deadpool family movie review

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• DVD & Streaming
• Action/Adventure , Comedy , Drama , Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Content Caution

In Theaters

• February 12, 2016
• Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson/Deadpool; Morena Baccarin as Vanessa; T.J. Miller as Weasel; Ed Skrein as Ajax; Karan Soni as Dopinder; Stefan Kapicic as the voice of Colossus; Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead

Home Release Date

• May 10, 2016

Distributor

• 20th Century Fox

Movie Review

With great power comes great responsibility. That’s what Spider-Man taught us, anyway.

Unless, y’know, you don’t want all that responsibility. Because hey, you’ve got great power! Who’s going to make you be responsible if you don’t wanna?

It’s not like Wade Wilson ever asked to be a superhero. Back before he went through his (ahem) change , Wade was just a former special ops expert (read: he was dishonorably discharged) trying to make ends meet by threatening, beating and maiming people upon request. “I’m just a bad guy who gets paid to f— up worse guys,” he says, and it’s true.

But then Wade ran smack into two things that changed his life forever: Vanessa, whom he fell in love with, and cancer, which he didn’t. It was strangely ironic that one came so swiftly on the heels of the other. Had Wade never met Vanessa, maybe he wouldn’t have minded the terminal disease so much. I mean, it’s not like the guy was doing much with his life anyway. But now, when he has so much to live for, it seems like a terrible cosmic joke to suddenly be so close to death.

So Wade does what any guy who lives in the Marvel universe would do: He signs up with a shady organization that promises to conduct a bevy of super-secret procedures on him. If successful, Wade will be a new man—and perhaps in more ways than just being cancer-free. And if they’re not, well, he’ll be dead. But no deader than he’d be without ’em. What does Wade have to lose?

His soul, as it turns out. This shady organization isn’t just trying to avoid government red tape or hide some back taxes. It’s trying to create an army of evil super-soldiers in the hopes that they’ll … well, do all sorts of evil, super-soldier stuff.

And the procedures are just torture. I mean that quite literally. The juice given to Wade only reacts under the most stressful of situations: If Wade suffers through enough stress, the chemicals will cause his body to mutate, which’ll destroy the cancer and give him superpowers. And the clinic’s head tormentor, Ajax, can’t stand Wade. Which makes conditions ideal for generating the stress we were just talking about.

It seems at first like Wade’s doomed to spend whatever time he has left in a cacophony of pain, but he does finally mutate. The cancer vanishes, and his body is chemically blessed with the ability to heal super-rapidly. Injuries still hurt him, but everything from paper cuts to severed hands will heal in a jiffy.

Unfortunately, the mutation also completely ruins Wade’s complexion—a big deal for someone as handsome and shallow as he. And after the clinic burns down around his ankles, Wade feels insufficiently pretty to go back to Vanessa.

Time to go find Ajax and make the guy fix his face—even if Wade has to kill every single one of Ajax’s evil super-soldiers in the process.

Positive Elements

We’ve covered that Wade—Deadpool when he’s in costume—is not a great guy. But his love for Vanessa is no lie. They’re strangely (if a bit dysfunctionally) compatible, and their mutual affection is what drives this story along. While they have scads of premarital sex during their courtship (which we’ll rail against a bit later), at least Wade proposes, wanting to make an honest woman of her.

Much more admirable is Colossus, a massive metal man hailing from Russia. One of the official X-Men, Colossus takes his role as a superhero seriously. He tries to be magnanimous to his enemies and courteous to the public. He attempts again and again to pull Deadpool into the light of truth, justice and a better way. He encourages Deadpool to join the X-Men in the hopes that some group counseling might help the guy shape up and fly right.

It all falls on Deadpool’s dead ears, of course, but let’s give Colossus cred for trying.

Spiritual Elements

In a montage, we see Wade and Vanessa celebrate various holidays with sex—except Lent, where they’re shown peacefully sitting side by side and reading. In the opening credits, someone is said to be “God’s perfect idiot.”

Sexual Content

OK. When it’s not Lent, the camera can’t seem to get enough of staring at sexual movements and suggestive skin. We see Wade and Vanessa participating in obvious, noisy, intentionally humorous and oft-repeated sex. They also talk a great deal about the sex they’re having or the sex they plan to have, invoking all manner of sexual organs, positions and stimuli. When proposing to Vanessa, Wade offers her a Ring Pop—which he’s been apparently storing in an unmentionable place.

Vanessa, it should be said here, is an exotic dancer and prostitute. Indeed, Wade pays her for their first encounter. And while he insists they spend most of that “date” talking, they end it doing, shall we say, more physical activity. We see Vanessa work at a strip club wherein women writhe about in various stages of undress. At least one dancer, fully nude, is shown from the front, while others are seen bare-breasted. Wade’s body is also showcased. He battles a bad guy while nude. And elsewhere, the camera zooms in on his bare backside and ogles his spandex-wrapped front side. We see Deadpool yanking down an adversary’s pants, revealing a portion of posterior.

There are conversations—and scenes—involving masturbation. We hear lots of talk about genitalia, oral sex, porn and sex toys. Obscene things are done with a stuffed unicorn. We see some pretty raunchy flirting and creepy stalking. One scene might be interpreted as winking at pedophilia.

Violent Content

As a special-ops guy, Wade already accumulated “41 confirmed kills.” By the time he confronts a crucial guy in Ajax’s operation, he’s tallied 89 (“Soon to be 90,” he says darkly). This is clearly not a man who adheres to Batman’s no-kill ethos, and we see him dispatch his foes in a variety of splattery ways.

He shoots several people in the head (with three of the bloodiest kills completed with one messy bullet), stabs and slashes others with a sword and, it’s suggested, mows one dude down with a Zamboni. Somebody gets flung into a freeway sign, splatting like an uncooked egg across its surface. Deadpool burns a man with a cigarette lighter before killing him. And he just keeps on pulling the trigger, even when better heroes than he beg for him to show a little mercy.

In the clinic, Ajax uses a variety of methods to spur Wade’s mutation, including beating him bloody (while he’s strapped to a gurney), submerging him in goo, forcing him to float for hours in ice, and waterboarding him. Wade and other patients are regularly shown to be bloody and bruised. He and others are locked in a tank that regulates the flow of oxygen in such a way that it constantly feels like you’re suffocating—and Wade is forced to stay in that container for a full weekend. Things get no better for him once he develops his ability to heal quickly: He’s stabbed in the chest and shoulder with a huge iron bar that’s fashioned into a hook so he can’t get free. He’s shot several times, and he peers, at one juncture, through a bullet hole in his wrist. (He makes his Deadpool suit red to keep his enemies from seeing him bleed.) Both of his hands and his leg are grotesquely broken while he’s fighting Colossus. In handcuffs, he saws off his own hand to escape. A bullet pierces his backside.

Cabbie Dopinder apparently kidnaps his more successful, more handsome cousin and is holding him captive in the trunk of his taxi. A collision suggests that the guy gets killed. (This after Deadpool suggests that Dopinder should kill his cousin and kidnap the guy’s girlfriend—who just so happens to be the love of Dopinder’s life.)

Crude or Profane Language

About 75 f-words, 40 s-words and a pool of crudities, including “a–,” “b–ch,” “h—” and “p—.” We hear the n-word. God’s name is misused, at least once with “d–n.” Jesus’ name is thrice abused.

Drug and Alcohol Content

Wade spends a lot of time in the bar that Weasel owns. He enjoys ordering a frothy drink bearing a crude name (just to make Weasel say it), and he buys everyone a round at one point. Partyers drink. Vanessa serves the stuff at the strip club. There are a couple of references to cocaine. Someone smokes a cigarette.

Other Negative Elements

Wade is shown using a urinal. He jokes about defecation.

Marvel has been incredibly successful in making the world embrace its legion of superheroes. And from Spider-Man to The Avengers to The X-Men , they’ve come to rely on a teen-friendly movie rating to keep families coming back for more.

Not that Deadpool would ever agree to such a strategy.

Never mind that this flick is being distributed by 20th Century Fox instead of Disney’s Marvel. Given the comic book company’s recent history, there may be certain fans who look at Deadpool’ s R rating and wonder … Does it have just a wee bit more language? Just a touch more violence? How bad could a Marvel superhero movie be?

So I will answer: Bad. Really bad.

The tone of the movie is surprisingly light and witty—an inside joke of sorts, both an homage to and sendup of all things superhero done inside Marvel’s own studios. But the flick dives to the level of its hard-core rating in the first 10 minutes and keeps drilling down from there. It doesn’t just ease over into “restricted” territory—it flies past the barrier at supersonic speed as if trapped in a defective Iron Man suit. And that’s a shame, because much of the movie’s sly sense of humor doesn’t depend on foul content at all.

But cut out all the crazy content and you’ve got about a 20-minute movie.

With great power comes great responsibility. That’s what Spider-Man taught us. But Deadpool is as irresponsible as they come.

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

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Film Review: ‘Deadpool’

Ryan Reynolds gets the full-throttle wisecracking showcase he deserves in this scabrously funny origin story.

