Film Review: Once Upon A Deadpool

This is gonna be a real quick one.

The idea of releasing a purposefully censored version of Deadpool 2 into theaters with the gimmick being Deadpool holding Fred Savage in a set that recreated his bedroom from The Princess Bride, and being forced to hear the story, is a good one. It’s a clever conceit, and it certainly helps that a portion of its box office earnings will go to charity.

No major changes are made to the story, it’s still Deadpool 2, so if you want my full thoughts on that, you can read my review here.

I liked Deadpool 2 fine enough, certainly more than the first. The one element where the PG-13 hurts the film is the ultraviolent slapstick, which lacks the punch that director, David Leitch, brought to the film. But as usual with these films, what prevents me from loving them is the real lack of commitment to going as far with the material as possible.

That’s something I mentioned in my Deadpool 2 review, and it applies here as well. The framing device is funny, very funny, in fact. Fred Savage is clearly game for the ridiculousness, he’s totally having a blast, and he’s got some killer lines, with some even addressing criticisms of the film. However, in its implementation, it all feels a bit like an afterthought. We get a scene with Deadpool and Fred bickering, then we cut back to Deadpool 2 for about 15 to 20 minutes, then we cut back to Fred, rinse and repeat. It never feels like it’s a version of Deadpool 2 as told by Deadpool. He doesn’t really narrate a lot of it, he doesn’t alter any scenes, even the whole aspect of the violence and language being toned down is never played for laughs. How could anyone possibly make a PG-13 Deadpool movie without ever making fun of those funny swear dubs you’d see whenever an R-rated movie played on TV (stuff like the infamous “I have had it with these monkey-fighting snakes on this Monday-to-Friday plane!”)? I don’t know, but the folks here have managed to do it. There’s only about two moments where Deadpool plays with a bleeping button, and that’s about it.

The film is just content with doing the bare minimum with its gimmick when the character allows you to go for broke. I don’t know if there’s limitations placed on the filmmakers, or what, but these choices only continue my frustrations with this franchise as a whole, and this one I found particularly egregious because there is so much you can do with a character like Deadpool if he’s forced in a situation where he can’t be as gross, violent, and foul-mouthed as he usually is.

But hey, these movies do have a massive fanbase behind them. If you’re one of those fans, then you’ll probably enjoy Once Upon A Deadpool fine enough. I still much prefer to see the normal version of Deadpool 2, since the censoring and edits here rarely get to play off in a comedic way. Some have thought that this was meant to play as an experiment by Disney to see if a PG-13 version of this character would work. I don’t believe that for a second, and if it was something of that nature, then I can’t call this much of a success. You’ll be amused enough if you like the character, and if you have an affinity for The Princess Bride, Fred Savage being in this situation is a lot of fun to watch unfold. If you’re looking for something genuinely experimental and interesting, you’ll just have to look elsewhere.