A few months ago, cinemas around the world released one of, if not the greatest, films in history: Deadpool 2. I freaking loved it, and you can read all about that here in my original review. To celebrate the home release, Fox has released the Super Duper Cut, which adds a number of alternate or extended scenes to the original, totaling an additional 15 minutes to the runtime of the film. When this was announced, I was doing Snoopy dances in my living room, since I assumed bigger meant better, right? Let’s take a look, but be warned, I am assuming you’ve seen the original movie if you’re reading this, and I will reference some major spoilers to the original film.
The overall story doesn’t change in this release, with most of the additions being in the form of new jokes or extended action scenes. Despite having a dark (some may call it childish) sense of humor that the character appeals too, I’m disappointed to report that many of the new jokes fall flat. The material that was left intact from the original cut is still hilarious, but in most cases, the original version was far more entertaining as far as the writing goes. A bulk of the extended content comes into play during the many fight scenes, which have been lengthened and almost reach John Wick levels of badass-ery, particularly the bath scene early into the film. Another high point showcases a number of ways Wade tried to off himself early into the film, with the original cut only showing his napping while smoking on a few barrels of gasoline method. The only thing that is truly game changing are the new post credit scenes.
The mild foreshadowing the first film used to allude to the dastardly events going on at the Essex House for Mutants is touched on a bit more in this version, albeit a bit early in the film, making Deadpool’s split decision to end one of the worker’s lives (not nearly as) early into the film less shocking or unexpected. I found this caused the film to lose a bit of momentum and made the middle act drag a bit more than it should. The editing feels much sloppier in this venture, with a number of scene transitions feeling jerky and out of place. I am assuming that the original sound guy was busy working on John Wick 3, due to the fact that a number of the one liners injected into existing scenes sound as if they were added post production via a circa 1986 cassette recorder, a few of which sounded as if Nolan North stepped in to replace Ryan Reynolds.
The new content primarily focuses on Deadpool, which is understandable since he is the star of the film. Sure, Matt Damon’s cameo as a redneck who decides to have an elaborate conversation with his redneck buddy about modern day wiping techniques is much longer this go around, but I personally would’ve liked to see more of the stellar supporting cast. Even with essentially the same amount of screen time, Zazie Beetz and Josh Brolin steal the show, making this overly long version watchable.
Don’t get me wrong, the film is still great, but this is far from the definitive version of Deadpool 2. Unlike the Watchmen Ultimate Cut, which makes splendid use of the extended run time, the Deadpool 2 Super Duper Cut is only recommended for the most die-hard Deadpool fan, and that would be as a one and done type of situation.
8 out of 10
Pros
- Great Cast
- Amazing Use of CGI
- Extended Fight Scenes
- New Post Credit Scenes
Cons
- Poorly Edited
- Some New Jokes Fall Flat
- Overly Lengthy
Deadpool 2 The Super Duper Cut was written by Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, as well as Ryan Reynolds, and directed by David Leitch. It was released via VOD on August 7th, 2018, and will arrive on BluRay later in 2018. The film was not provided to us for review.
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