*”Once Upon a Deadpool” is one of the most pleasant surprises of the year.
The film is basically a recut version of this past summer’s “Deadpool 2“. While such recuts are not rare and usually just a cash grab that does not change the quality of the original film, “Once Upon A Deadpool” is the only such recut – and definitely the only released theatrically – that markedly improves the original cut to such a degree you wish it had been the one released in the first place.
Not only does “Once Upon a Deadpool” have Fred Savage being read to by Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool as a fourth wall device in amusing fashion, but the actual film becomes more complete.
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This holiday season, give your family a hero in red they can all believe in. See #OnceUponADeadpool, in theaters NOW. pic.twitter.com/j7LZYfobX1
— Deadpool Movie (@deadpoolmovie) December 12, 2018
The biggest beneficiaries of this are Zazie Beetz and Josh Brolin. Beetz’s screentime was so limited, generic and forgettable in the original cut, I thought we may never see her again – and wouldn’t care if I did – in future installments.
But in “Once Upon a Deadpool” Beetz gets some funny lines, more kickass scenes, more sexy scenes and basically more room to grow and breathe and make the character of Domino her own and quiet the critics of her blackening of the character, who is white in the comics.
Beetz’s Domino, as shown in “Once Upon A Deadpool”, would be fully capable of carrying her own movie, as opposed to the original cut’s Domino, who could not even carry a scene.
Brolin’s Cable also has room to grow, have his backstory filled, get some more memorable choreography and lines and again, do his hard nosed character justice.
Fred Savage is an F-bomb. #OnceUponADeadpool pic.twitter.com/irbjxf9MN1
— Deadpool Movie (@deadpoolmovie) December 11, 2018
Heck, every character is developed a bit more – even the relationship between Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) and Yukio (Shiori Kutsuna) is given more time to shine.
By having a lot of the “Fourth Wall” breaking being done off camera by Deadpool and Savage and away from the story, it comes across as funnier. It also allows the story and characters to be more solid.
Here’s hoping Reynolds released this not just as a a way to make a few bucks but because he realized the original cut was too Deadpool-centric and had too many jokes and gags stuffed in to justify an R rating and that he decided a better story, with more vibrant characters and a PG-13 rating is a pretty good package going forward.
I’m pretty sure Beetz and Brolin hope he came to that conclusion.
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