2018 was a year of Superheroes movies.  Avengers: Infinity War, Black Panther, and Ant-Man and the Wasp were all released by Marvel Studios, and they received fairly good reviews. However, the studio’s rival, Fox Studios, had one more movie up their sleeve. A movie that many were anticipating Deadpool 2.

Before watching the movie, I decided to watch the first one, so I could refresh my memory and know exactly where the last one left off. After spending a whole night watching both movies, one after the other, I came to my conclusion for this review. But I wouldn’t want to spoil the review right off the bat. Instead, I am going to do it at the end, because what’s a review without a story analysis, right?

The story begins with Wade Wilson (Deadpool) being a world class mercenary. He goes around the world, taking contracts and taking names. After everything he had done in the first movie, he finally gets back the girl he loved, and they live happily ever after. Well, that is until a gang of people sent by a contract he failed to kill bursts into his home and kills the love of his life. Now distraught with himself over the loss of Vanessa, Wade tries to cope the only way he can: by killing himself. During one unsuccessful attempt, he sees a vision of Vanessa in the afterlife, and she tells him he can’t join her because his heart wasn’t in the right place. After being sent back to the living world, Wade tries to find a new purpose in life and wants to be a part of a family again. He finds a boy named Russell, who possesses the mutant abilities of making fire out of his fists, and after being sent to a mutant prison that is attacked by the cyborg from the future, Cable, Deadpool believes that protecting Russell is his purpose, and the two begin a journey to become a family.

Just like how the first Deadpool movie was a “romance movie,” the sequel is a “family movie.” The movie is very similar to its predecessor, but with a few exceptions, it doesn’t repeat jokes and stills seems rather fresh. Along with that, the additions of Josh Brolin as Cable and Zazie Beetz as Domino provide some needed chemistry that seemed rather absent in the first movie. They play off each other very well, and they seemed to be having fun during the filming process. Another thing that I liked about this movie were the constant nods and references that Deadpool is known for, given his fourth wall breaking antics in the comics. From the DC Universe callout, to even referencing Josh Brolin being in the Goonies (Deadpool calling Cable One-Eyed Willy), Deadpool 2 knows what it is. It’s aware of itself. It’s a movie, and it’s a fun movie at that. But how does it compare to the first one?

In my opinion, Deadpool 2 is about the same level of quality as the first one. I loved the first one, and the second one, though it did some very good things, is just about the same. I love them both equally in a way. I would recommend watching both because they both have an element, or at least something that resonates to you, whether it be looking for love like the first one was about, or even trying to build a family like the second one. All in all, Deadpool 2 is a great superhero movie that treads the line between a superhero movie and an R–rated experience. Though the jokes are toned down, it still made me laugh throughout the whole movie.

4 out of 5 spurs.