By Justin Chang

Justin Chang

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At this point, a movie studio would have to torch its headquarters, donate its merchandising revenues to charity, and produce a seven-hour art film performed in Ukrainian sign language to do something that truly qualified as a subversive gesture. Until then, viewers should gladly submit to the gleefully self-skewering pleasures of “ Deadpool ,” a scabrously funny big-screen showcase for the snarkiest of Marvel’s comic-book creations — a disfigured and disreputable mercenary who likes to crack wise, bust heads and generally lay waste to the idea that he’s anyone’s hero. As a vehicle for the impudent comic stylings of Ryan Reynolds , this cheerfully demented origin story is many, many cuts above “Green Lantern,” and as a sly demolition job on the superhero movie, it sure as hell beats “Kick-Ass.” And given the resurgence of fanboy interest following a well-received trailer at last year’s Comic-Con (plus the benefit of Imax showings), “Deadpool” should show plenty of life at the box office, especially if its well-earned R rating functions less as kiss of death than as badge of honor.

Fast, ferocious and inevitably a bit too pleased with its own cleverness, this Fox-produced offshoot of the “X-Men” series nevertheless can’t help but feel like a nasty, nose-thumbing tonic next to the shinier delegations of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as represented by Disney’s “Avengers” franchise (and its various subfranchises) and Sony’s not-so-amazing “Spider-Man” movies. Better still, “Deadpool” knows exactly how to use Reynolds, an actor whose smooth leading-man good looks have long disguised one of the sharpest funnyman sensibilities in the business, as fans of “The Proposal,” “Definitely, Maybe” and the underrated “Just Friends” can attest.

It’s not the kind of star profile that immediately screams “blockbuster” (that’s a compliment), and admittedly, Reynolds’ peripheral first appearance as Deadpool, in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” (2009), offered little hint of what he could really do with the role; happily, this wholesale reboot seems to inhabit a superior alternate reality where that dreadful earlier movie doesn’t exist. Deadpool does drop a few “X-Men” references here and there, and they’re crude and irreverent in the extreme, whether he’s joking about fondling Wolverine’s privates or dismissing Prof. Xavier as a creepy pedophile — all of which he offers up as evidence of his spectacular disinterest in contributing in any way to the ever-expanding glut of superhero movies.

That’s nonsense, of course. Even with its nastier tone, grislier action and more sexually explicit banter, “Deadpool” turns out to be a comic-book enterprise through and through, but served up in a shrewdly self-mocking guise; it pulls off that very postmodern trick of getting away with formulas and cliches simply by pointing them out. The opening credits sequence features what might be described as an honest cast list, even going so far as to introduce first-time feature director Tim Miller as “An Overpaid Tool.” That eagerness to break down the fourth wall was present in the original Deadpool comic books by writer Fabian Nicieza and artist/writer Rob Liefeld, and scribes Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (doing wittier work than you’d expect from their scripts for “Zombieland” and “G.I. Joe: Retaliation”) stay true to the same spirit as they cut cheekily between two time frames, using Reynolds’ smartass voiceover to paper over the cracks.

Before he turns into an ugly, cynical mercenary named Deadpool, Reynolds’ character is a hunky, cynical mercenary named Wade Wilson, who spends most of his time at Sister Margaret’s Home for Wayward Girls — a front for the scuzzy dive where his best friend, bartender Weasel (T.J. Miller, “Silicon Valley”), keeps the beer flowing and the weapons moving among his down-and-dirty clientele. It’s here that Wade meets a beautiful, gold-hearted prostitute named Vanessa Carlysle ( Morena Baccarin , “Homeland,” “Gotham”); recognizing each other as damaged kindred spirits, they begin screwing in earnest, zipping and unzipping their way through an extended sex-scene montage that plays out over a year’s worth of racy holidays. (“Happy Intl. Women’s Day,” Vanessa coos as she adjusts her strap-on, though that’s about as far as the movie goes in terms of even hinting at Deadpool’s famously pansexual appetites.)

Wade and Vanessa are deeply in love, but their bliss proves short-lived when he receives a terminal cancer diagnosis. This being an origin story, his only recourse is to submit to a bizarre experiment performed by the sadistic scientist Ajax (Ed Skrein), ignoring the rule that one should generally steer clear of medical professionals named after Greek warriors and household cleaners. Ajax subjects Wade to a series of increasingly grim procedures, accompanied by hideous torture techniques, in an attempt to force a genetic mutation that will rid him of his cancer. While successful in that regard, the procedures unfortunately also rid Wade of his face, turning him into a bald lump of scar tissue who looks less like Ryan Reynolds and more like a 150-year-old John Malkovich in desperate need of wrinkle cream and sunblock.

Now gifted with Wolverine-style self-healing abilities and an endless lease on life, Wade wants his old body back, and so he dons a rubbery red-and-black suit (the better to hide the bloodstains) and the identity of Deadpool. What follows is a fairly straightforward shoot-and-blow-’em-up revenge picture, starting with a visceral car chase/standoff that occupies much of the film’s early going and midsection. “I’m just a bad guy who gets paid to f—k up worse guys,” Deadpool snarls in one of his many to-the-camera asides, which he frequently uses to drop jokes about masturbation and defecation, plus random references to the Spin Doctors, “The Matrix,” Sinead O’Connor, Judy Blume, the “Taken” movies and any other stray bits of pop-culture effluvia that happen to pop into his mottled, misshapen head.

If it all sounds terribly arch and juvenile, it is. It’s also startlingly effective: Somehow, through sheer timing, gusto and verve (and an assist from Julian Clarke’s deft editing), Reynolds gives all this self-referential potty talk a delirious comic momentum — reaching a peak when he’s trading quips with Blind Al (Leslie Uggams), the wizened, sightless old woman who functions as his caretaker, housekeeper and sparring partner. Additional punching bags turn up in the form of two X-Men allies: Colossus (Stefan Kapicic), basically an overgrown Arnold Schwarzenegger hood ornament, and sullen goth girl Ellie Phimister, aka Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand), whose mutant powers include conjuring massive fireballs and sending angry tweets. The two of them exist mainly to keep Deadpool in line, and also to help him battle Ajax and his impossibly strong lieutenant, Angel Dust (Gina Carano).

But in the end, these supporting players are so much background noise — drowned out, on occasion, by the repetitive sounds of explosions, gunshots and body slams, and also by the constant wham (and Wham!) of the soundtrack. Baccarin, after getting to play Rosalind Russell to Reynolds’ Cary Grant early on, is ultimately treated in line with the “Hot Chick” moniker she’s given in the opening credits. Miller has fun staging all manner of vehicular and architectural chaos, but mostly stays out of the way of his script and his star. The movie exists entirely as a star vehicle for Reynolds, and perhaps its canniest stroke is the way it both conceals and demolishes his physical beauty — a small price to pay when an actor’s tongue is this gloriously sharp. “I look like a testicle with teeth,” Deadpool snarls. And as long as he’s around, you’ll have a ball.

Reviewed at 20th Century Fox Studios, Jan. 30, 2016. MPAA Rating: R. Running time: 107 MIN.

• Production: A 20th Century Fox release and presentation, in association with Marvel Entertainment, of a Kinberg Genre/the Donners’ Co. production. Produced by Simon Kinberg, Ryan Reynolds, Lauren Shuler Donner. Executive producers, Stan Lee, John J. Kelly, Jonathan Komack Martin, Aditya Sood, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick.  
• Crew: Directed by Tim Miller. Screenplay, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick. Camera (color, Panavision widescreen), Ken Seng; editor, Julian Clarke; music, Tom Holkenborg; music supervisor, John Houlihan; production designer, Sean Haworth; art director, Nigel Evans; set decorator, Shannon Gottlieb; set designers, Randy Hutniak, Sheila Millar; costume designer, Angus Strathie; sound (Dolby Atmos), David Husby; supervising sound editors, Wayne Lemmer, Jim Brookshire; sound designers, Craig Henighan, Lemmer, Ai-ling Lee, Warren Hendriks; re-recording mixers, Paul Massey, Will Files; special effects coordinator, Alex Burdett; visual effects supervisor, Jonathan Rothbart; visual effects producer, Annemarie Griggs; visual effects and animation, Digital Domain, Atomic Fiction, Weta Digital; visual effects, RodeoFX, Luma Pictures; stunt coordinators, Robert Alonzo, Philip J. Silvera; associate producer, Thane Campbell Watkins; assistant director, James Bitonti; second unit director, Robert Alonzo; second unit camera, Roger Vernon; casting, Ronna Kress.
• With: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, Ed Skrein, T.J. Miller, Gina Carano, Leslie Uggams, Brianna Hildebrand, Karan Soni, Jed Rees, Stefan Kapicic, Randal Reeder, Isaac C. Singleton Jr.

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Review: ‘Deadpool,’ a Sardonic Supervillain on a Kill Mission

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By Manohla Dargis

• Feb. 11, 2016

Jokes and bullets are tossed like confetti in “Deadpool,” a feverishly eager-to-please comic-book movie about a supervillain who suits up like a superhero. In uniform, the title character, an ordinary mercenary turned freakishly powerful mercenary, may look a little like Spider-Man, at least to the comic-book agnostic. But Deadpool is far more psychotic than heroic, which he cheerfully establishes by painting the screen red with one kill after another. He points, shoots, jokes (repeat), often while cracking wise right into the camera.

Movie Review: ‘Deadpool’

The times critic manohla dargis reviews “deadpool.”.

