Second Look - Deadpool 2 (All Three Cuts)

Note: This review contains spoilers for Deadpool and Deadpool 2.

Deadpool 2 sits in a unique position within the X-Men film series. Not only did Fox greenlight this sequel by the time the first film released, but after its premiere in May 2018, it would receive two additional cuts within the same year: the direct-to-video extended Super Duper Cut in August and the theatrically-released PG-13 Once Upon a Deadpool in December. Due to a lack of an official word on the matter, one could conclude that Fox wanted to make as much money as possible ahead of the Disney/Fox merger that completed in March 2019, but in any case, Deadpool 2 did break additional box office records on in its initial release, including highest-grossing R-rated film of all time (by just $3 million over Deadpool) until 2019’s Joker.

Since I’ve made it no secret that I’m a fan of Deadpool, it should come as no surprise that Deadpool 2’s existence piqued my interest enough that I watched all three cuts of the film as they came out. Although I still liked the film after rewatching it in the context of the rest of the X-Men films, I now find that the difference between Deadpool and Deadpool 2 feels more like the difference between Shrek and Shrek 2: while the sequel has more narrative complexity and shows more technical competency than the original, it doesn’t age as well due to the dated humor rooted in the exact moment it came out.

Two years after the events of Deadpool, Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) fails to kill a target on his anniversary with Vanessa (Morena Baccarin), inadvertently leading to her death that same night, right after they decided to start a family. Although Wade gets his revenge, he falls into a depressed state and attempts suicide six weeks later, granting him a brief vision of Vanessa in the afterlife before he regenerates. Afterwards, he recovers at the X-Mansion, where he reluctantly joins the X-Men and assists Colossus (Stefan Kapičić) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) with stabilizing a standoff at an orphanage owned by Essex Corporation. However, Deadpool’s intervention, in which he kills a staff member who had abused the young mutant Russell Collins (Julian Dennison) aka Fire Fist, results in his and Russell’s arrest. Meanwhile, a cybernetic soldier named Cable (Josh Brolin) travels back in time in an attempt to undo a dystopic future.

It goes downhill from here; L-R: Russell Collins (Julian Dennison),
Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds), Colossus (Stefan Kapičić),
Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand).

Owing to its higher budget, Deadpool 2 has a bigger scope. Bigger locations, a greatly expanded cast and more subplots make Deadpool 2 feel larger than the first, though without going to the lengths of other superhero films that put the entire world at stake. Instead, despite involving both the past and future, the story still focuses on Wade’s trauma while exploring the theme of family in a very personal way. Cable, while not completely comics-accurate, acts as a good reflection of Wade in that both of them have lost everyone close to them, with a big difference in how they handle their loss and their relationship, friendly or otherwise, with Fire Fist. Even with all of the humor peppered throughout the film, this emotional core does a good job with moving the film forward.

Among the expanded cast, we not only get Cable, but also characters like Black Tom Cassidy (Jack Kesy) and a number of other mutants who make up the X-Force, including Domino (Zazie Beetz), as well as a reinterpretation of Juggernaut. Although these roles have great acting, especially from Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin and Zazie Beetz, they feel mixed in their execution. Where Domino shines as perhaps the best character in the whole movie due to her attitude and surprisingly cinematic luck-based ability, Black Tom doesn’t add much to the story outside of fueling admittedly funny jokes. Juggernaut has a much better presence than he did in X-Men: The Last Stand and feels more like a real threat from how he defeats Deadpool during their initial confrontation and holds his own against the other X-Men during the climax (a quick exchange with Fire Fist also causally reveals his relation with Professor Xavier, a detail that The Last Stand glossed over). Juggernaut’s friendship with Fire Fist also adds a neat dark edge to the overarching “family” theme, but his defeat comes about in a humiliating way. Perhaps the biggest waste of potential comes from the lengthy X-Force sequence, which, while funny, doesn’t add much to the film outside of introducing Domino and having the rest of the team die for the sake of one long joke.

Domino (Zazie Beetz) is the best character in the movie.

