With the upcoming merger between 20th Century Fox and the Walt Disney Company not far ahead of us, Fox has released what is essentially a transition piece as their company prepares to go under new management.Once Upon a Deadpoolattempts to answer the question that many fans have been wondering since talk of this merger began: would a family friendlyDeadpoolwork? Unfortunately, that question may have to wait, because, despite the heavy family-centric marketing for it,Once Upon A Deadpoolis far from “family friendly.”
Much like the “Super Duper Cut” that released whenDeadpool 2went out on digital,Once Upon A Deadpoolis essentially a recut of theDeadpoolsequel, but with the opposite intent of the “Super Duper Cut.” This new version manages to fit the raunchy moviewithin the scopes of PG-13, while still being able to tell the original story. It does this using choppy editing, voiceovers of some profanity, taking out some of the blood effects, and by cutting back and forth to some hilarious banter between Deadpool and a kidnapped Fred Savage. However, even Fred Savage cannot save this new edit.
Outside of the “family friendliness,” the biggest promise that was marketed forOnce Upon A Deadpoolwas that it would feature newDeadpool 2scenes that we had never seen before, which wasn’t really true. Outside of the scenes with Fred Savage, which all took place in the same bedroom, only one new scene was added toDeadpool 2: theUpscene featuring Deadpool and an elderly couple that was shown in almost its entirety in the trailer. While there were a few other “new” scenes that had not appeared in the original theatrical cut ofDeadpool 2, these scenes had already been released in the “Super Duper Cut,” makingFred Savage’s bitsthe only actual new content for anyone who had seen the previous cut of the movie and seen the trailer.
While Fred Savage’s scenes with Deadpool were usually hilarious, often poking fun at Fox or theDeadpool 2plot, the movie would have been a lot better had they cut to the story-book reading more often. Instead, Fred and Deadpool appeared in thePrincess Bridebedroom quite a few times in the movie’s first act, but then were absent from the movie for nearly an hour afterwards. During this time, nothing new was added to the movie, except slightly altered dialogue changes to ease around the original movie’s excessive use of the profanity.
Alas, this choppy editing and cheap voice over work would have been worthwhile hadDeadpool 2kept its promise of being a family friendly movie. However, it wasn’t really family friendly at all, as it just barely fit within the scope of a PG-13 rating. While the movie got rid of some of its over-the-top language and gore, it still kept a lot of content that realistically would not be included in a “family friendly” movie, including pedophilia, suicide, and porn, among others.
WhileOnce Upon A Deadpoolcould be entertaining for anyone who has not seenDeadpool 2prior, it’s really not a worthwhile trip to the theater for anyone who’s already seen it. It’s still not a movie you may bring your kids to (which again, wouldn’t be an issue if not for the excessive “family friendly” marketing), and in the end, it’s just the same movie you’ve already seen, but now with some bad language being cheaply worked around as if the movie’s being aired on public television. In the end,Once Upon A Deadpoolis really just a waste of a trip to a theater.20th Century Foxwould’ve been better off turningOnce Upon A Deadpool’s “new” material into a five minute Deleted Scenes feature with theDeadpool 2Blu-Ray rather than trying to give this pointless edit a theatrical run.
