Deadpool 2 (2018)

Deadpool 2 opens with the exact lazy sequel move it spends the rest of the movie making fun of, and calling yourself out doesn’t count as fixing it. The jokes come faster this time, maybe too fast, like a stand-up set from a guy who’s scared of silence. When they land, they really land. Josh Brolin plays Cable like a grumpy dad sent back in time to cancel your plans, and Zazie Beetz as Domino walks off with the movie, because her power is luck and every action scene she’s in turns into a little chain reaction machine. Julian Dennison gives the story a real kid to care about. David Leitch stages the fights better than the first one did. Then the third act gets loud and samey. A 6.6 because the best bits are hilarious and the rest feels like the first movie on fast forward. $54 says something goes your way this week, you call it a superpower, and someone tells you that’s not very cinematic.

What works: Zazie Beetz’s Domino, Josh Brolin’s grumpy Cable, and a few gags, especially the X-Force tryouts, that are as funny as anything in the first movie.

What doesn’t: It opens with a cheap sequel move it then jokes about, and the jokes come so fast that half of them miss.

Who it’s for: Fans of the first Deadpool who want more of the same, only louder.