The movie is the latest entry in the incessantly expanding comic book movie universe, which is crowded with beautiful physical specimens battling hordes of bad guys. The specimen in this case is Ryan Reynolds, whose performance feels like career rehab (or penance) for “Green Lantern,” the 2011 dud he fronted for DC Comics. Here, he plays Wade Wilson, a breezily amoral hired gun who, after some story filler, turns into Deadpool, an antihero who likes to address the camera between kills. Breaking the fourth wall is old stuff, especially in comedy and, like pokes in the ribs and stage winks, can be a way filmmakers signal to the audience that we’re all in this together.

The filmmakers do a lot of winking and rib poking; they sell “Deadpool” so hard that you might wonder if the studio has started to pay on commission. The sales pitch starts with the opening credits, which consist of a series of genre clichés — “hot chick,” “British villain” and “comic relief” — instead of the usual headliner cast and crew names. It’s one of the best sequences in the movie, partly because it’s a bit complicated. At that early point, the audience can pretend (wink, wink) that it doesn’t know whether “Deadpool” is going to deliver on each of those clichés, from the requisite babe (Morena Baccarin, appealing and age appropriate) to the regulation British baddie (Ed Skrein). But what else would an entertainment juggernaut deliver in a movie like this? Surprises?

The opening credits are worth lingering over because they’re enjoyable and because they’re a clever pre-emptive strike. By immediately announcing the clichés that they will soon deploy, the filmmakers at once flatter and reassure the audience even as they lower any expectations that what follows will be new or different. You can almost hear the studio suits whispering in your ear: “Come on, we all know that these kinds of movies rely on silly stereotypes — that’s part of the fun!” And seriously who doesn’t like fun? Yet to laugh (as I did) at these self-mocking credits is to give in to a somewhat compromised pleasure. Because, among other things, you are also laughing at your willingness to settle for the same old, same old, which suggests that the joke is on you.

It is or it isn’t. Much depends on whether you’re down with the comic-book film imperative no matter what transpires on-screen; whether you find Deadpool’s Jim Carrey-style logorrhea hilarious or tedious; whether you think watching people (oops, fictional characters) get roughed up, impaled, shot, tortured and liquidated in scene after scene for laughs is just another night at the movies. It also depends on whether you don’t mind that “Deadpool” soon makes good on its opening credits. Because, as promised, the filmmakers trot out the usual character types (the hot chick, the comic relief, etc.), along with the familiar beats, even as they briefly fold in some nicely played home-front melodrama which, for a few scenes, makes “Deadpool” genuinely more ambitious than most works of this kind.

These sections push the story forward, laying the foundation for the existential divide that defines every superhero, even a putative roguish outlier like Deadpool. And while the tears salting these scenes may be cynical given the movie’s embrace of a what-me-worry nihilism, they offer a necessary break from the strained patter and violence. They also show that the director, Tim Miller, and Mr. Reynolds can do more than hit the same bombastic notes over and over again. It’s no surprise that the teams hired to bring a property like “Deadpool” to the screen know how to keep the machine oiled and humming; it’s the ones who somehow manage to temporarily stick a wrench in the works, adding something human — a feeling instead of another quip — who are worth your attention.

“Deadpool” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). Bangs, booms and splatter. Running time: 1 hour 48 minutes.

An earlier version of this review referred incorrectly to Marvel’s connection to “Deadpool.” While the Marvel name is on the movie because it created the character, the movie was made by 20th Century Fox.

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Deadpool Reviews

"Deadpool" is the most red-faced and side-splitting movie of the comic genre to date. It makes "Guardians of the Galaxy" look like C-SPAN when it comes to non-stop action and humor.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Apr 7, 2024

As for Reynolds, this is the role he was made for, and he tears into it as if to make up for the ridiculously terrible earlier version of Deadpool he played.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Aug 25, 2022

That Deadpool was ever made is something of a small miracle. That it's satisfying from a fan perspective is another miracle.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Apr 22, 2022

Packed to the brim with witty asides and pop culture references.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Aug 10, 2021

Deadpool is a stylishly salty antidote to bloated recent superhero movies like last year's Avengers: Age Of Ultron.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 8, 2021

While there are still solid laughs to be found, it reneges on the promise of the early scenes. And when dealing with mercenaries, especially a merc with a mouth, you never renege on a promise.

Full Review | Apr 13, 2021

It's occasionally a little too rude and crude, bloody and bowed for it's own good but at least it tries to do something a little different in the well-worn context of the superhero genre.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 3, 2021

It's easy to make a superhero film nowadays. However, a film is nothing without great writers that understand the character and an actor that is passionate about it. Ryan Reynold IS Deadpool.

Full Review | Jan 2, 2021

Goes to great lengths to distance itself from the pack of recent Marvel entities, which have become more or less interchangeable.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Dec 4, 2020

The film plays well over multiple viewings and holds comedy to a higher standard than mere action and wise cracks.

Full Review | Nov 10, 2020

A terrific directing debut from Tim Miller that pretty much awards him a throne made of golden jockstraps on the wings of Stan Lee.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4.0 | Sep 5, 2020

Witty, profane, and full of action, Deadpool is a nice breath of fresh air.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Jul 3, 2020

"Deadpool" is the fast-paced (gory), action-packed (violent) and hilarious (incredibly off-color) comic book movie that we needed, but had no idea we did until it came along.

Full Review | Jun 30, 2020

It bets on violent action and the most twisted dark humor that's been seen in any Marvel movie, of course, with Ryan Reynolds' wild role as Deadpool. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Jun 26, 2020

There is no middle ground with this movie, for the middle ground has been thoroughly set on fire. Those who dislike it will absolutely loathe it. Those who like it will fight a duel to defend its honor. I thoroughly enjoyed it...

Full Review | Feb 13, 2020

It's competently made, and mostly fun.

Full Review | Jan 13, 2020

Coupled with the action-packed fight scenes, Deadpool proves he is here to entertain and he spectacularly does so, thanks to Reynolds' quick-witted performance.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 18, 2019

From the moment the film begins and you see the words "directed by an overpaid tool" and "produced by a-hats" on screen, you know "Deadpool" isn't going to be like any other superhero movie you've seen before.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Oct 27, 2019

It's all filthier, and more hilarious, exciting, and ultra-violent than you can probably imagine.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Oct 17, 2019

This is the first R-rated Marvel film and it's smart, slick, sweet and sexy.

Full Review | Oct 16, 2019

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Once Upon a Deadpool Parent Guide

It is gratifying to see a deadpool movie work so well with less of its trademark gratuitous violence, profanity and sexual innuendo..

Deadpool (played by Ryan Reynolds), leader of the X-Force mutant team, succumbs to despair after the murder of the woman he loves. Teaming up with the X-Men, Deadpool works to protect a young mutant whose fire setting powers are a danger to everyone around him.

Release date December 12, 2018

Run Time: 116 minutes

Official Movie Site

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The guide to our grades, parent movie review by keith hawkes.

Wade Wilson, aka Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) is continuing where he left off in the first instalment of this franchise: fighting crime, causing trouble, mouthing off, and being desperately in love with his girlfriend Vanessa (Morena Baccarin). But when criminals break into his apartment and murder Vanessa on their anniversary, Wilson joins forces with the X-Men, specifically, Colossus (Stephen Kapicic) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand). The X-Men are struggling to contain young mutant, named Russell Collins (Julian Dennison), whose fire setting powers are a danger to the public. While trying to control Russell, Wilson and the boy get arrested and are sent to a special mutant prison. But when Cable (Josh Brolin), a time-traveling super-soldier arrives to kill Russell to save the future, Wilson has to decide exactly what kind of hero he wants to be.

As you may have noticed, this sounds an awful lot like the plot of Deadpool 2 . That’s because it is: Once Upon a Deadpool is a PG-13 re-release of the R-rated hit movie, cut and edited for a younger or more sensitive audience. As you might guess, cutting most of the profanity, sexual innuendo, and graphic violence from a Deadpool movie has left some space in its runtime. Director David Leitch has filled this with a hilarious frame narrative, in which Deadpool has kidnapped Fred Savage of A Princess Bride fame, tied him to a bed in a replica of the bedroom set from that movie, and is reading him the story of Deadpool 2 . Apart from being a great way of boosting the runtime back to normal, this is a good way to add new material to a re-release without altering the original plot.

As someone who actually liked the original, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this re-cut version. Re-cutting a film can be risky, but it is gratifying to see a Deadpool movie work so well without its trademark gratuitous violence, profanity, and sexual innuendo. Once Upon a Deadpool is a great way for older teens who were interested in the comics but not the adult-oriented content to enjoy the dark humor and self-referential jokes of the Ryan Reynolds production. Without some of the R-rated trimmings, this Christmas special highlights the movie’s focus on the importance of family, the opportunity for redemption, and the necessity of friendship. I would make a joke about how touching it is, but I wouldn’t want to start muscling in on the Deadpool’s territory.

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Keith hawkes, watch the trailer for once upon a deadpool.

Once Upon a Deadpool Rating & Content Info

Why is Once Upon a Deadpool rated PG-13? Once Upon a Deadpool is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for intense sequences of violence and action, crude sexual content, language, thematic elements and brief drug material.

