Once Upon a Deadpool movie review

In a Nutshell: Marvel is on a roll and just keeps pumping out superhero movies. This new one is a PG-13 twist on a film formerly released this year.  Marvel was bought by Fox, which is now being bought by Disney.  What does that mean to you?  A PG-13 version of the popular Deadpool franchise.

Deadpool is raunchy, obnoxious, disrespectful, irreverent, violent, and…hilarious.  In this version of the Deadpool 2 sequel, Ryan Reynolds and Fred Savage revisit the charm of the movie The Princess Bride , which Fred Savage starred in as a kid.  It’s a funny gag that runs through the movie and gives a new opportunity to introduce this crazy superhero to younger kids. If you haven’t seen The Princess Bride , you really need to.  It’s one of my all-time favorite movies.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had the painting on the right commissioned about 50 years ago.  It is a beloved Mormon painting that depicts the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.  Like everything else, Deadpool mocks and exploits it for a laugh, something which has angered some good people in Utah.  There’s talk of a lawsuit, but it’s also turning the heads of young kids who want to know more about this Marvel character.  Will the negative publicity work?  We’ll see.  Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints absolutely love The Princess Bride for its clever wit and clean storytelling, so this Fred Savage tie-in just might pull in more audiences in Utah.   I’m a Mormon, so I’m curious to see what happens.  Time will tell.

• Some crude language, but at least the F-bombs are replaced with words like “Fudgesicle”.  There are actually a lot of F-bomb jokes where they really play up the fact that this is a PG-13 version without saying the real word.  Deadpool explained, “The only F-bomb we’re using here is Fred Savage.”  He also says that this movie is “filtered through childlike innocence.”  While that’s not exactly true, the R-rate movie has definitely been cleaned up.
• You need to know ahead of time that Deadpool behaves VERY badly and is not a good example for your kids in most matters.
• Lesbians
• You see a pant-less kid’s junk “Winnie the Pooh” style, but the “naughty bits” are blurred out. 
• Very high body count, destruction, violence, guns, explosions, severed limbs but without gore or blood
• Several people “flip the bird.” 
• Some cleavage
• Talk of perverts, porn, being a virgin, IUD use
• Talk of child abuse
• Deadpool tries to kill himself over and over.
• Lots of pop-culture references that some young kids won’t get.

• Your heart needs to be in the right place.
• “We all need that sense of belonging. We all need a genuine sense of home.” – Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds)
• “Kids – they give us a chance to be better than we are…better than we use to be.” – Vanessa (the beautiful Morena Baccarin)
• Family
• “Four or five moments – that’s all it takes to be a hero.” – Deadpool
• Sacrifice for others
• “Pain teaches us who we are.” – Blind Al (Leslie Uggams)
• “No child is hopeless.” – Blind Al
• True friends.  Collosus says, “That’s what friends do…they show up.”

• This is the year of Josh Brolin as the evil villain. He voices a fantastic Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War
• Great action sequences. As Deadpool says, “Big CGI fight coming up.” Yep, LOTS of them.
• Tons of fun jokes and visual gags, all lightning fast. 
• We learn a lot more about Wade Wilson than in the first movie, making his character development more deep and grounded.
• Keep watching after the credits for a couple more fun scenes.  Stay to the very, very end to see a funny and touching tribute to the late Stan Lee. 
• Wade and his girlfriend watch the movie Yentl . I always loved that movie and the music. Deadpool points out that the song, “Papa, can you hear me?” is the same tune as Frozen’s “Do you want to build a snowman?” I never noticed that before!
• X-Men – trainee! Ha ha
• Several Dubstep jokes.  My kids are still surprised I like Dubstep. 
• Several Canadian jokes. A lot of locations in Vancouver were actually used in the movie.
• At the end of the movie, it says that 15,000 jobs were created to make the movie. The stunt work was amazing. Sadly a stunt woman, Joi Harris, died while filming one of the stunts on a motorcycle. Production stopped for two days.
• Tons of fun Easter eggs. For example, Deadpool refers to Cable, played by Josh Brolin, as “One Eyed Willy”, which was a character in the 1985 movie The Goonies which starred Josh Brolin.
• Vanisher….ha ha IMDB shows his face listed as Brad Pitt! The studio actually wanted Brad Pitt to play Cable, but he had to decline that role due to scheduling conflicts.

• I don’t read the comic books, but Domino’s character and alliances are much different there than in this movie, as well as her color and eye circle. It certainly didn’t bother me, but some fans might be annoyed. Zazie Beetz did a fantastic job.
• There is still more profanity and inappropriate jokes than there needs to be for a kid’s version of this.

• “Forgive me for being late. I was busy gathering all the gluten in the world so it can not NOT hurt us.” – Deadpool
• “That is why the man bun is just the Millennial mullet.” – Deadpool
• “So dark. Are you sure you’re not from the DC Universe?” – Deadpool
• “Mission accomplished?” – Dopinder (Karan Soni)

• “Every family film starts with a vicious murder…Bambi. Lion King. Saw 7.” – Deadpool
• “It’s time to get back on LinkedIn.” – Weasel (T.J. Miller)
• “Never underestimate a man with a mustache.” – Deadpool
• “I have no idea what’s happening.” – Blind Al

• “Family was always an F word for me.” – Deadpool
• “You are not your father.” – Vanessa
• “I fight for what’s right.” – Deadpool
• “We can’t really live until we die a little.” – Blind Al

You can watch my YouTube movie review now: