Deadpool 2 (2018) ***1/2

So I saw the trailer for the "Deadpool" sequel, which seemed to be about him rescuing a child in danger, and they had that quote from Deadpool's girlfriend, “Children are a chance to be better.” Honestly, I threw up in my mouth a little. I figured the movie was going to be a sentimental turd. Fortunately, I was wrong!

Early in the film, Deadpool's (Ryan Reynolds) girlfriend Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) gets killed by vengeful gangsters, sending Deadpool into a suicidal depression. Problem is, Deadpool can't really kill himself. Whatever genetic changes happened to him, the guy is basically like a starfish now, able to regenerate after any injury. So Colossus, from the X-Men, nurses him back to physical-if-not-mental health, and invites him along on a mutant-related emergency. A flame-throwing teen named Firefist is having a meltdown, and Deadpool and the gang help rein him in. Both Deadpool and the kid wind up in prison, wearing collars that neutralize their powers and make them sitting ducks for a time-traveling assassin named Cable (Josh Brolin).

So, “Deadpool 2” has a kid in distress, which is a hackneyed story device, but it's way funnier and funner than it has a right to be. It takes the crass, cheeky, self-aware humor of the first “Deadpool” and cranks it up a notch. The movie introduces a new superhero, Domino (Zazie Beetz), whose powers include being really lucky and smokin' hot. We also meet a new villain, Juggernaut. He's a fan fave from the comics, and Deadpool geeks out over him on our behalf when they meet.

The desire for revenge against those who have wronged us is a basic, human emotion. Tons of stories in book, stage, and film have revenge as their theme, some glorifying it and some painting revenge as a dark road that is best not traveled. That “dark road” theme is a tough one to carry off. As an audience, we want revenge as much as the protagonist does, and it's way more satisfying to watch them cut loose and deal out some justice. This idea that once you start killing, it changes you, and it's hard to stop, may be true, but it's abstract, and it takes a good writer to convince us of that. The “Deadpool 2” writers do about as good a job as most. They certainly don't handle it as well as Hamlet, or even "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith",  but they do better than the “The Dark Knight” writers, who never convinced me that Batman shouldn't just finish off the Joker.

In “Deadpool 2,” I would say that the attempts at moralizing bring the film down some, and distract from the humor. Watch the film for the humor and the action, in that order, and don't worry to much about the philosophical themes. Viewed on its own terms, this sequel is a ton of fun, and possibly better than the original.

3.5 stars out of 5