Violence: Gun and bladed weapon violence throughout. Characters are shot, stabbed, and chopped with just about every weapon imaginable. However, unlike in the R-rated version, there is no blood or gore. People just fall over. A main character repeatedly tries to kill himself. Less ordinary violence includes a man being torn in half, feeding himself to a polar bear, laying on top of explosive barrels and setting them off (comedically dismembering him), having a piece of wrought iron fence go through his head, and a broken neck from a nasty fall onto a prison table. Other characters at one point or other fall into helicopter blades, power lines, moving busses, and woodchippers. Once man is killed by acidic vomit, although no injury is shown. Sexual Content: No sex or uncensored nudity is shown. A woman gives her boyfriend her IUD for an anniversary present and suggests they start a family. There are a few masturbation jokes. A man urinates while fully clothed and sitting on a barstool. There are two instances of CGI nudity, but both are pixelated. There are several references to genitalia in comedic contexts. Profanity: Approximately 31 uses of mild and moderate profanity – mostly scatological curses and terms of deity. In several instances, profanity is “bleeped” out. In others, innocuous language is bleeped for comedic effect to imply profanity. Alcohol / Drug Use: Drugs and alcohol are shown on screen but is not consumed. Cocaine is seen when Deadpool shoots up a gang drug lab at the beginning of the film, and once later in a bag. There is some drug paraphernalia shown in his apartment, but only as background decoration, and is not referenced or used. At one point it is implied that he has been drinking constantly for three days, but he is not shown to be particularly intoxicated by this, or shown consuming any alcohol (in all fairness, due to his superpowers it should be nearly impossible for him to get drunk).

Page last updated February 22, 2019

Once Upon a Deadpool Parents' Guide

Russell seems to be on a path to a very dark place: is there any way he could have avoided it? Deadpool struggles to help him, but what could he have done differently to make sure Russell got the help he needed?

Loved this movie? Try these books…

Alexandra Bracken’s The Darkest Minds series features teens who have changed after a mysterious illness killed most children, leaving survivors with unusual powers which adults fear and try to eradicate. Another story featuring a virus is Illusive by Emily Lloyd-Jones. In this novel, the vaccine designed to eradicate the virus gives some people super powers. Some of those people turn to crime.

Daniel X has unusual powers and they are featured in The Dangerous Days of Daniel X, first in the series created by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge.

Time travel is a plot point in The Reluctant Assassin, first in a new series by Eoin Colfer, and featuring Riley, a teenage orphan who is apprenticed to a famed illusionist and criminal in Victorian London. Another series by Eoin Colfer, Artemis Fowl features a troubled anti-hero with many other characters exhibiting an irreverent sense of humor.

The most recent home video release of Once Upon a Deadpool movie is December 18, 2018. Here are some details…

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The Deadpool franchise has been made up of Restricted films. For similar films, but with less profanity, try the X-Men series.

Family-friendly mutants star in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows .

Mutants aren’t always superheroes who save the world. In I Am Legend , mutant zombies are a destructive force and Robert Neville (Will Smith) is the only man who can stop them.

"Comic Book Filth"

What You Need To Know:

(PaPaPa, B, LLL, VVV, Ho, SSS, NNN, AA, MMM) Very strong pagan worldview extolling lawlessness, murder and all other forms of debauchery; one X-Men character is proper and rebukes some foul language and when a female villains breasts are exposed, the hero Colossus turns away until she fixes her shirt; nearly 100 obscenities (including over 60+ utterances of the F-word), seven profanities and a multitude of vulgar references to male and female anatomy; very strong gratuitous violence with bad guys getting shot, stabbed, cut in half, decapitated, and killed in many other ways, Deadpool cuts off his own hand in one instance, scenes of torture, main character is stabbed in the head and all his hands and legs broken, with many instances of blood splatter and gore; very strong sexual content, a montage of the main character’s sexual hedonism with his girlfriend includes depicted fornication, oral sex, sodomy, and many other sexual references, characters make up tragic childhood stories of molestation played for jokes, implied self abuse; full female nudity in a scene taking place in a strip club with pole dancers and provocatively dressed waitresses, brief frontal male nudity, brief female nudity in sex scene, upper and rear male nudity; moderate drinking; no smoking or drugs; and, lying, deception, kidnapping and murder encouraged, and disrespect for the elderly and the blind.

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DEADPOOL is a comical action adventure set in the X-MEN franchise universe about Wade Wilson, a foul mouthed, murderous, ex-special forces soldier with super abilities who kills bad guys, but refuses to be labeled a superhero.

The movie begins with Deadpool taking on a group of bad guys on a freeway who are led by the villainous mutant Ajax. In true Deadpool fashion, Wade breaks the 4th wall and talks to the audience throughout, even making quips and jokes about the X-MEN franchise in which he is involved (some of the jokes regarding budgetary constraints from the studios are too similar to the THE MUPPETS remake, and not nearly as funny). Freezing the action, Deadpool tells the audience he wasn’t always a masked terror. In fact, this is a love story.

The movie jumps back a few years to when Wade was just a trashy mercenary. Falling in love with Vanessa, a prostitute he met at a bar, the equally perverse couple grows very fond of each other, but it’s discovered Wade has cancer throughout his body. A mysterious man approaches Wade and offers to let him be subject to experimental regenerative mutation that could potentially cure his cancer. Reluctant at first, Wade decides to spare Vanessa the grief of seeing him sick and leaves her to go through the experiments.

It turns out that the private company doing the experiments, led by a British mutant who goes by the name of Ajax, is actually trying to turn people into mutants with special abilities, so they can make them slaves to do their bidding. The process is a grueling, torturous experience, and Ajax, who takes special pleasure in torturing Wade, inadvertently scars Wade permanently into a hideous figure.

Eventually, Wade escapes Ajax’s prison with his new powers and abilities and dawns the masked identity of Deadpool to hide his scarred face. He’s now determined to capture Ajax so he can force him to fix his looks, so he can return to Vanessa and be accepted. Meanwhile. two X-MEN members, Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead, try to recruit Deadpool and get him to change his ways (but he never does).

The plot of DEADPOOL is mediocre at best. The only element of interest is the snarky attitude Wade exhibits and the breaking of the 4th wall. This becomes tiresome however and overused. Additionally, the jokes are unsurprisingly repetitive and hardly ever go beyond vulgar sexual references. The action has moments of excitement, but the contrived stakes regarding Wades appearance feel superficial.

The worst part about DEADPOOL is also the reason it got made; the gratuitous sex, violence and vulgarity. Ryan Reynolds fought hard and long to bring an edgy R-rated DEADPOOL to theaters, and he definitely succeeds at that. There’s nothing heroic about DEADPOOL, other than the fact that he saves his girlfriend, and that’s totally fine by him. DEADPOOL, the character and the movie, stands against all the values Marvel’s other movies celebrate, and it’s a shame.

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‘deadpool’: film review.

Ryan Reynolds stars as a superhero not quite like the others in the latest — and certainly raunchiest — Marvel movie, directed by Tim Miller.

By Todd McCarthy

Todd McCarthy

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For the multitudes who feared that, after Fantastic Four, Fox might simply be rummaging too far down into Marvel’s basement in search of a few more scraps of lucre, the joke’s on them. It takes a little while to get in gear — or perhaps just to adjust to what’s going on here — but once it does, Deadpool drops trou to reveal itself as a really raunchy, very dirty and pretty funny goof on the entire superhero ethos, as well as the first Marvel film to irreverently trash the brand. Just what anyone suffering from genre burnout might appreciate at this point, as well as a big in-joke treat for all but the most reverent fanboys, this film looks to be hitting the market at just the right time — with Christmas releases now in the rearview mirror — to rake in some sweet returns.

Given the surprising amount of nudity, raw sex jokes and nonstop underlined and bold-faced, racy dialogue, it’s amusing to picture the countless pubescent boys who will be plotting a way to get into this extremely R-rated romp. Not only does Ryan Reynolds give it his all, shall we say, but the conversations here mostly resemble the sort of thing you’d expect to hear around last call at a Bakersfield biker bar. Or, more to the point, what you’d get if you mashed up the dialogue from the two previous scripts written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, Zombieland and G.I. Joe: Retaliation.

Release date: Feb 12, 2016

Last seen decapitated and heading down the chimney of a nuclear plant at the end of X-Men: Origins in 2009, Wade Wilson/Deadpool has always seemed like a tough nut to crack in terms of centering a mass-audience film on him. A brash and brazen mercenary, he’s an anti-hero with a film noir lead’s taste for the louche and low-down, as well as a character who, in narrative terms, stands out due to his predilection for breaking the fourth wall. Whether he could make the grade as the leading man of a franchise of his own was always a question, which partly accounts for the prolonged wait-and-see on Marvel’s part.

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Other reasons for hesitation lay in the character not being a superhero like all the others and, if the pic were to be done right, the necessity of an R rating — a place Marvel has never gone before. How to reconcile the brand’s image and fan base with such material? The answer probably lies in the fact that Marvel is so successful now, and so far down the line with their various franchises, that shaking things up was seen as permissible and maybe even a good move. Or perhaps executives aware early on of what was happening with Fantastic Four said, “Opposite direction! Now!”

