X-Men’s unlikeliest hero serves up more of the same, just louder.

In the movie business, as in life, it pays to be persistent. Quite frankly, if it weren’t for a little perseverance, I doubt any film would ever make it to a cinema screen. There’s just something so fundamentally insane with the filmmaking process that, to get anything made, tenacity is a must, and no one appears better placed to appreciate this than Ryan Reynolds.

It’s been little under a decade since X-Men Origins: Wolverine and that woeful first attempt at bringing Deadpool to the life. You only ever get one chance to make a first impression and that ill-informed initial interpretation of the beloved character would ultimately tarnish people’s opinions on him for years to come. Yet, Reynolds’s one-man mission to not only atone for the mistake, but to take Deadpool onto a whole new level is both commendable and as foolhardy as the mutant’s approach to heroism.

While all looked lost for the ‘Merc with a Mouth’ at first, cut to seven years, a suspiciously well-timed test footage leak, and $783 million in box office receipts later and we had ourselves both the unlikeliest of new poster boys for the X-Men franchise and full vindication for Reynolds’s bull-headed refusal to let Deadpool lay down and die.

However, as with any sequel to a bona fide smash hit, the biggest question left lingering around Deadpool 2 like a fart caught in a skin-tight superhero suit, is whether or not it can recapture the magic that made the original such an unexpected success.

Two years on from gaining revenge on those who brutally gave him mutant abilities, Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) has become a fully-fledged mercenary, ruthlessly taking out criminals across the world under the moniker Deadpool. After an attempt to assassinate the head of a New York drug cartel backfires tragically, Wade must set out on a journey of self-discovery the only way he knows how. As his quest brings him into conflict with acquaintances old and new, Wade finds himself embroiled in a fight for survival not just for himself, but for a young mutant whose highly combustible personality holds potentially catastrophic consequences.

So, who on Earth thought we’d be at a point where the weight of an entire franchise rested on the shoulders of a mutant that looked out for the count just a few years ago? With Hugh Jackman hanging up his claws for good, the poor reception of X-Men: Apocalypse killing many fans’ excitement, and Disney’s purchase of Fox looming menacingly on the horizon; it feels both faintly ridiculous and utterly appropriate that we’ve reached a place where Deadpool is left as the last mutant standing.

As the most bankable star in Fox’s dwindling X-Men universe, Deadpool’s rise to the top was a true Hollywood underdog story that managed to catch everyone (except maybe Ryan Reynolds himself) by surprise. Feeling like the kind of foul-mouthed lightening in a bottle rarely seen these days, it was always going to be nigh on impossible for the sequel to live up to such lofty expectations.

For any sequel coming fresh off the back of such an incredible triumph, the biggest question will always be whether to stick or twist on your winning formula and, for better or worse, Deadpool 2 plays things relatively safe. Considering what’s at stake, Reynolds and company can hardly be blamed for sticking to such a successful formula, yet the stale air of familiarity that finds itself creeping into the film often holds it back from truly surpassing its predecessor.

With this in mind, expectations will need to be checked at the concessions stand on your way into the cinema, as there’s little to be gained in approaching this sequel anticipating anything wildly different to the first film. Essentially, if you failed to jive with Deadpool’s particular brand of fourth wall-breaking, meta-referencing, gleefully crass humour, you’ll probably want to keep jogging, because that’s exactly what you’re getting again.

Everything is just how we left it, only now with the volume cranked up full blast and, while there’s certainly an air of diminishing returns from the repetitive humour, the unerring conviction of it all manages to carry the movie an awful long way. From Ryan Reynolds to director David Leitch, everyone involved knows precisely who Deadpool is and what the character’s function is within popular culture right now, and the confidence in the film’s execution is positively infectious.

The big question with the humour, as with everything else in Deadpool 2, however, is just how far the film can stay afloat treading the same water. On more than one occasion, Deadpool 2 treads perilously close to the edge as it recycles and rejigs numerous gags from its predecessor, with Reynolds seemingly making it his mission to see just how far that elastic band can be pulled before snaps back and hits him in the face.

This level of comedy regurgitation is so often a sequel killer and there are many moments when Deadpool 2 threatens to disintegrate entirely because of it, yet the favourable hit rate of the gags and the irresistible charm of their delivery is enough to pull the film back from the edge. In many ways, Deadpool and his humour feel like that irritating kid you hung out with at school because no one else would; incessant and needy, yet irresistibly lovable because of it.

Like the first film, this is where Ryan Reynolds comes into his own and where, given your tolerance to the star’s unique comedy stylings, your interest in Deadpool 2 will live or die. Without a doubt, Reynolds was born to play Wade Wilson and it’s in his all-encompassing embodiment of the character, together with the actor’s natural charisma, that the film is able to pull itself through even the stickiest of patches.

As one might expect, Deadpool 2 is every inch the Ryan Reynolds show and, despite the influx of shiny new characters for us to enjoy, the film leans very heavily on its star. While this may feel perfectly natural considering its his name front and centre on the poster, the myopic focus often overshadows everything and everyone around him. There’s an awful lot to enjoy in Deadpool’s relentless attention-grabbing shenanigans, yet it comes at the expense of the film’s talented supporting cast.

