There was no shortage of superheroes on the big screen in 2018.
Black Panther killed it in February and Avengers: Infinity War killed just about everyone in April. Incredibles 2 reacquainted audiences with their favorite big screen super family in June, and Ant-Man & The Wasp reminded everyone that not all MCU flicks would crush their souls. In October, Venom disappointed critics but filled seats regardless. Finally, in December Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse introduced audiences to more versions of Spider-Man than the Maguire and Garfield films combined, and soon afterward Aquaman proved that DC’s favorite Fish Man could make money.
In a year crowded with super-people, no one outshone the hilarious, bloody, and emotionally powerful Deadpool 2. Ryan Reynolds reprised his role as the Merc with a Mouth — and as promised in the Ferris-Bueller-inspired post-credits scene in 2016’s Deadpool, he brought friends. We got Cable (Josh Brolin), Domino (Zazie Beetz), and the first big-screen iteration of X-Force.
With an R rating and a killer soundtrack, Deadpool 2 was able to go places other superhero movies couldn’t. It was a brilliant blend of unforgiving carnage, dark comedy, and drama. It had an amazing soundtrack, high stakes, featured what was possibly the greatest movie death scene ever, and was so freaking good it actually managed to partly redeem three horrible superhero films from recent years.
For those reasons and more, here’s why Deadpool 2 was the best superhero movie of 2018.
A perfect mixture
When you think of Deadpool 2, the first things that likely come to mind are the merciless humor, the unapologetic bloodiness, and of course the wonderful moments when the violence and the humor meet: Juggernaut tearing DP in half and effecting the bizarre teeny-legs version of Deadpool, the Merc with a Mouth trying his very first one-knee “superhero landing” and discovering it’s not all it’s cracked up to be, and who could forget how X-Force’s mostly doomed lineup learned it’s a bad idea to skydive during high wind advisories?
Where Deadpool 2 truly proved itself superior to not only to its own predecessor, but to every other superhero movie in 2018, was a story of surprising emotion. We didn’t need any more proof that Ryan Reynolds knows how to be funny, but the death of Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) and its aftermath proved Reynolds’ acting chops. Everything about Wade Wilson’s agony felt genuine, as did his brief time as an X-Men “trainee.” One particularly brilliant moment in Deadpool 2 arrives when, after catching up to Vanessa’s killer Sergei (Thayr Harris), Wade embraces him; fooling us for just a hair of a second that Wilson is going to spare him. Then Deadpool steps into traffic with Sergei still clung to him, killing Sergei and making his first in a series of futile attempts at guilt-ridden suicide. It’s the most humorless moment in the film, and maybe the most perfect.
Real superheroes are rated R
Obviously, Deadpool isn’t the only superhero on the big screen who’s willing to get his hands dirtier than Captain America or Batman. His rival Wolverine’s never been shy about bloodletting; he’s just too busy growling incoherently to tell jokes while he does it. And of course 2018 brought sometimes villain, sometimes anti-hero Venom to the world of big-screen superheroes. And he arrived… PG-13.
Really? Venom… eats people. Literally.
Deadpool kills people. Venom kills people. Deadpool kills people with guns and knives and bagel spreaders. Venom eats people. For killing people in horrible ways with weapons like a sane person, Deadpool is rated R. And Venom — starring a cannibal from outer space — is PG-13? Being an ultraviolent superhero is considered safe enough for the viewing of 13-year-olds, as long as the violent superhero in question doesn’t leave anything on his plate?
Forget sales and forget reviews. In the question of Deadpool 2 vs. Venom, the winner is clearly Deadpool 2, if for no other reason than its filmmakers didn’t just turn the camera every time Deadpool killed someone just to keep things kid-friendly.
Well. Not until they did Once Upon A Deadpool, but that’s a whole other kettle of dismembered fingers.
(Excerpt) Read More at: Looper.com