At first, with some strained/cheeky opening credits (“a moody teen,” “a gratuitous cameo”) followed by an emotional-investment-free highway action sequence notable for its splatter gore content, things don’t look promising — just wiseass-y and needlessly violent. Who is this guy in red and black spandex with white fabric where eyes should be, who fights with two katanas, spins in the air in slo-mo and has wounds that heal at once? Shoot this guy full of holes and he’ll be back at you within seconds. “I may be super, but I’m no hero,” he cracks. Why should we care?

Flash back two years and things seem no better, save, perhaps, for the dude’s face, which now plainly belongs to Reynolds. A grown man who hangs at a skateboard park, Wade Wilson is a former Special Forces operative whose watering hole is a dive called Sister Margaret’s Home for Wayward Girls, where the guys are all former soldiers of fortune who never hit the jackpot and the gals look like Hooters rejects. Wade and a bitter hooker named Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) hit it off and get it on in a kinky montage that’s more out-there than what most Hollywood-made R-rated stuff ever serves up.

It’s right around here, and immediately afterward, when Wade is diagnosed as having late-stage cancer, that, ironically, the film really starts to click. When a doctor mentions the possibility of going to Chechnya for special treatment, Wade responds, “Isn’t that where you go to get cancer?” and you finally begin to sense that there might be something to this verbal speed-freak character after all.

The positioning of the flashback seems simple but serves the movie extremely well, especially with the arrival of Ajax (Ed Skrein, deeply evil), a doctor and head of something called the WeaponX workshop, who takes Wade on as a reclamation project and turns him into a fighting machine who can never die. Ajax’s sadism during the painful transformation process knows no bounds and, at the end of the ordeal, he takes particular pleasure in introducing Wade to his new face, which resembles ground beef (Vanessa’s measured reaction to beholding it is, “It’s a face … I’d be happy to sit on”).

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Now a freak behind his mask and form-fitting outfit, Wade/Deadpool has it out for Ajax, but their ultimate face-off, previewed in the opening scene, must wait until after Deadpool teams up with two unlikely cohorts: the metallic giant Colossus, who does what he can to protect him, and a rebellious teen who can’t possibly live up to her name, Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand). For his part, Ajax has his own one-woman hit squad in Angel Dust (mixed martial arts champ and Haywire star Gina Carano).

The final showdown is very small potatoes by Marvel standards and, of course, predictable, but compensates with humor, which is what floats the entire project. The script has the feel of something gone over again and again and yet again to double the number of jokes each time. The machine-gun approach doesn’t always hit, but it does enough so that, in the end, the number of laughs is pretty high.

Beyond even what Robert Downey Jr. has done in the Iron Man series, Reynolds lets fly here in a manic, sly, self-conscious way that leaves you not quite knowing what hit you: the irreverence slides quickly into lewd comic territory; the inside jokes about Marvel in particular and pop culture in general come fast and furious; the fourth-wall breakage is disarming; and the actor’s occasional fey, high-pitched voicings add yet another strange element. As in the presence of motor-mouthed comedians, you either sit there stone-faced or eventually capitulate to the cascade of weirdness and the fertility of wayward minds unleashed.

A longtime commercials and visual effects executive and creative director, Tim Miller hasn’t so much directed his first feature as liberated much of what has been bubbling under the surface of superhero films for a long time; it answers a lot of the questions you were afraid to ask.

For the record, Deadpool features one of Stan Lee’s best Marvel cameos — it’s actually funny.

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Production companies: Marvel, Kinberg Genre, The Donners’ Company Distributor: Fox Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, Ed Skrein, T.J. Miller, Gina Carano, Leslie Uggams, Brianna Hildebrand, Karan Soni, Jed Rees, Stefan Kapicic, Randal Reeder, Isaac C. Singleton Jr. Director: Tim Miller Screenwriters: Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick Producers: Simon Kinberg, Ryan Reynolds, Lauren Shuler Donner Executive producers: Stan Lee, John J. Kelly, Jonathon Komack, Martin, Aditya Sood, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick Director of photography: Ken Seng Production designer: Sean Haworth Costume designer: Angus Strathie Editor: Julian Clarke Music: Tom Holkenborg Visual effects supervisor: Jonathan Rothbart Casting: Ronna Kress

Rated R, 108 minutes

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By Peter Travers

Peter Travers

There’s a lot of huffing and puffing in Deadpool, but the only one who can blow down your resistance to yet another screwed-up citizen of the Marvel universe is Ryan Reynolds. Armed with an unlimited arsenal of delicious snark, Reynolds has a blast playing Wade Wilson, the Special Forces operative turned mercenary turned cancer patient turned medical experiment turned Deadpool, a scar-faced mutant with a penchant for superhero drag and a mouth on him.

As played by Reynolds, Deadpool looks at the camera and talks right to us. Nothing is sacred, including the opening credits which refer to the film’s creative team as “tools” and “asshats” and name-check Reynolds as People ‘s Sexiest Man Alive. Screenwriters  Rhett Rheese and Paul Wernick turn the comic created by Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza into their personal playing field for R-rated dirty talk and viscera-ripping violence. The PG-13 timidity of so many Marvel movies has made some of us hungry to see depraved crazies at the controls. Now we’ve got them. Deadpool has no off-switch. This dude keeps cracking wise even when he’s plotting vengeance against Ajax (Ed Skrein), the villain who made his face look like corn-beef hash.

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That’s one of the reasons Deadpool wears a mask and keeps away from Vanessa ( Homeland ‘s Morena Baccarin), a strip-joint hooker to whom he has pledged his heart. Believe it or not, Baccarin and Reynolds make you care about this hot couple from hell. And T.J. Miller gets in his licks as Deadpool’s bartender buddy from his Wade days. Newbie director Tim Miller keeps the action coming in gory chunks, mixing in appearances from bad-girl Angel Dust (Gina Carano) and two X-Men — Colossus (Stefan Kapicic) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand). Deadpool keeps ripping the studio for cheapness since it only provided two X-Men, but provides a nasty Wolverine impression you won’t want to miss.

I gotta tell you, this movie’s junky feel is part of its charm. Sure it goes on too long and repetition dulls its initial cleverness. Still, Deadpool is party time for action junkies and Reynolds may just have found the role that makes his career.

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Deadpool & Wolverine

Wolverine is recovering from his injuries when he crosses paths with the loudmouth, Deadpool. They team up to defeat a common enemy. Wolverine is recovering from his injuries when he crosses paths with the loudmouth, Deadpool. They team up to defeat a common enemy. Wolverine is recovering from his injuries when he crosses paths with the loudmouth, Deadpool. They team up to defeat a common enemy.

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• Trivia Hugh Jackman said he really was done playing the character of Wolverine after Logan (2017) . When asked why he chose to return for this film, he simply said, "I just wanted to do it, and I felt it in my gut."

Deadpool : [to Wolverine] Don't just stand there, you ape. Give me a hand up.

[Wolverine draws his claws]

Deadpool : Nope, I'm actually okay, thank you very much!

• Crazy credits The Marvel Studios logo is in black and red, Deadpool's colors.
• Connections Featured in Nerdrotic: Marvel Admits FAILURE - The Marvels Killed the M-She-U, and That's a Good Thing (2024)
• Soundtracks Happy Birthday Written by Mildred J. Hill and Patty S. Hill
• When will Deadpool & Wolverine be released? Powered by Alexa
• Why is Marvel Studios trying to fold the X-Men into the MCU? With the Quicksilver character in both series in different centuries with different storylines, and with Josh Brolin playng both Cable and Thanos, it wouldn't make sense. Wouldn't it just be easier to make a new X-Men movie in the MCU?
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Common sense media reviewers.

Nonstop violence, profanity, adult humor in super sequel.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Deadpool/Wade has his own, very violent code of ju

Lots of extremely iffy, outright illegal behavior,

Extremely strong, bloody, graphic violence: decapi

Wade's "baby butt" is visible, and there's a blink

Constant strong language (occasionally said by a t

Visible/mentioned brands include Crocs shoes, Merc

Wade lights and smokes a cigarette, drinks vodka i

Parents need to know that, like the original, Deadpool 2 is bloody, raunchy, violent, and filled with pop-culture references that may go over even some teens' heads. In other words, it's targeted specifically at older audiences. Expect tons of extremely graphic violence, much of which is close-up and…

Positive Messages

Deadpool/Wade has his own, very violent code of justice/morality, which frequently results in slaughter. But the movie also explores how superheroes/mutants/people with extra abilities struggle between helping others and following their own agenda/priorities. Ultimately promotes friendship, responsibility, teamwork, alliances, collaboration, and love. Clear lesson about how children can change lives: "Kids give us a chance to be better than we were."

Positive Role Models

Lots of extremely iffy, outright illegal behavior, but Wade follows his own code faithfully; it mostly involves justice against those who've done big wrongs. He clearly loves Vanessa and will do anything to protect her. Three X-Men help Deadpool even though it's not their fight. Russell is badly traumatized and searching for someone to bond with; he's desperate for connection. Deadpool reiterates the idea that life boils down to a few precious choices and moments. Even the "villains" have motives that audiences can empathize with. Diverse casting among key characters. Domino is a strong, capable woman who contributes just as much to the team as the men.

