MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Marvel's first "Deadpool" movie came out two years ago. Ryan Reynolds starred as a super-violent superhero who could not stop talking to the audience. Our critic Bob Mondello said at the time that the film wasn't like the PG-13 superhero movies that audiences were used to. Bob's exact words were that "Deadpool" was, quote, "an R-rated, potty-mouthed splatterfest but a funny one." Well, let's hear what he has to say about "Deadpool 2."
BOB MONDELLO, BYLINE: "Deadpool 2" is an R-rated, potty-mouthed splatterfest and a funny one.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "DEADPOOL 2")
RYAN REYNOLDS: (As Deadpool) Well, that's just lazy writing.
MONDELLO: Deadpool's right. But the change from but says a lot about where he now fits in the world of comics-inspired films.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "DEADPOOL 2")
JOSH BROLIN: (As Cable) You're no hero. You're just a clown dressed up as a toy.
REYNOLDS: (As Deadpool) So dark - you sure you're not from the DC Universe?
MONDELLO: When the first movie came out, an R-rated superhero was a rarity. That's not as true now. Wolverine aged out of PG-13 last year. Cartoon violence is shading into just plain violence. And Marvel seems to have mandated that there be no big battle in its movies without quips, so this kind of cross-referencing of the thuggish Josh Brolin character here...
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BROLIN: (As Cable) Move, or die.
MONDELLO: ...And the one he plays in "Avengers"...
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REYNOLDS: (As Deadpool) Pump the hate breaks, Thanos.
MONDELLO: ...Is also becoming a thing. It does mean you have to come prepared. It helps to know what the DC Universe is, who Thanos is and, as the "Deadpool" writers throw jokes at the screen to see what sticks, also to have a smattering of general knowledge.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "DEADPOOL 2")
REYNOLDS: (As Deadpool) Sorry I'm late. I was rounding up all the gluten in the world and launching it into space where it can't not hurt us ever again.
MORENA BACCARIN: (As Vanessa) Kiss me like you missed me, Red.
MONDELLO: That's Deadpool's girlfriend who was around in the previous movie mostly to give him someone to rescue. She's back in this one to convince him to rescue a 14-year-old.
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BACCARIN: (As Vanessa) Kids give us a chance to be better than we used to be. He needs you.
MONDELLO: Alas, this kid is so in danger of becoming a super-delinquent that Josh Brolin has come back from the future to terminate him, which means, as in all superhero movies these days, it's super-group time.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "DEADPOOL 2")
REYNOLDS: (As Deadpool) I can't do this alone. We need backup. We're going to form a super-duper-group.
MONDELLO: And that means auditioning groupies with powers that are, shall we say, marginal, like Domino, played by a pretty fabulous Zazie Beetz.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "DEADPOOL 2")
ZAZIE BEETZ: (As Domino) I'm lucky.
REYNOLDS: (As Deadpool) Lucky isn't a superpower.
BEETZ: (As Domino) Yes, it is.
REYNOLDS: (As Deadpool) Let's meet in the middle and say, no, it isn't.
MONDELLO: It is next to what a guy named Peter brings to the group.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "DEADPOOL 2")
REYNOLDS: (As Deadpool) Any power you want to tell us about?
ROB DELANEY: (As Peter) I don't have one. I just saw the ad.
REYNOLDS: (As Deadpool) You're in.
MONDELLO: Director David Leitch, who's listed in the jokey opening credits not by name but as one of the guys who killed the dog in "John Wick," keeps both the action and the fourth wall breaking fairly nonstop.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "DEADPOOL 2")
REYNOLDS: (As Deadpool) Tell me they got that in slow-motion.
MONDELLO: The script he's been handed doesn't have a lot of what would conventionally be called jokes, but there's plenty of snark and attitude to go with the requisite explosions, crashes, showdowns and movie references, everything from "Yentl" to "Frozen" to "Annie" to "Basic Instinct." And as I'm saying that, I'm realizing a lot of woman-centric flicks get namechecked. I suppose that's a good thing since women aren't otherwise very central to "Deadpool 2," which at least means they aren't sliced and diced, the fate of most of the folks who come into contact with our hero and the likely fate of your sensibilities if you come into contact with his movies. I'm Bob Mondello. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
