‘Twas the Deapool Before Christmas…reviewed 11 months early (or a month late depending o

I love seeing alternate versions of movies.

Wether it’s a Workprint, Director’s Cut or a humble Fanedit, I like seeing different versions, seeing another vision compared that the cinemagoers saw. It can be amazing, sometimes painful.

Sometimes…a cash grab.

So, after the huge success of Deadpool 2 last year (and the awesome Super Duper F**king Cut out in Blu-Ray abd Digital now) it was decided that a PG-13 version of the movie was to be released.

Wait….what?

You want Ryan Reynolds to don the suit if the jolly red guy (no, not Santa dammit!) and make the movie kid-friendly? This has to be some kind of prank yes? I mean Deadpool ISN’T a kid friendly character….he just isn’t. He was made for an adult audience and this shouldn’t happen.

To say the thought of this idea seemed wrong was an understatement….this had to be a blatant cash grab.

As much as I didn’t think this was going to be too good (did you see what happened to the PG-13 Venom?) the hype machine kinda got rolling and then I saw that Fred Savage (the only F-word in the movie Deadpool quips) was going to be in scenes to help along the narrative, I was getting intreagued, they were doing a Princess Bride!

So….I await the release of the new kid-friendly cut of Deadpool 2 (should now be called Die Not As Harder?) in the UK and I find out 2 interesting things…

Firstly, the movie is one night only….what the heck? I did try to get to a screening but I was ill so missed out on the cinema experience for this, which I’m gutted.

Secondly….Once Upon A Deadpool was rated 15. This is exactly the same rating as Deadpool 2 in the UK….so unfortunately younger viewers have to wait for its release on Digital to enjoy the tamer version. Seemed a bit odd to me, but that’s just me I guess.

Another thing that bugs me is….why no physical copies? Digital copies tend to be an issue (especially if you buy from iTunes) so I prefer owning the DVD or Blu-Ray….also,doing this could have generated more funds for Fudge Cancer (aka F**k Cancer) so surely that would’ve been a good thing?

So, I finally got my digital copy of the movie and had a watch too what I thought of the movie now made “for younger audiences” (even if the BBFC didn’t seem to think this was the case.).

It starts with Deadpool waking a up a recently kidnapped Fred Savage, and the Merc with the Mouth explaining he is here to give a child-like wonder to the movie Deadpool 2. As much as this movie is pretty much the same (except edited for younger viewers, maybe akin to the Indian censored version? I’ll need to check that out and get back to you…) the movie is not too bad. Yes, you can see huge chunks of it are missing (DP’s World Tour at the beginning of the R-Rated versions of the movie needed to be removed to make it more kid friendly for example) but it still works using the bedridden (read: heavily taped to the bed) Fred Savage and Deadpool telling the story just like in The Princess Bride.

Was it worth watching? Well, being a cinephile I like to see all the alternate versions of a movie if I can so yes in the respect I can say I’ve seen almost all the versions that have been released (I still need to get the Indian censored version) but entertainment wise I’m not really so sure it was really that good. Yes, it was funny that they got a grown up Fred Savage in a bedroom set like used in The Princess Bride and he had an attitude with Deapool which worked well (there are some silly jokes too) but in some ways he didn’t interfere enough. There was one part where a certain character is revealed and thought something may have been said about that character and potentially the hint given about said character in one of the viral videos (if you’ve seen the Theatrical and Super Duper F**king cut then you’ll know what character I mean and if you kept tabs on the viral videos done you should know the video too… I’m not saying what/who here due to spoilers) but that was mysteriously not spoken about which seemed odd with one of the things Fred says earlier in the movie (shows his geek knowledge, which was really cool).

If you are a die hard (Trademark Fox) Deadpool fan then you’ll get a kick out of it. I know it did, but just felt like there should have been more. And yes, this is one you can certainly show to the kids without any issue.

Deadpool 2 is rated 15 and out now on DVD, Blu-Ray and Digital Download

Deadpool 2 Super Duper F**king Cut is rated 15 and available on Blu-Ray and Digital Download

Once Upon A Deadpool is for some bizarre reason rated 15 and is available as a Digital Download only.