Deadpool 2 (dir. David Leitch)

If the general rule of "the difficult second album" fails to apply to any brand of cinematic offering, it’s the barrage of helpings from the studio giants Marvel. Stick the Marvel logo on it, with a motor-mouth central hero for good measure and you’ve got another hit. If all of this sounds to formulaic to consistently work, just look at the box office takings in recent years for the supposed cursed second entry: Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America 2: Winter Soldier to X-Men 2, the list goes on- not only increasing box office taking’s, but going along way into spanking that movie myth into the stratosphere

It’s good news that nothing is changed here than. In the case of Deadpool - which set the way for other R-rated comic book movies of the same ilk - there always been an undercurrent streak of a irreverence about the whole thing, but it’s never less than entertaining to watch. After flying into cinemas two years ago lead star and co-producer Ryan Reynolds subverted the comic book genre and delivered us a helping of self-aware comic book heaven, which conveniently felt as original and as nuanced as anything we'd seen before. An audience's loved it, too: a $100 million opening weekend is evidence of this, against a modest-looking $60 million budget. It's mammoth success was down to numerous facets: for one, a marketing campaign which still to this day should have won awards for originality, but more importantly it's taciturn approach to comedy- "Deadpool" felt like a cheeky antidote to the seemingly never ending production lined Marvel fair, that was all too concerned with taking itself far too seriously, and less interested in doing something inflammatory.

After Hugh Jackman and co. followed suit with their R-rated helping "Logan", it's become adamant that comic-book fans don't always want to play it safe - and they can handle a tougher edge. Few things were as inevitable than a sequel for the spandex wearing superhero, even if two years have past since it's first outing, and audiences are much different, there's absolutely no doubt that David Leitch (John Wick 1, 2) Deadpool sequel will wittily ride it's coattails to the top of the American box-office, and you know what, it deserves it, too.

Let’s get down to the brass tax. I’m not going to do Ryan Reynolds and his director a disservice here by giving away too much of the plot, as this would be churlish, and despite the indignity of some internet trolls, spoilers are much more fun when generated naturally. Suffice to say, Wade/Deadpool (Reynolds) begins his second outing here straddling twelve cans of gasoline, with a lit-cigarette in his left hand. Things haven't gone well for our caped-crusader, despite a effervescent opening sequence detailing his daily ass-whoopings across town, disaster has struck his personal life. Through a complicated series of events, Wade is thrusted into the companionship of a young mutant Russell (Julian Dennison), currently the ward of a criminal mutant rehabilitation center, run by the nefarious headmaster Eddie Marsan. Before long, they begrudgingly become pals, even more so when time-traveling mercenary Cable (Josh Brolin) catapults from the future- and is seemingly hellbent on changing the course of history, and he needs the boy for collateral. (Hmm, Terminator Joke, anyone)

But Deadpool isn't going to take it to our robot-looking villain - at least not on his own. So after orchestrating a hilariously pitched "casting call", Pool and fellow scoundrel Weasel (TJ Miller) collate a rag-tag group of mutants (some of which make-up hilarious A-list cameos) from Terry Crews' Bedlam, to Bill Skarsgård's Zeitgeist - and badass warrior fighter Zadie Beetz as Domino - becoming the de-facto, "X-Force". "Isn't that a little derivative" denotes Domino. Of course it is, though everything in Deadpool 2 has a smug irony about proceedings, and your ability to enjoy the ramshackle nature of the fourth-wall breaks and smutty innuendos are a testament to your mood and your adoration for the source material.

Although under the tutelage of the John Wick director Leitch, Reynolds co-producing credit is the name that really sticks out here. The Canadian born actor has been hit and miss for years, with his first comic-book outing as Deadpool in X-Men Origins still getting plagued to this day. Shortly followed were "The Green Lantern" and others, before he found a second wind here - and we are all the better for it. Admittedly, Reynold is only really interested in the broad comedy -and if you judge Deadpool 2 on the laughs, it notches itself easily into double figures. Take the opening titles for example, a riff on the James Bond title cards- a hilarious mishmash of sub-007 gun stances and even funnier monikers (my favourite being, “cinematography by Blind Al”. And it's consistent, too. Along the way, the usual R-rated rudeness makes up for some of the hokey CGI-fight sequences, which you feel are there to keep those without a sense of humor happy.

Even if at times it becomes reminiscent of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3 at certain intervals, especially given it's volume of villains and the sheer amount of money thrown at the screen, only a cynic would call Deadpool 2 anything less than a hoot from start to finish, and with the X-Force continent coming to full flow now, it's anyones guess where the story will pick up in the future. But you can guarantee their will be hoards of fans in the audience, and one English critic in the front guffawing raucously.

Rating 3/5.