'Deadpool 2' review: A scatological dubfest

Full disclosure: I am not a Marvel fan, so this review is primarily about the Hindi version of Deadpool 2, voiced by Ranveer Singh, Bollywood's self-proclaimed resident enfant terrible and raconteur of Bollywood's penchant for bawdy humour.

The plot is no different from any other superhero/Marvel movie: a wrong has been committed, and our eponymous hero, Wade Wilson AKA Deadpool, must right that wrong, even if it means sacrificing himself in some measure in righting it. Along the way, a rag-tag bunch of hot women and unlikely heroes join the crusade, and good triumphs over evil. Been there, done that. Yawn. And Ryan Reynolds, when he is not one of the two guys hanging out with that girl at the pizza place, is probably the least interesting thing about Hollywood right now.

Coming to Ranveer, here's an admission. I have not given him the time of day ever since he broke on the Bollywood scene -- this nobody from nowhere near tinsel town -- but over time, his earnestness won me over, and his comic timing seems to be improving with each movie. And let's admit it, that feral beast of a performance in Padmaavat was spectacular.

The script in Hindi is essentially an AIB roast, a no-holds-barred homage to scatological humour, parts of which work here and there when it isn’t trying too hard. Make no mistake, this is a frat boy’s skit: the kind written to impress fellow frat boys who don’t get much by way of female attention and must make do with titters from the anointed brotherhood for validation. That it had the audience in splits (95% of which was the target audience) makes me weep for humanity.

And Bollywood being Bollywood, the script takes Wade Wilson’s self-referential shtick as far as it can possibly go: gags include flimsy references to Ranveer’s “other”ness in Bollywood, love for the Golmaal franchise (oh, brother), and just about every disgusting joke one can expect on the toilet humour/bodily fluids spectrum in colloquial Hindi.

Let me put it this way: if entertainment is slapstick superhero franchises dubbed in effluvia-laced Indic inanities, there’s no one better in the current climate than Ranveer Singh to lend his voice in support of puerile philosophising about the pubic area.

1 star primarily for two things: an Aadhaar zinger that comes out of left field, and the most skillful placement of an Enya song (had me howling with laughter). And oh, the eerily pretty Morena Baccarin, the movie’s sole saving grace.

Also Read: Varun HK's review of Deadpool 2