Deadpool 2 is directed by David Leitch and it stars the Merc with a Mouth himself as he tries to protect a mutant kid who is being hunted by Cable, a time travelling mutant who is after him. The movie stars Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Julian Dennison, Zazie Beetz T.J. Miller and Morena Baccarin.

First off the first 15-20 minutes of this movie show just how well Reynolds and the team working on the movie know this character. It’s gory, fun, hilarious and it feels different than your typical summer blockbuster fight scenes, they’re well choreographed. Also that’s not the only reason why those first couple of minutes are so good, the film makes a bold move at the start and I was shocked to see it happen, I was excited to see where the story was headed next. Unfortunately the following consisted of average but funny scenes at least up to when Cable appears which is a bit late. I was starting to get worried about the movie getting boring because it got really predictable. That being said I smiled and laughed consistently throughout the WHOLE movie. However when Cable appears this movie starts going back on track, it’s great till the very end from that moment on. Speaking of the very end, you do not want to miss out on the credits scene this time, it’s pure comedy gold.

The performances are great. Cable is played by Brolin who is killing it as these villain characters. He was great as Thanos he is great as Cable. He is badass, he owns every minute of screen-time he has although it is really hard to compete with the iconic and hilarious portrayal of Deadpool from Reynolds. The other newcomers are Domino who adds a lot of humor and charm to the movie and Firefist who is played by Dennison who oozes charisma and he’s great in the more emotionally demanding scenes as well. The true star and heart of this movie is Reynolds as Wade/Pool. He is Deadpool. Deadpool is him. One of the many reasons why Reynolds’s portrayal is so great is because he understands the character and he has a part to play on and off-screen. Reynolds co-produced, co-wrote and stars as Deadpool in this movie and it shows.

The movie does a great job of balancing tones. While you might think it’s a fun action-packed comedy there are a lot more layers to this movie. It’s surprisingly emotional and dark in some scenes. There is a scene near the end of the movie where I was at the verge of tears, a girl behind me was not fighting at all she actually said “wow” as she too was surprised to find herself crying at this type of movie. In this scene there are many throwbacks to the beginning of the movie and the little details improve on the emotional toll of the scene. Also the relationship between Russel and Wade was touching to see them bond. They have great chemistry and they both have great comedic timing. I was really happy to see that Cable was a different type of character than what I thought he was going to be.

One of my biggest praises to this film is it’s soundtrack, it’s clever and it matches it perfectly. There’s a particular track called “You Can’t Stop This Motherf**ker” and it took me a bit to notice what they were doing with it but when it came to me I couldn’t stop smiling like fool, little details like this can add so much to the personality of a movie. Also having “If I Could Turn Back Time” by Cher in a movie with aspects of time-travelling was brilliant, surprised no one has thought of it. Also while the Céline Dion song “Ashes” was played for laughs, it’s actually a very beautiful song. There is also a cover of “Take on Me” which is heartbreaking and with the scene it’s in, it’s even worse.

Apart from an average second act, Deadpool 2 definitely delivers on every aspect that made the first one a success, in my opinion this is even better than the first one. It will definitely will leave you with a wide smile, in this case your mouth will start hurting from all the laughter. It builds upon the first one’s success, making it a bigger, funnier, bolder and ultimately a better movie.

RATING: A-