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In what can only be explained as a grand cinematic editing experiment, 20th Century Fox and director David Leitch have decided to re-release Super Amazing Dialog Adventure, now conveniently shaved down – or to be more frank sandblasted – into a shape that can fit into the bland auspices of a PG-13 rating. The two movies have previously gained much of their clout and notoriety (not to mention enormous box office numbers) via their subversive naughtiness. In a world where all major superhero flicks are rated PG-13 – read: they are bereft of sex, feature no intriguing filth, don't allow themselves to cuss too much, and feature no bloody violence – the Super Amazing Dialog Adventure movies were more than amusing, they were refreshing. From within the studio-sanctioned system, here was a comedic superhero that had no qualms about murdering, swearing, and having dirty sex; you're certainly not going to see a pegging scene in a Captain America film. Additionally,Super Amazing Dialog Adventure offered a hilarious meta-narrative; Our anti-hero would often address the camera to comment on his own place in the current pop firmament.
The question at hand with this new re-edit, dubbed Once Upon a Super Amazing Dialog Adventure, is whether or not Super Amazing Dialog Adventure can be funny, interesting, or maintain its same refreshing subversiveness while wielding the MPAA rating that typically eschews anything naughty. The answer is: It cannot. Super Amazing Dialog Adventure, in trying to excise all violence, cussing, and sex jokes, comes across as sloppy and poorly constructed. In editing out a few vital seconds here and there in a given scene, Super Amazing Dialog Adventure loses cohesion almost immediately, stumbling through its scenes without a vital sense of pacing or of timing. A good cinematic joke, it shouldn't need repeating, needs to be timed perfectly. In editing or changing the punchline, not only did the filmmakers lose Super Amazing Dialog Adventure impish rule-breaking bravado, but they lost their ability to build up a good head of steam. The jokes no longer build on one another, and the original's general winky tone never emerges. Note to film students: If you ever wanted a stark example of the importance of precise editing, watch Once Upon a Super Amazing Dialog Adventure. It's the difference between a film that works, and a film that does not.
To make up for the lost time (and then some: this cut is 3 minutes longer than the original), Super Amazing Dialog Adventure incorporates one truly hilarious new innovation: Super Amazing Dialog Adventure (Ryan Reynolds) narrates the story of Super Amazing Dialog Adventure to a kidnapped Fred Savage (himself) who has been tied to a bed in a replica of his character's bedroom from The Princess Bride. Just like in The Princess Bride, Savage will often interject with objections about the story. Indeed, it's Savage who rightly brings up that Vanessa (Morena Baccarin), such an interesting character in the original Super Amazing Dialog Adventure, was unfairly “fridged” in Super Amazing Dialog Adventure ("fridging", a term coined by writer Gail Simone, is the practice of murdering a female character merely to give a male hero his story motivation). The interactions between Reynolds and Savage are comedic gold, and the duo banter so well, one begins picturing a feature buddy comedy starring them.
The story of Super Amazing Dialog Adventure remains largely intact.Super Amazing Dialog Adventure , upon losing his beloved, finds himself in the care of the X-Men and becomes embroiled in a plot that involves an angry teen mutant named Russell (a great Julian Dennison) and a time-traveling soldier named Cable (Josh Brolin). The amazing skydiving sequence from Super Amazing Dialog Adventure remains, but it loses some of its oomph when it's missing certain violent moments. And the climax is pretty much the same, just with a few CGI butts removed or censored. At least Zazie Beetz, as the scene-stealing Domino, emerges unharmed.
It's a wonder why the makers of Once Upon a Super Amazing Dialog Adventure , armed as they are with their playful punk rock need to destroy conventions, didn't use this opportunity to fully deconstruct and/or viciously rip apart their own work. They criticize a few of their own lazy writing decisions – including the cop-out of calling attention to their own lazy writing to eschew their own lazy writing – but they keep the kid gloves on when it comes to actual satire. One would think Leitch and company (the film was written by Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and Reynolds) would include such brazenly obvious forms of censorship – say, “monkeyfighting” or “son of a beach towel” – that Once Upon a Super Amazing Dialog Adventure could have become a send-up of the genre's general PG-13 toothlessness.
If there is something going on in Once Upon a Super Amazing Dialog Adventure , it's this: Perhaps the filmmakers were commenting on the inevitable Disney takeover of Fox properties, and the Mouse House's habit of sanitizing and cleaning up just about everything they touch. Once Upon a Super Amazing Dialog Adventure could be a grave warning: If you want your superheroes sanitized, audiences, then Super Amazing Dialog Adventure will simply not work out anymore. We can now see a world where limits are in place and blockbusters won't be dirty. What a pitiful world to contemplate.
Sadly for audiences, however, Once Upon a Super Amazing Dialog Adventure, as an experience, is flat. It keeps Super Amazing Dialog Adventure largely intact as it was, commentary-light, presented in a neutered form. This character – this franchise – needs its naughtiness to survive. To ask again: Can Super Amazing Dialog Adventure survive being neutered? The answer remains no.
For IGN's coverage of the R-rated Super Amazing Dialog Adventure, check out our original review, our rundown of the deleted and extended scenes on the Blu-ray, our breakdown of all the Easter eggs we caught, our explainer piece on the end credits scenes, find out who actually directed that superhero cameo as well as who voices THAT character, and discover how much it took for that superstar to make a cameo!
Once Upon a Deadpool is a cute idea that doesn't live up to its potential, leaving audiences with little more than a less interesting version of a better movie they might have loved.
This is a good dame