Violence & Scariness

Extremely strong, bloody, graphic violence: decapitations, brains oozing out of shots to the head, limbs sliced/shot off, torture, hand-to-hand combat, self-immolation, fireballs thrown with explosive results. People are crushed, smacked by trucks, impaled, burned by acidic vomit, run over, shredded, torn in half, etc. Tons of very bloody injuries, explosions, and hand-to-hand fights. One very sad death; other scenes show the tragic results of a future murder (including a dead child). Children abused by authority figures.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Wade's "baby butt" is visible, and there's a blink-and-miss shot of him showing baby genitals (during scenes when his legs/pelvic area are regrowing). Wade and Vanessa kiss passionately and plan to make love. A few other sexual/suggestive references, including some "flirting" and butt grabbing between Deadpool and Colossus. Vanessa's IUD is shown briefly.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Constant strong language (occasionally said by a teenager) includes: "f--k," "f---er," "f---ing," "motherf----r," "s--t," "a--hole," "ass," "bitch," "d--k," "p---y," "c--t," "pissing," "goddamn," "Jesus Christ," "douche," "c--k," and mashed-up insults like "s--t show," "s--t giggles," "d--k t-ts," "prick," "douche pool," "baby balls," and more. Middle-finger gestures.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Visible/mentioned brands include Crocs shoes, Mercedes, Apple, Teva sandals, Ford, Dodge, Budweiser, Huggies baby wipes, Toaster Strudel, LinkedIn, etc.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Wade lights and smokes a cigarette, drinks vodka in a bar (to the point that he can't stand up well), inhales a large portion of cocaine, etc. Boxed wine and beer shown.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that, like the original , Deadpool 2 is bloody, raunchy, violent, and filled with pop-culture references that may go over even some teens' heads. In other words, it's targeted specifically at older audiences. Expect tons of extremely graphic violence, much of which is close-up and very gory and gross: torture, decapitation, dismemberment, brutal hand-to-hand combat, and much, much more. Sympathetic characters die, and children are abused by authority figures. You'll hear "f--k" in nearly every scene, plus "s--t," "a--hole," "bitch," and a full range of other salty words. Adults also smoke, drink, and use drugs, and there are some sexual references, although fewer than in the first film (and there's no sexual nudity this time around -- just glimpses of a bare baby butt and quick-flash shot of baby genitals, played for humor). Despite all of this, the story does ultimately promote teamwork, collaboration, empathy, and believing that people, particularly kids, can change. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

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Community Reviews

• Parents say (50)
• Kids say (73)

Based on 50 parent reviews

It’s not that bad

A comment about the extended / uncut version (nudity)., what's the story.

DEADPOOL 2 begins with a startling sequence in which Wade ( Ryan Reynolds ) informs viewers that, as with Wolverine in Logan , he won't survive this movie. Then the action rewinds, and Wade narrates the distressing last few weeks he's had, which included a key character's death sending him into a tailspin. After the flashback, Wade teams up with Colossus (voiced by Stefan Kapicic) to become one of the X-Men in training. During a confrontation with a volatile, potentially out-of-control young fire-starter mutant named Russell ( Julian Dennison ) -- who's angry and trying to torch the "mutant rehabilitation" youth center he's been forced to stay in -- Wade goes off script and ends up landing both himself and Russell in prison. Eventually, Cable ( Josh Brolin ), a soldier from the future, arrives on a mission to alter the past in the name of preventing unspeakable crimes in the future. Then things really start going awry, and the movie becomes a race between Wade and Cable.

Is It Any Good?

Reynolds' hilariously offensive antihero serves up another round of snarky, trash-talking, gory, pop-culture-bashing shenanigans that will appeal to those who loved the first film. As with the original, it's important to note that this is not a typical superhero movie that families with elementary schoolers and tweens will want to see; it's truly best for older teens and adults who will understand and appreciate the humor (not to mention be able to stomach the incredibly gory violence). The movie is a nonstop barrage of one-liners that reference everything from whether the songs "Papa Can You Hear Me?" from Yentl and "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" from Frozen are overly similar to DC/Marvel in-jokes to nicknames (Wade calls Cable "Thanos") and sight gags (he lifts up a boom box, Say Anything style).

But among all the rapid-fire jokes is a sentimental notion: that kids, in this case the morally conflicted Russell, give adults the chance to be better people. Wade's interactions with Russell are both hilarious and bittersweet. And if the addition of new characters Russell and Cable isn't enough to intrigue viewers, there's also the introduction of the X-Force, an even motlier crew of mutants (plus one regular civilian) with somewhat middling powers: Zeitgeist ( Bill Skarsgard ), for example, can spew acidic vomit. At least Domino's ( Atlanta 's Zazie Beetz) power is good luck, which ends up being more helpful than Wade can imagine. Even Cable isn't the straight-up baddie you'd expect; he ends up having more depth than is strictly necessary. Reynolds and Brolin look like they're having the time of their lives playing off of each other, and -- spoiler alert ! -- the ending makes it clear that audiences can and should expect more from the Fourth Wall-breaking superhero. Oh, and -- as always -- stay for the credits.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the violence in Deadpool . How much is shown, and how is it different from the violence in other superhero movies? How does Deadpool's humor affect or mitigate the violence? What's the impact of media violence on kids?

Is Wade/Deadpool a role model ? Who are some other reluctant superheroes? What makes their stories compelling?

Are Wade and Vanessa in a healthy relationship? How do they encourage and support each other?

How does the movie convey the idea that teamwork is important? Does it emphasize any other positive character strengths ?

The people running the mutant orphanage were trying to "cure" the kids of their "condition." Do you think the filmmakers intended that situation to parallel any specific real-life issues? If so, which ones?

Movie Details

• In theaters : May 18, 2018
• On DVD or streaming : August 21, 2018
• Cast : Ryan Reynolds , Morena Baccarin , Josh Brolin
• Director : David Leitch
• Inclusion Information : Female actors, Latino actors
• Studio : Twentieth Century Fox
• Genre : Action/Adventure
• Topics : Superheroes , Friendship
• Run time : 111 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : strong violence and language throughout, sexual references and brief drug material
• Last updated : February 18, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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Deadpool review – crude superhero laughs

Ryan Reynold’s smart-talking antihero makes a profanely amusing addition to the X-Men universe

“A fourth wall break inside a fourth wall break? That’s like… 16 walls.” This relentlessly self-referential antihero romp comes on like a slightly smug corporate riposte to Matthew Vaughn’s altogether more anarchic Kick-Ass , flipping the bird at its own heritage (the opening titles tell us that it’s produced by “Ass-hats” and directed by “an overpaid tool”) and cracking wise about how confusing these comic-strip timelines have become, and the cheapskate nature of the ever-expanding X-Men universe . Ryan Reynolds is the potty-mouthed avenger whose life is ruined when enforced mutation robs him of his Hugo Boss chops, leaving him looking “like Freddy Krueger face-fucked a topographical map of Utah”. Limb-lopping sweary ultra-violence ensues, offering a fairly consistent stream of dirty cheap laughs as Deadpool gets rear-ended by bullets and butt-plugs alike, while those around him lose their hearts and heads – but mostly their heads. Inevitably the final act descends into the usual punchy/smashy orgy of collapsing buildings that is a dreary franchise requirement. But for the most part it’s crudely disreputable fare, buoyed up by ironic bubblegum tunes (a Guantanamo-style torture montage to the strains of Mr Sandman is a nice touch) and driven by Viz -style “shit biscuit” profanity.

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'Deadpool': Movie Review

— -- Rated: R

Starring: Ryan Reynolds

Four out of five stars

Its been years in the making but fans of Marvel’s incendiary, foul-mouthed anti-hero superhero Deadpool are finally getting a film, and it’s the movie they’ve always wanted.

Ryan Reynolds plays Wade Wilson, a mercenary with a heart of mold. There’s nothing sentimental about him. He hangs out at a bar with other mercenaries and hit men, run by a guy named Weasel (T.J. Miller). Miller is the yin to Reynolds’… yin. They’re a ferocious comedy duo that must have supplied the editor with enough improvised material for a 10-episode series on Netflix . But I digress.

Weasel runs a “dead pool” – that is, a betting pool with odds on which one of his patrons is likely to die next. Weasel, a funny guy but a terrible person, bets on his best buddy when Wade learns he has terminal cancer. Then some shady organization offers Wade a cure. It works, but it disfigures him. That’s the bad news. The good news is he’s also developed incredible regenerative healing powers and strength. Meet Deadpool.

'Zoolander 2': Movie Review

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But before he becomes Deadpool, Wade meets Vanessa (Morena Baccarin), who shares his wit and values. Like Wade and Weasel, that makes her a terrible person, and a terribly entertaining character. Wade and Vanessa fall hard for each other and in the process we’re treated to a delightful and gut-bustingly funny montage of love scenes that, I’m guessing, took days to shoot.

Reynolds, as Deadpool, defies pretty much every superhero movie convention. He points out “superhero landings” made by characters, references the legal reason there aren’t more X-Men in the movie, constantly talks to the audience, and is self-deprecating in a way I’ve never seen before. And that’s just skimming the surface.

Ed Skrein, star of the recent "The Transporter Refueled," is in his element as the stereotypical British bad guy, while Leslie Uggams, as Blind Al, is the best superhero roommate any superhero movie has ever known.

