Rating of
3/4
Cleaned Up but Still the Same Old Deadpool
Chris Kavan - wrote on 12/19/18
Some may say all this PG-13 version of Deadpool 2 is a cash-grab, it's a farce, it's a sly wink at Disney or simply Ryan Reynolds wanting to have some fun. It's all of that and none of it because Once Upon a Deadpool is actually a lot of fun and despite the lack of blood and f-bombs, it's not all that different from Deadpool 2 - just with 100% more Fred Savage.
The whole Savage things comes about when Deadpool kidnaps the actor and tapes him down in a recreation of the Princess Bride bedroom so he can read him the PG-13 version of his story. The film is peppered with interactions between Deadpool and Savage - which makes up the bulk of the new material, but it is a lot of meta fun. There are also some things removed (like the whole opening sequence, including the James Bond-inspired opening credits) but it's not a huge detriment. They even managed to keep the entire baby legs/Basis Instinct homage with the inclusion of some finely-placed pixels.
If this was a test to see if you can make a PG-13 version of Deadpool viable, I would say it succeeded. I still think keeping an R-rated version is the correct call, but if push comes to shove and Disney really presses the issue, Reynolds has shown it can happen (not that I want it too, of course). Plus, I don't feel bad at all supporting this, as every ticket sale went to help out F*#k Cancer - and that's a donation I am more than happy to make. In addition, the post-credits pays a really great tribute to the late, great Stan Lee - actually pretty poignant and well-deserved.
I have heard most of the additional scenes (sans Savage) were already included on the special edition and deleted scenes of the Blu-Ray, but since I haven't watched them, they were still new to me. Plus, any additional scenes with Brianna Hildebrand (as Negasonic Teenage Warhead) and Shioli Kutsuna (as the ever pleasant Yukio) are always welcome. Otherwise the film is pretty much the same - more words are bleeped out, most of the blood is left out but, yeah, it's still Deadpool 2 and as an interesting experiment, well, I'd say it worked.