Reaching deep into that extensive squad of X-Men characters in order to pair Deadpool with new mutants of varying degrees of notoriety and idiosyncrasy feels like a perfectly natural progression for the character, yet the overbearing power of Reynolds’s personality leaves these team ups somewhat wanting. Classic X-Men characters like Cable and Domino are excellent addictions to the franchise and the perfect foils for Deadpool’s boisterous personality, yet their true potential never feels fully realised.

Zazie Beetz and Josh Brolin click superbly with respective roles, fully embodying two popular mutants scandalously ignored thus far in Fox’s X-Men franchise, yet neither feel fully formed as characters. We’re drip-fed fragmented character moments for both, yet nothing particularly significant and this severe lack of development feels rather disappointing, especially considering just how key Cable’s backstory is to the entire plot.

Still, both Beetz and Brolin are clearly having a blast as they put everything into the roles and there’s certainly stacks of fun to be had from seeing their cool-as-ice characters butt heads with Deadpool’s hyperactive personality over the course of the film. Let’s just hope they’re shown a little bit more love with future Deadpool instalments and/or that X-Force film we’ve been promised.

Elsewhere, it’s great to see some of the more eccentric characters from the extended X-Men universe get their day in the sun. Whether it’s the oddball collection of mutants in Deadpool’s proto X-Force, our re-acquaintance with Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead, or the introduction of Julian Dennison’s volatile Firefist; their inclusion here feels like a particularly satisfying and innovative way to fold Deadpool into the wider X-Men world.

After the relative isolation in the first film, Deadpool 2 gleefully scoops up as much from the wider X-Men canon as it possibly can and it’s this opening up of the lore that’ll be the biggest treat for fans. There’s something wholly satisfying in seeing Deadpool embrace his connections to the wider X-Men franchise, while simultaneously giving it a good roasting, and it’s in this patented brand of self-aware meta-humour that the sequel’s greatest success resides.

While few will approach Deadpool 2 expecting much in the way of narrative innovation, this fails to excuse just how flimsy its plot is. With structure and continuity that could be charitably described as loose, we’re offered up a Terminator-light narrative that, while entertaining, never really engages. Although world-ending stakes have never been Deadpool’s bag, the low-key, throwaway nature of the plot means the film never really kicks into top gear.

On the face of it, everything about Deadpool 2 feels suitably scaled up from its predecessor, yet, remove all the trimmings and you have something very familiar in scope and tone to what went before. For better or worse, Deadpool 2 lifts great chunks directly from the first film and, while many aspects don’t quite hit the same level as before, there’s one thing that feels like a genuine step up - heart.

The way Deadpool effortlessly anchored all its excessive blood, guts, and profanity with a surprisingly affective emotional hook was a remarkable feat and Deadpool 2 doubles-down on this by diving face-first into Wade Wilson’s fragile mental state and the fractured condition of his various personal and…umm…professional relationships. Once again at this core is the remarkably sweet relationship between Wade and Morena Baccarin’s Vanessa, as we delve even deeper into their connection and the surprisingly touching motivations behind Deadpool’s somewhat misguided actions.

Few would believe you could inject such emotion into a character so wilfully irreverent, yet Deadpool 2 goes out of its way to show that, beneath all the brash humour and violence is a mentally and physically scarred, all-but immortal mutant that, in spite of appearances, clearly longs to find a purpose in life. This is where Cable, Domino, and Rusty/Firefist come in, as they each play their part in driving Wade’s character arc forward and ensuring we’re always invested in a character that could easily become lost in a tidal wave of blood and narcissism.

Ably supplementing this emotional backbone is action that gleefully cranks things up a notch from the first film. Considering Deadpool 2 is helmed by David Leitch, the man who brought us John Wick and Atomic Blonde, the step up in action is wholly unsurprising and, while the set pieces don’t quite hit the kinetic qualities of either of his previous films, the ride is incredibly enjoyably nonetheless.

It’s clear that budget has been upped significantly, yet the money has clearly been spent well, with action that appears appropriately bulkier than before, while never once feeling bloated. Whether it’s a frenetic, blood-soaked opening montage, a superbly orchestrated freeway fight, or a brutal prison set-to between Deadpool and Cable; Leitch digs deep into his vast experience as a stunt coordinator and second unit director to offer up more than enough enjoyable action beats to atone for the sequel’s faults.

Exactly where you land on Deadpool 2 will rely heavily on your ultimate reception to the first film. If you failed to click with Deadpool, there’s little chance for you here I’m afraid, as we’re served up large helpings of everything the first movie gave us, just louder. The jokes are certainly wearing a bit thin by this point and the plot feels fundamentally lacking, yet the addition of brand new characters, the scaled up action, and the determination to never lose sight of its heart mean we have a sequel that’s able to go toe-to-toe with its predecessor without ever threatening to surpass it. With Disney’s purchase of Fox now firmly on the horizon and this particular X-Men rendering clearly winding down, it feels both comforting and oddly exhilarating that Deadpool is not only the last mutant standing, but the one hero left able and willing to drag whatever’s left of the franchise’s corpse into a bold new future back home at Marvel.