There’s no doubt that fans are going to flip for Deadpool, but it’s not perfect. Reynolds and company get overzealous with breaking down the fourth wall and disparaging superhero movies, and realistically, it’s impossible to keep up the hilarious, breakneck pace the film establishes in the first 20 minutes.

Even so, groovy non-linear story-telling and Reynolds’ frenetic energy and comedic timing will keep the most superficial fans entertained. Deadpool is subversive fun and a likely blockbuster.

The characters appearing in “Deadpool” are owned by Marvel Entertainment, a division of Disney, the parent company of ABC News.

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Wolverine Might Finally Do Something He's Never Done In A Movie For Deadpool 3

It only took 25 years to see this version of Wolverine on the big screen.

By Darryn Bonthuys on April 10, 2024 at 6:36AM PDT

Deadpool 3--or Deadpool and Wolverine if you're going by the film's official title--will finally see Marvel's favorite mutant suited up in a costume straight out of the comic books, and according to some leaked promotional images, it looks like he'll also finally be donning the signature cowl of the fan-favorite character.

While images of Wolverine actor Hugh Jackman were revealed several months ago, he wasn't seen wearing a mask in those images. The recent " Marvel Messiah " trailer for Deadpool and Wolverine only hinted at Logan's appearance--presumably before he turns Deadpool into a human kebab--but photos of promotional items from the recent CinemaCon trade expo have shown off Wolverine fully suited up and ready to rumble.

NEW LOOK‼️ Deadpool & Wolverine cup at #CinemaCon ! #DeadpoolWolverine pic.twitter.com/EaLabChBOr — The Movie Podcast @ CinemaCon (@TheMoviePodcast) April 9, 2024

It only took 25 years, but it looks like this will be the most comic book-accurate incarnation of Wolverine, visually. Hugh Jackman's first run as the character saw him slip into a militarized leather outfit in the X-Men trilogy of films, while subsequent appearances saw him alternate between civilian clothes and battle gear that paid subtle homage to his origins. In all of those appearances, Logan never once wore a mask, although a deleted scene for 2013's The Wolverine did tease his brown costume.

Previously, Deadpool and Wolverine director Shawn Levy explained how he and his team went through "multiple, multiple, multiple iterations and fittings" before they settled on the final look for Wolverine. "It also helps that I'm making this movie within the MCU, so I have access to an army of the nerdiest nerds available to a Marvel project," Levy said.

Deadpool and Wolverine is out in theaters this July and is Marvel's only film coming in 2024 as the company aims to produce fewer and better movies . Alongside Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, the film also stars Karan Soni as Dopinder and the actor has teased many "surprise" cameos in the movie .

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The Biggest New Comic Book Releases of April 2024

Deadpool, nightwing, ghost machine, tmnt #150 and more..

April is here, Spring has sprung and there are a lot of new comics worth checking out over the next several weeks. April is an especially big month for TMNT fans. Not only is the current TMNT volume reaching its conclusion in the epic issue #150 finale, but TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman is kicking off a new, semi-autobiographical series called Drawing Blood. Comic readers can also look forward to a new volume of Deadpool, a major Superman crossover called House of Brainiac and the debut of the first three monthly titles from Geoff Johns' Ghost Machine.

Read on to learn about these and the other big comics worth reading in April 2024, and be sure to let us know in the comments below what you'll be reading this month.

Deadpool #1

Deadpool (2024) #1 cover art gallery.

Creative Team: Cody Ziglar & Rogê Antônio

Publisher: Marvel

Release Date: April 3

Deadpool is finally blasting his way back to the big screen this summer, so it goes without saying that Marvel has a new Deadpool comic lined up to capitalize on the hype. This series should be an easy way to dive into the franchise. It introduces a new villain named Death Grip, one who seems absolutely determined to kill the unkillable Wade Wilson.

But easily the biggest selling point here is that the new Deadpool is written by Miles Morales: Spider-Man's Cody Ziglar. Ziglar has become an increasingly important voice at Marvel in recent years, and we have faith he can nail that trademark blend of hyper-violent action and self-aware humor that makes for a good Deadpool comic.

Ghost Machine's Geiger, Redcoat & Rook: Exodus

Ghost machine april 2024 launch titles.

Creative Team: Geoff Johns, Jason Fabok, Gary Frank & Bryan Hitch

Publisher: Image

Geoff Johns, Gary Frank, Bryan Hitch and Jason Fabok are some of the biggest names in the comic book industry. It's a big deal that all four have decided to leave DC behind and spearhead a new publishing company together. The result is Ghost Machine , a new publishing line that will comprise no fewer than four shared universes by the end of 2024.

Readers got a taste of what this new line has to offer in the recent Ghost Machine #1 one-shot. Now the creators are launching their first three monthly titles on the same day. Geiger is a known quantity, as it continues Johns and Frank's post-apocalyptic saga from the first volume. Redcoat introduces an immortal rogue who exists in that same universe, while Rook: Exodus is set in a brand-new world where masked wardens can control animals. All three books are looking stunning, and we can't wait to see these new storylines unfold.

Superman: House of Brainiac

Superman: house of brainiac cover art gallery.

Creative Team: Joshua Williamson & Rafa Sandoval

Publisher: DC

Release Date: April 9 & April 16

If you've been reading Joshua Williamson's Superman run (and you really should be), you'll want to make sure you also pick up Action Comics over the next few months. Williamson is pulling double duty as Action Comics undergoes its second evolution of 2024 in issue #1064. That issue kicks off a new crossover called House of Brainiac. As the Superman family clashes with Brainiac yet again, they'll find their enemy has an entire army of Czarnians at their beck and call. Good thing Lobo is ready to throw his lot in with the Man of Steel.

House of Brainiac is shaping up to be one of the most important DC storylines of 2024. It directly sets the stage for Mark Waid and Dan Mora's Absolute Power , introducing Brainiac's latest evolution as the Brainiac Queen.

Rat City #1

Spawn: rat city preview gallery.

Creative Team: Erica Schultz & Zé Carlos

Release Date: April 10

It may not actually have the word "Spawn" in the title, but Rat City is the latest important addition to the rapidly growing Spawn franchise . Fortunately, it also happens to be an accessible series that stands on its own from the rest of the line. It's essentially Spawn's answer to Batman Beyond or Spider-Man 2099. Rat City is set in the futuristic landscape of 2111, as a new Hellspawn takes up the mantle. But the twist this time is that Peter Cairn isn't undead, but a living soldier powered by nano technology.

For more on what to expect from the new series, check out our video interview with writer Erica Schultz:

Nightwing #300

Nightwing #300 cover art gallery.

Creative Team: Tom Taylor, Marv Wolfman, Michael Conrad & Various Artists

Release Date: April 16

Nightwing #113 also happens to be the 300th Nightwing comic, and you'd better believe that DC is celebrating that milestone. This oversized issue features a new story from the regular creative team of Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo as well as bonus tales from New Teen Titans writer Marv Wolfman and others. Details are scant on this issue, but it looks to be delivering a major new wrinkle to the status quo, even as Taylor and Redondo gear up for the climax of their critically acclaimed run. Enjoy the ride, because it's only going to get more bumpy from here for Dick Grayson.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #150

Teenage mutant ninja turtles #150 cover art gallery.

Creative Team: Sophie Campbell, Dan Duncan, Vincenzo Federici & Fero Peniche

Publisher: IDW

Release Date: April 17

2024 is a big one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book line. Not only did IDW recently kick off the long-awaited TMNT: The Last Ronin II , they're ending the current TMNT monthly series at the auspicious issue #150 mark. This issue serves as the capstone to writer Sophie Campbell's long run on the series. Donatello is literally racing against time as he tracks down his future self to learn how to defeat Armaggon. Expect an epic finale and a fitting conclusion to what has easily been one of the best incarnations of the TMNT franchise in any medium. New TMNT writer Jason Aaron will have some tall shoes to fill this summer.

Drawing Blood #1

Drawing blood #1 cover art gallery.

Creative Team: David Avallone, Kevin Eastman, Ben Bishop & Troy Little

Release Date: April 24

TMNT fans should be on the lookout for a very different type of comic the week after TMNT #150 hits shelves. With Drawing Blood, TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman is drawing inspiration from his own life and career as he helps tell the story of a fictional creator trying to escape the shadow of his world-famous creation.

Shane Bookman and his brother Paul created the Radically Rearranged Ronin Ragdolls as teenagers. But decades later, with fame and fortune having long since evaporated, Shane is struggling to build something new and escape the hired killers gunning for him. The series takes its cues from Eastman's own experiences and the many interesting stories he's encountered in his years in Hollywood, and the result promises to be a comic that's both larger-than-life and deeply personal.

In other comic book news, Marvel's X-Men '97 prequel has its own Sad Wolverine meme , and we've got an exclusive preview of this year's Stranger Things FCBD 2024 story .

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter .

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'Abigail' Review: Radio Silence's Vampire Flick Is All Guts, No Glory

Alisha Weir and Dan Stevens shine in a shallow if bloody new monster movie.

The Big Picture

• Abigail offers a mix of horror subgenres, keeping audiences on their toes with twists and turns.
• The film shines with a zany cast of characters and intense action sequences directed by Radio Silence.
• Melissa Barrera's portrayal falls flat, lacking depth compared to the rest of the cast.

