“You’re so dark. Are you sure you’re not from the DC universe?”

Justin’s rating: Worth the price of admission to see Shatterstar shredded

Justin’s review: As a kid growing up in the ’90s, I was one of many who fell prey to thinking that Rob Liefeld’s X-Force was THE COOLEST THING ON THE PLANET. I mean, the double swords! Previously unknown muscle groups! Pouches everywhere! Who cares if he didn’t know how to draw feet, dimensions, or relatable characters — this was X-Men for the next generation.

We were, obviously, all morons, Liefeld included.

Having worked through years of shame for my previous adoration of the X-Force run, I found it both highly cathartic and deeply hilarious that Deadpool 2 aimed its snarky, obscure pop culture cannon right at this and hit “fire.” It both destroyed X-Force — literally, in the case of a few particular characters — and made it cool again, and I have no response better than to stand up and give a firm slow clap to the filmmakers.

But before we get to talking about X-Force, we got to back up and cover a whole bunch of developments in the world of the Merc with the Mouth. Let’s see. His life as a contract killer of bad guys ends in the death of his fiancé, he tries (unsuccessfully) to kill himself, botches a turn as a member of X-Men, ends up in prison, and makes an unwanted friend in the form of an overweight teenage New Zealand firestarter.

If things weren’t interesting enough, an unstoppable killer from the future is coming back to take this kid out. Yeah, it’s The Terminator, but here’s the twist — perhaps the kid deserves it.

Our future guy is Cable, which brings us back full circle to X-Force, as in the comics he was the leader of that overdrawn crew. Here, his human half is played by Josh Brolin, who was just as made for this role as Ryan Reynolds was for Deadpool. They’re enemies, then they’re allies, and it’s terrific either way you have it.

They’re also joined by Domino (Zazie Beetz), an extremely likable soul who’s got the questionable super power of being “extra lucky.” In my opinion, Domino steals most scenes that she’s in and becomes the MVP of this outing.

Like the first movie, Deadpool 2 throws hundreds of jokes, meta references, absurd fight sequences, and crazy ideas at the camera in the hopes that a majority will stick. A lot of it does. While the first film was (nominally) a love story, the sequel is (nominally) an essay about family. At the very least, Deadpool grabs on to this idea of becoming a father figure, a leader, and a teammate. Sure he does all of these things as poorly as you’d expect, but he’s trying. Cut him some slack.

It’s a little messier than the first film, but I kind of liked it just as much. If nothing else, it’s an antidote to over-serious superhero flicks that have plagued this genre. More, please.

Didja notice?

• The music box referencing Logan’s death
• A superhero with crocs is just plain wrong
• I approve of Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5” as an opening theme song
• “Remember that movie Interview with the Vampire?” “I don’t want to.” HA.
• “A film by WAIT A MINUTE” “Produced by DID YOU JUST KILL HER?”
• Wade taking Professor X’s wheelchair on a joyride through the mansion — and the X-Men closing the door on him
• Deadpool’s X-Men jersey got a big laugh
• He stole that from RoboCop!
• Superhero landings are so painful on the knees
• “TRAINEE!”
• Oh my, a Sharknado and Cool Runnings reference
• “What’s your super power?” “…courage.” “That’s adorable.”
• Shatterstar! Domino!
• Peter is delightful
• “No need for the 3rd act” on the plan map
• Shatterstar’s long hair proving to be his downfall was a genuine LOL
• Brad Pitt!
• Well, X-Force had a bad start
• Stan Lee graffiti
• “Probably a guy who can’t draw feet!” Nice Rob Liefeld dig.
• Every superhero movie needs an Enya break
• Domino sidling out of frame
• Every time Deadpool whispers “X-FORCE!”
• Full Winnie the Pooing it.
• That’s totally a fanny pack
• And now a Say Anything moment. Beautiful.
• The choir singing when Juggernaut attacks
• The longest death scene ever. Just never ends.
• About time someone time traveled to X-Men Wolverine and took care of business