Once Upon A Deadpool Blu-ray Review | High Def Digest

After the first movie was successfully and ironically marketed as the perfect romantic-comedy for Valentine’s Day, Deadpool 2 was mockingly billed as a family-friendly event centered around such themes. Of course, being stamped with an R-rating flew against the face of this promotional campaign, denying entry once again to those parents who mistakenly — or rather, who chose to disregard the parental advisory — took their younglings to a grossly-inappropriate, excessively-raunchy superhero movie. A few months later, producers of the sequel attempted to rectify this misunderstanding by reediting the film into a more suitable PG-13 version just in time for the holidays.

Retitled Once Upon a Deadpool, this alternate take most notably parodies The Princess Bride, using it as a framing device from which to retell Deadpool 2. The film even features a kidnapped Fred Savage as a larger part of the gag. Forced to reenact his role as the flu-stricken grandson reluctantly made to listen to grandpa read him a fairy tale, Savage is hilariously game while strapped to a bed inside a reconstruction of the bedroom from the Rob Reiner classic. Continuing in the self-referential tradition the comic-book character is celebrated for, Ryan Reynold's Deadpool plays the role of Peter Falk's grandpa, occasionally commenting — or more like, interrupting — its own narrative, which includes scenes from Super Duper $@%!#& Cut Blu-ray edition.

Outside of that, the PG-13 alternative of the sequel is essentially the same movie, and the new parody scenes are genuinely hysterical, especially Savage's performance. Ironically, the film as a whole is not quite as funny as the original R-rated version. The lack of offensive dialogue, graphic violence and the vulgar adult themes are the character's signature style from where the two movies deliver their most memorable punches and impact. In the case of Deadpool, shock value for the sake of shock value actually works in the character's favor. Lightening that aspect for the hope of reaching a wider audience — viewers, which by the way, will watch the movie in spite of the rating system — somewhat neuters Deadpool's mojo, his rock-hard maximum effort. Nevertheless, Once Upon a Deadpool is a great experiment that still delivers the laughs, which fans will want sitting next to an uncensored, unrestrained Deadpool.

For a more in-depth take on Deadpool 2, you can read our review of the Blu-ray HERE.

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment brings Once Upon a Deadpool, which is a 117-minute, PG-13 alternative of Deadpool 2, to Blu-ray as a two-disc combo pack with a flyer for a Digital HD Copy. The Region Free, BD50 disc sits comfortably opposite a DVD-9 copy inside a blue, eco-cutout case. After skipping a few trailers at startup, viewers are taken to a menu screen with full-motion clips and music playing in the background.