On the topic of jokes, Deadpool 2’s humor is easily the “make or break” for someone’s enjoyment of the film. Compared with the original, the jokes come at the audience more like a minigun, living up to Deadpool’s nickname “The Merc With a Mouth” for better or worse. On one hand, the irreverent sense of humor remains consistent and plenty of jokes, whether they deal with the situation at hand or comment on superhero tropes, perform a perfect superhero landing. On the other hand, just as many jokes either splatter against the concrete or don’t age well beyond the exact moment in time the film came out.

Much like Shrek 2, this sequel features a noticeable increase in topical humor, in this case referencing 2010’s pop culture trends like Justin Bieber and mainstream dubstep (you even hear snippets of “Bangarang” by Skrillex feat. Sirah when the characters directly reference dubstep), as well as the general DCEU and MCU, plus specific films from that same time period including, but not limited to, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Avengers: Infinity War and Frozen. This also includes a Sharknado reference exclusive to the theatrical cut when Deadpool asks Cable, “Which Sharknado are we on?”, which itself gets referenced in The Last Sharknado: It’s About Time when a time-displaced Fin randomly says, “I wonder what Deadpool movie we’re on.” I did find many of these jokes funny at the time, but when divorced from the original context, I noticed that someone who didn’t live in or engage in the cultural zeitgeist of 2018 would have a much harder time understanding or even laughing at half of the film’s jokes. One could even say the references are so 2018 it hurts.

Once you've seen the film, you can hear this image.

Among the more hilarious original jokes, however, the writing gets a bit lazy. This includes a joke about lazy writing that tries covering up the film’s actual lazy writing, a style of self-deprecating joke I’ve never really liked (and I like self-deprecating humor). Perhaps as a consequence of writing the second film while shooting the first, some jokes are recycled from the original with a clear attempt at one-upping them, such as Deadpool regrowing the lower half of his body instead of just a hand (complete with an unnecessary brief glimpse of his genitals).

"Well, that's just lazy writing."

On a different note, I’d like to mention that the orphanage continues the presence of Essex Corporation that X-Men: Apocalypse established and Logan continued. Though I didn’t think much of it during my first viewing, I realized this time that it hinted at potential future involvement down the line with additional X-Men films that never saw the light of day, including a canceled X-Force entry. In addition, writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick confirmed in an external interview that the mid-credits scene is indeed canon and not just a random gag.

On a technical level, Deadpool 2 looks improved over the original Deadpool thanks to the higher budget. This means not just bigger action set pieces, but also smoother movement on Colossus and impressive effects during Cable’s fight scenes. I also liked the designs involving Cable in general, including how his gun uses a guitar knob for determining the strength and effect of his gun.

As for the music selection, I noticed some similar choices from the original played at surprisingly appropriate moments, like “In Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel or “If I Could Turn Back Time” by Cher. Although I don’t really remember much of Tyler Bates’ score, it feels in-character with Deadpool and at times even includes profanity from the chorus, with the best example in "You Can’t Stop this Mother F*****" from the Juggernaut fight. Notably, Deadpool 2 also includes an original song in “Ashes” by Céline Dion, which has surprising amount of depth and emotion despite playing during an opening credits sequence that parodies the James Bond films, in which the song wouldn’t feel out of place.

Five months after Deadpool 2’s original theatrical release, in September 2018, Fox released an extended unrated cut on home video called the Super Duper Cut (or the Super Duper $@%!#& Cut). This cut adds an additional 15 minutes of footage and inserts some alternate jokes and song choices. As another point of interest, this cut had one theatrical screening at San Diego Comic-Con 2018 under the name Deadpool 2: Uncut Screening at a small local theater. I recall that I really wanted to try and go to that screening while at SDCC that year, but sadly the stars didn’t align on that one.

Watching this cut again, I found it overall weaker than the theatrical cut. There are a couple new scenes that add to the story, such as the views of Fire Fist’s backstory and a scene of Cable obtaining parts for his gun, but most additions either don’t add anything significant, such as just making certain scenes even longer, or they just make certain jokes raunchier or more long-winded (the scene of Deadpool apologizing to Colossus comes to mind). I also preferred some of the music choices in the theatrical cut, like “Welcome to the Party” by Diplo, French Montana and Lil Pump feat. Zhavia Ward (replaced in the Super Duper Cut with “Fight Dirty” by Guignol and Mischief Brew) or “Take On Me (MTV Unplugged – Summer Solstice)" by a-ha (replaced with a reprise of “Ashes”).