If there’s one vampire movie that’s poised to take the world by storm, it’s Radio Silence ’s Abigail , the story of a sweet little ballerina hiding a monstrous facade underneath. The film is highly anticipated not just for fans of the Ready or Not directors, but for horror fans in general, as the duo behind the last two Scream films helm their very own Universal Monster movie. The new film, starring Melissa Barrera , Dan Stevens , Kathryn Newton , and more joins a long legacy of monster movies, adding yet another vampire to a long and storied canon.

Anyone familiar with horror films knows that it’s beyond stupid to kidnap a monster — including the audience at Overlook Film Festival, where I attended the film’s world premiere — but that’s not the case for the crew of Abigail , who spirit the young ballerina ( Alisha Weir ) away to a country estate, in hopes of trading her for fifty million dollars. Naturally, things take a turn as fast as you can say Nosferatu , and there’s no shortage of twists and turns as the lights go out and bodies start to drop .

Abigail (2024)

After a group of criminals kidnap the ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, they retreat to an isolated mansion, unaware that they're locked inside with no normal little girl.

The film plays with a lot of subgenres — locked door mystery, slasher film, haunted house, alongside the obvious vampire story — that it almost seems like Radio Silence couldn’t decide what their favorite was and opted for a taster menu of everything. That works in its favor occasionally, especially since its monstrous little ballerina, surprisingly, takes up so little of its screen time. Turning such a zany cast of characters against each other House on Haunted Hill style is an inspired if oft-overused idea, especially considering the level of talent Universal managed to wrangle.

'Abigail's Crew Is Delightfully Quirky for a Horror Film

Kathryn Newton follows up her overlooked performance in Lisa Frankenstein as Sammy , the crew’s bimbo (I say that with affection) techie, tied with the late Angus Cloud for best comedic relief. (It’s devastating to know that we’ll never get more from the latter, and that we didn’t even get more from him in this specific film, hilarious as he is.) The two pair with Kevin Durand to make up the standard brainless half of the crew, while Barrera and Stevens make up the qualified serious side. Stevens is, naturally, as unhinged as ever as the ruthless and intelligent Frank, echoing bits of his performances in Legion and The Guest to spectacularly entertaining effect.

In fact, Abigail is at its best when it pits the Downton Abbey alum against Weir’s vampire , with both operating on a level of batshit the rest of the cast can only dream of. Neither has any qualms about biting into the material they’re given (pun intended) with relish, and it makes me grateful that Stevens has seemingly bypassed the traditional action hero/male lead career path in favor of playing what I can only describe as fucked up little guys with severe God complexes. Similarly, Radio Silence are at their best as directors when they lean hard into the gore of it all, imploding vampires like pop bottles someone stuck a pack of Mentos into.

Melissa Barrera Doesn’t Quite Reach Final Girl Status in 'Abigail'

Barrera, unfortunately, is the only snag in the film’s otherwise pleasantly schlocky fabric . Her performance, compared to the rest of her castmates, is uninspired and flat, reminiscent more of a first read-through than a final film. From moment one, it’s obvious to the audience that she’s the Important Character, but not in any way that allows her to earn any amount of sympathy. She is simply there to be conventionally attractive and fill the final girl role, and doesn’t seem like she’s even interested in doing that, a hard one-eighty from her performance in Scream .

It’s entirely unsurprising where the story goes for her, which becomes all the more predictable given her rote "straight-man" routine. At least Stevens gets to go a little apeshit — she just passively snarks and acts above it all . She’s the robot in a crew of Roger Rabbit characters, reading out exposition and monologues with a stiffness that would make even C-3PO jealous. She has very little life to her, and I never fear for her even once over the course of the film in the way I mourn the other characters who find themselves being picked off one by one. If nothing else, her being thrown around like a ragdoll by the film’s vampires is a welcome respite from learning anything more about what’s already a cardboard cutout of a character.

I’m not sure if it’s the Riverdale -adjacent Gen-Z style of acting or if I just keep watching movies with building block scripts that make for stories that don’t push the limits nearly as much as they could. There are points of Abigail that feel very much like paint-by-numbers horror , filled with exposition dumps that effectively took me out of the gooey, bloody narrative in their need to cut tension. It’s symptomatic of big-budget studio horror, which feels the need to hold the audience’s hand so they aren’t too scared at the end of everything.

To their credit, Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett do their best with that limited narrative palette , and it does make me wonder if Stevens will become a frequent collaborator of theirs, given how much fun he seemed to be having soaked in fake blood. Their action sequences are perhaps the best and most entertaining of all the films I saw at Overlook, and I can’t disparage anyone too much when they’ve admitted to using a blood cannon to achieve their desired level of gore.

While their trademark meta-ness might not land in Abigail , for a Friday night popcorn movie, there’s a lot to enjoy, especially Weir, who makes such a sharp turn away from her role in Matilda that she nearly seems like an entirely different person — or vampire. She’s a solid addition to the canon of vampires, and if nothing else, she gives little old Claudia a run for her money.

Abigail is a vampire movie at its best when it leans into the gore and a delightful performance by Dan Stevens.

• The film's comic relief, brought to life by Kathryn Newton and Angus Cloud, is effectively hilarious.
• Dan Stevens and Alisha Weir are each spectacular, proving to be the chaotic duo the film benefits most from.
• Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett craft some great action sequences that never skimp on the gore.
• Melissa Barrera doesn't bring the same depth to her performance with the character ultimately falling flat.
• With a building block script, the film doesn't push the limits nearly as much as it could.

Abigail had its World Premiere at the 2024 Overlook Film Festival. It comes to theaters in the U.S. starting April 19. Click below for showtimes.

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Screen Rant

"exactly what happened with apocalypse now": francis ford coppola responds to megalopolis' mixed reviews.

Francis Ford Coppola responds to the mixed reception of his high-concept epic sci-fi film Megalopolis, seeming unfazed by its critiques.

• Francis Ford Coppola likens the Megalopolis reception to the first reactions to Apocalypse Now , confident in its future appreciation.
• Megalopolis faced production challenges and has no distributor or release date yet.
• Director Coppola and star Adam Driver defend Megalopolis , touting its uniqueness and visionary quality.

Francis Ford Coppola responds to the mixed early reactions that his film Megalopolis is receiving. The high-concept Coppola film is a sci-fi epic surrounding the story of an architect who wants to rebuild New York City as a utopia. The star-studded Megalopolis cast includes Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Aubrey Plaza, Nathalie Emmanuel, Shia LaBeouf, Jason Schwartzman, Forest Whitaker, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, and Dustin Hoffman.

As per The Daily Beast, Coppola has responded to the divisiveness of Megalopolis, saying that “ this is exactly what happened with Apocalypse Now 40 years ago ,” in that there were “ contradicting views ” expressed about the film. He feels confident it will be “ the same situation with Megalopolis, ” and in time, people will come to appreciate the movie. Check out the full quote from Coppola below:

“This is exactly what happened with Apocalypse Now 40 years ago. There were very contradicting views expressed, but the audience never stopped going to see the film, and to this day Apocalypse Now is still in very profitable distribution. I am sure this will be the same situation with Megalopolis. It will stand the test of time.”

Megalopolis Has A Fraught Production History

Apocalypse Now is often considered one of the most definitive war films of all time . Within Coppola’s filmography, its greatness is often eclipsed by the Godfather trilogy, but it is nonetheless considered one of his most important projects. Still, using Apocalypse Now as the archetype for standing the test of time is complicated. As much as its cinematic achievement is recognized today, controversy over the portrayal of the Vietnamese characters in the film has only grown with time. So, while parts of Apocalypse Now are appreciated, the sanctity of its legacy is messy.

Messiness is already something that characterizes Megalopolis ' production . Though Coppola imagined the beginnings of Megalopolis back in 1979, getting it to the screen has been an enormous challenge. The film struggled to find a studio for production and distribution, leading the Godfather auteur to self-fund the massive project. Furthermore, it saw key members of its crew quit part way through the production, leaving Coppola and his team to have to scramble for a way to complete it. To date, it still does not have a distributor nor a release date.

Coppola springs to the film’s defense, and is implying that it is some form of unshakable masterpiece.

The bad press surrounding Megalopolis has left much of its production team on the defensive about the film. This includes Megalopolis star Driver , who recently called the work “ undefinable ” and “ really unique .” He called Coppola “ a visionary ,” and spoke highly of the film, as he has throughout its entire process.

Coppola is no exception in the fight to stand up for Megalopolis . Even in the face of criticism, and after long-standing production challenges, the director does not at all seem to accept the words of any Megalopolis naysayers. Instead, Coppola springs to the film’s defense, and is implying that it is some form of unshakable masterpiece. Audiences will have to judge for themselves when Megalopolis is eventually released, after all this time.

Source: The Daily Beast

Megalopolis (2024)

Megalopolis, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, is a visionary 2024 film exploring the ambitious dream of reconstructing New York City into a utopia, following a devastating disaster. The narrative delves into the clash between the architect's utopian vision and the political and personal turmoil that ensues. With a star-studded cast, the film examines themes of ambition, power, and the human spirit's resilience against the backdrop of a futuristic metropolis.