ONCE UPON A DEADPOOL – Review

ONCE UPON A DEADPOOL. Photo Credit: Courtesy Twentieth Century Fox.

By Mark Glass

For years, I’ve thought of Quentin Tarantino as the person in Hollywood having the most fun with his career. One can almost see his face cackling gleefully in the corner of the screen as he indulges every whim of over-the-top action, gross-out comic relief, in-your-face music and homages to every genre he reveled as a teen-aged movie buff, from “spaghetti Westerns” to Hong Kong martial arts flicks. But ever since DEADPOOL became a franchise sensation, Ryan Reynolds seems to be giving him a run for the money – literally and figuratively.

Before then, Reynolds was a hunky actor of questionable merit, whose best lines defined his abs, rather than his dialog. Now he’s drawing almost as much media attention as our Tweeter-in-Chief, without raising anyone’s anxiety levels. How much can one worry about a mock twitter feud between Reynolds and Hugh Jackman? That’s why this toned-down PG-13 version of the R-rated DEADPOOL 2 is opening in theaters, rather than as a DVD release. It’s the same movie we enjoyed at the beginning of 2018, with some of the gory bits trimmed, and the naughtiest words bleeped or replaced to squeeze into a PG-13. True to the franchise’s self-satirical heartbeat, the cleansing is done with tongue-in-cheek playfulness, especially in its wraparound gilding of this lily.

Those who’ve seen the trailers expect the PRINCESS BRIDE lampoon of having DP read the story to Fred Savage in the same room and Bears jersey from 30 years ago with Peter Falk. The cutaway bits with the grownup Savage add far more value to the proceedings than hoped for. He not only spoofs that charming role from his childhood, but spreads another layer of self-deprecation over the Deadpool story he’s being force-fed. As a side benefit of this re-issue, I caught more of the gag lines that I’d missed before when the audience was still laughing from the preceding one.

The stated reason for this reprise to allow young superhero buffs who aren’t cool or daring enough to find their way to an R-rated opus (like I was at that age, alas), a chance to see Deadpool on the big screen. Mission accomplished on that. Older fans who saw the original won’t miss any of the deletions and should find the additions enough for a net gain. Beyond that, the tribute to Stan Lee after the interminable credits is something all Marvel Universe denizens will appreciate.

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars