Can the immortal shock-value contract killer still make you laugh and feel terribly guilty for doing so?

Ryan Reynolds, the spunky, all-Canadian wonderboy who took a fourth-wall breaking Marvel anti-hero from a bizarre side-character in a Wolverine film to his own blockbuster success makes this film worth seeing. If you get off on his snappy one-liners, never ending supply of dick jokes and clever quips to the audience, you’ll be in A-ha-ven, sorry heaven. The comedic timing, sight gags and Reynold’s zany energy overcame the first film’s somewhat bland main villian and overall main plot, it felt like a throwback to gonzo film making – doing it on the cheap but having a shitload of fun doing it and poking fun at the big budget superhero conveyor belt.

Deadpool 2 likes to finish to a different tune. We still have the laugh-a-minute gags, edginess and Ryan Reynolds, but there’s a lot more CGI, more ‘set pieces’ and the overall plot feels like an extra, clumsy third leg, grafted on from Marvel Studios – this extra limb brings more emotion, a larger cast and lots of potential for spin-offs, sequels and ‘franchises’. Enough of ‘third leg’ jokes though, this doesn’t bring down the film overall, but there’s just slight mismatch of tone.

But lets back to the humour. Practically every line is dripping with raunchiness, edginess and whatever dirty jokes they can throw at the screen without getting an 18/R-rated sticker slapped on it. We get slapdowns of Marvel/DC (no one is left unscathed…Hawkeye), fanny-pack shaming, Taylor Swift(!?), plus even Frozen gets burned for its theme’s uncanny resemblance to a Barbera Streisand classic.

Speaking of the music, it plays a larger part here with a bunch of licensed classic tracks, the best being DMX’s fiery anthem ‘X Gon’ Give It To Ya’, plus some South-Park-esque dramatic, yet hilarious vocal harmonies towards the end.

When the scenes aren’t splashing in blood, the action is great, especially one elegantly crafted one where a character gets rather lucky in avoiding immenent death. There’s a lot more thought gone into the set pieces here, and it’s a great improvement on the budget-restricted action of the first film, they may have got a ton more briefcases full of money to make this but they didn’t all splurge it on the white stuff.

Shout-outs have to go to the extended cast, and though they offer more Disney-franchise-dollars, Zazie Beetz holds her own with comic timing, as does breakout March of the Wilderpeople star Julian Dennison, who though well used, should have been on the screen more! Mr Brolin has the unviable task of playing the straight man to Reynolds’ comedian, as Collusus did in the first film, but adds a gristled heart as he channels Terminator 2 Arnie, while much love goes to the criminally underused Rob Delaney (apparently most of his scenes were improv). Keep your eye out for cameos, they’ll fly by in a flash, but they’re gobsmackingly special.

Deadpool 2 is a delicious cocktail of sharp, tangy humour blended with a shit-load of blood and topped off with some standout performance cherries. It’s definitely an acquired taste, and not particularly filling, but once it gets down your throat it’s sure to satisfy.