Once Upon a Cash Grab

Warning: The following review contains spoilers for both "Deadpool 2" and "Once Upon a Deadpool" (mild spoilers, though). 

On paper, Once Upon a Deadpool sounds like a fantastic idea. Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) kidnaps Fred Savage to tell him a "revised" [PG-13] version of Deadpool 2, "filtered through the prism of childlike innocence". When Ryan Reynolds released an image of him and Fred Savage, I immidiately got hyped of the idea of a PG-13 version of Deadpool 2 in which Fred Savage comments on the story of the film à la Princess Bride, while also [probably] making fun of the idea that a PG-13 version of Deadpool 2 ever exists. However, that promise becomes [barely] realized.

Sure, the Fred Savage stuff is hilarious (especially when Deadpool keeps bleeping him to make him sound like he wants to F*** Matt Damon), but there's barely any of it that you kept wondering why you even bothered to see this. Sure, Fudge Cancer, but is it really worth it to watch an airplane edit of Deadpool 2 just so you can give 1$ of your ticket to charity? These reasons don't justify Once Upon a Deadpool's existence. I think there are maybe 5 or 6 scenes with Fred Savage and I think that the one that lasts the longest time is a minute long. He is in this movie for maximum [effort] 10 minutes and has nothing to do.

The rating change also makes Deadpool 2 look and sound like a horrible film. I enjoyed Deadpool 2 when it came out, and there are still some parts that are enjoyable to watch, but not as enjoyable as the Hard-R rated version or the even better Super Duper Fucking Cut. For example, when Peter (Rob Delaney) gets hired, in the theatrical cut, Dopinder (Karan Soni) lashes out a huge FUCK that is unexpectedly hilarious. In this version, Dopinder says "GOD--"...it doesn't work as well and the audience was dead silent during most of the movie. Actually, the audience only laughed during the Fred Savage moments...the rest of the film is so bogged down by its over-editing that you cannot appreciate the film at it's fullest. The action is choppy, messy, trying to hide blood, guts or anything remotely badass or fun. The Domino (Zazie Beetz) fight scene in the facility is trimmed down and edited to shit that it loses all of its "badassery", stunning action direction and cinematography from Jonathan Sela. I was bored, and that NEVER happened while I was watching the original cut of Deadpool 2 and the original Deadpool. The PG-13 cut removes all of its artistic and kinetic energy and brings a cold, subpar, tonally inconsistent mess of a film that didn't need to exist in the first place. While I appreciate Ryan Reynolds's good intentions, Deadpool can absolutely be PG-13 if you have a SCRIPT that revolves around the idea of Deadpool being PG-13. A wasted opportunity and actually blatant cash grab, even if proceeds go to charity.

2/5