We now get a look at Fire Fist's backstory.

Despite my preference for the theatrical cut, however, I can’t completely discount the Super Duper Cut due to how some of its additions aid the story in a positive way. If you still want to watch this cut, I’d suggest doing so after the theatrical cut so the differences are more noticeable.

While I have the opportunity, I’d also like to mention that the Target edition of Super Duper Cut (which of course I bought) also came with Deadpool 2: A (Not Suitable For) Children’s Book, a book adaptation that acts as a meta parody of both Little Golden Books and movie tie-in merch created based on early screenplay drafts. The book does still fall into the trap of reference humor and leaning a little too hard into self-awareness, but it’s still a fun read and an interesting condensed version of the film. If you can get your hands on a copy, you won’t be disappointed.

Shortly after Super Duper Cut, Fox would announce another Deadpool film release for December 2018, revealed later as Once Upon a Deadpool, a PG-13 recut featuring Fred Savage in a framing device similar to The Princess Bride, complete with the same bedroom. As a bonus, however, one dollar from every ticket sold during the original theatrical run (and the home video release for a limited window) would go to Fuck Cancer, temporarily renamed Fudge Cancer for the tie-in. Unlike Super Duper Cut, I did see this cut in the theater and remember hearing the mixed reception from critics, as well as liking it while recognizing it as a blatant cash grab.

Watching this cut again on Blu-ray, however, I liked it a lot more the second time, maybe even a little more than the theatrical cut. Though this cut removes a good amount of footage, it moves at a faster pace, even with the framing device, and doesn’t sacrifice the story’s clarity, in fact improving it in places (which makes you wonder how much of the cut footage was even necessary). Many jokes don’t make it into this version and the dialogue sounds sanitized, but Deadpool’s quips no longer feel overwhelming in number, not to mention many of the theatrical cut’s funniest jokes remain and have more breathing room. There’s even a new original joke during Deadpool’s suicide montage referencing Pixar’s Up and some footage from Super Duper Cut helps fill out the runtime in a way that works better than the actual Super Duper Cut, including the placement of Fire Fist’s backstory. I’ll also mention that I didn’t see the Stan Lee tribute at the end that I thought I saw in the theatrical screening, but his mural in the film now says “RIP” in the corner. As much as I enjoyed this cut, however, I admit that the original cut’s R-rating did help with staying true to the character, especially with the level of violence.

During the film, Fred Savage occasionally chimes in with comments that include a combination of throwing shade at the quality of Fox’s Marvel films vs the Marvel Cinematic Universe (which neared the end of Phase 3 as of December 2018) and poking holes in the story, like the inconsistent logic of Deadpool’s healing factor. Some comments also come off as acknowledging Deadpool 2’s shortcomings, like the not-very-comics-accurate depiction of Cable, covering up lazy writing with lazy writing jokes as an excuse to not write better and how Vanessa doesn’t contribute much to the story outside of dying (though he did find Wade and Vanessa’s reunion rather compelling). This cut’s framing device overall gives it a nice meta flavor without going too overboard, though it’s admittedly at its funniest when viewed after both the theatrical cut of Deadpool 2 and The Princess Bride.

Fred Savage (left) occasionally chimes in with comments.

While Deadpool 2 has a higher budget than the original and shows an increased level of technical competency, it sadly falls short of the original Deadpool no matter how you slice it. I still wouldn’t call it a terrible film, as others may be inclined, and while I would still recommend it, recommending a specific cut feels difficult since they all have trade-offs and each one does something better than the others. From my own personal experience rewatching all three cuts in a row, however, I ended up enjoying Once Upon a Deadpool the best for its pacing and commentary, followed by the theatrical cut for its music and joke selection and then the Super Duper Cut for its more complete narrative. For you reading this, however, I’d recommend the theatrical cut first so you have a better point of comparison with Super Duper Cut and otherwise going to Once Upon a Deadpool if you're curious what a PG-13 Deadpool film would look like, you want a swifter retelling of the story or if you or someone you know is too young for the R-rated version.