’s hour that drag in terms of interest. But “Deadpool 2” gets better as it goes along. It introduces a winning new character, Domino (Zazie Beetz), whose superpower is being lucky, thus making a virtue out of any unlikely good thing that might happen to her. Best of all, there’s the parachuting sequence, in which Deadpool takes his new superhero team out on a test run — with hilarious results.
MOVIE REVIEW
“Deadpool 2”
Grade: B
Starring Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin and Morena Baccarin. Directed by David Leitch.
Rated R for strong violence and language throughout, sexual references and brief drug material. Check listings for theaters. 1 hour, 59 minutes.
Bottom line: Less violent and funnier than the original
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