Despite the charm of Reynolds’ perfectly-cast Deadpool, a good post-credits scene, baby legs, and Peter, Deadpool 2 is a disappointment of a sequel – filled with plot/tonal-inconsistencies, a bizarre start, undercooked antiheroes led by a wasted-Brolin’s Cable, hackneyed superteam creation that takes focus off Deadpool, weird visual filters, and teen angst-y villain. 3/10.

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Plot Synopsis: Wisecracking mercenary Deadpool meets Russell, an angry teenage mutant who lives at an orphanage. When Russell becomes the target of Cable — a genetically enhanced soldier from the future — Deadpool realizes that he’ll need some help saving the boy from such a superior enemy. He soon joins forces with Bedlam, Shatterstar, Domino and other powerful mutants to protect young Russell from Cable and his advanced weaponry.

*Possible spoilers ahead*

Review: Deadpool 1 was a triumph of artistic vision over studio interference. Although Deadpool (1991) is a character ripoff of DC’s Deathstroke (1980.. Slade Wilson vs. Wade Wilson, I mean c’mon Marvel.. at least try to hide it), the movie was fantastic and started a new era of possibilities for the superhero movie genre after years of begging Fox to green-light it, showing that R-Rated ones could be smash hits. DP2 is here – and while still refreshing to see, this one has tons of problems. Despite the charm of Reynolds’ perfectly-cast Deadpool, a good post-credits scene, baby legs, and Peter, Deadpool 2 is a disappointment of a sequel – filled with plot/tonal-inconsistencies, a bizarre start, undercooked antiheroes led by a wasted-Brolin’s Cable, hackneyed superteam creation that takes focus off Deadpool, weird visual filters, and teen angst-y villain. 3.7/10.

First, the new characters it brings to the screen. Josh Brolin’s Cable is a good addition to the mix, and even compared to his earlier role this year as another villain Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, does much better here and blows away the entirely forgettable villain from Deadpool 1. He is intimidating, well-designed, not purple shaq-y, and adds a cool sci-fi dimension and villain arc to Deadpool with phenomenally executed fight and action scenes like the Prison Break Introduction and Chase through the city after Russell that does the comic and lore of him right and packs a punch. Zazie Beetz’s Domino is ftantastic, a wildcard addition that shows that luck is actually a really cool and overpowered superpower that is well-translated to the big screen after The Flash TV Show first showed its possibilities with Hazard. Finally, the inclusion of *SPOILER* Juggernaut is an AWESOME Easter Egg that will have any comic fan smiling for how right they got him.

The film also tries new things with plot and delivers some gags that are even funnier than some in the first movie. The baby legs bit, TJ Miller, superhero auditions, Dopinder’s surprising blood lust, and Peter the MVP are hilarious and deliver the laughs. There are also cool meta jokes and references to sequels, pop culture, and even other superheroes in Marvel and DC. Finally, the post-credits scene. While the post-credits scene’s effects create some problems and undo some good things and plot points from the film, it is undeniably hilarious and one of the best post-credits scenes in recent years. Taking and repairing Cable’s time travel device, Deadpool goes back and saves Vanessa, shoots himself before trying to take on Wolverine, and shoots Ryan Reynolds as an actor before he submits his finished script for the flawed Green Lantern movie: a hilarious meta reference that shows actors can laugh at themselves too and it be funny for the audience. Amazing.

Now, the flaws. For one, the tone is kind of dark for a comedy and features some overwhelming hyperviolence with seemingly no purpose in parts. I mean, you kind of know what you’re signing up for in a Deadpool R-rated movie, but that still does not make things like seeing people torn in half, get their heads chopped off by a bookcase, and go through a wood chipper less gruesome. Some of the jokes also miss as it tries too hard in parts with things like beating a dead horse in the BvS martha thing (not one person laughed in the theater and it was kind of a cheap shot), strange Logan references and complaining, cultural insults in haiving a token Asian girl with pink hair and anime mannerisms that is just cringy and borderline-racist, and cancer jokes. Not cool.

Vanessa’s *SPOILER* death is also a truly bizarre plot point and choice for this early in the trilogy and introduction to Deadpool. It sort of lacks any real weight beyond shock value as we’re still getting used to them and had just been introduced for 1 movie before early in DP2 she’s killed by not even a villain but a jocky. It serves as a good plot point for Wade’s character development and arc for the rest of the film, but they should have waited more, and if it really was undone by the post-credits scene, makes the entire film meaningless. The visuals are weirdly-desaturated, antiheroes undercooked, and villain too teen-angsty.

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Overall, Deadpool 2 is a bad sequel. Fox needs to let go of the Marvel properties – The MCU is overrated, but at least don’t have the glaring story problems and inconsistencies of vision and novel-authenticity seen here. Despite the charm of Reynolds’ perfectly-cast Deadpool, a good post-credits scene, baby legs, and Peter, Deadpool 2 is a disappointment of a sequel – filled with plot/tonal-inconsistencies, a bizarre start, undercooked antiheroes led by a wasted-Brolin’s Cable, hackneyed superteam creation that takes focus off Deadpool, weird visual filters, and teen angst-y villain.

Official CLC Score: 3/10