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'Once Upon A Deadpool' isn't a complete waste of time, but it's close

There are some — albeit few and far in-between — bits of fresh material here.
Credit: Twentieth Century Fox
Promotional photo for "Once Upon a Deadpool" from Twentieth Century Fox

Fun fact: "Once Upon A Deadpool" doesn't even have an IMDB page. You have to go to the page for "Deadpool 2" to find out information about this sneaky Christmas film from David Leitch.

The reasoning behind this omission is quite clear: this is a condensed, cleaner, and all-around diet version of this past summer's sequel-with Fred Savage in tow. The running gag here is based off "The Princess Bride", Rob Reiner's tale with Peter Falk reading a young Savage a classic love story. Here, Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) reads a kidnapped Savage the story of...a movie released a few months ago.

In a nutshell, there's no real reason for this movie to exist. If you were going in like me and thinking it was going to be a long unseen and uncut deleted scene carousel, let me save you the trouble and the cash. It's not that at all. "Once Upon A Deadpool" is a cash grab, and while I laughed a lot, it was due to the fact of watching a re-release of "Deadpool 2" (which I loved) with all the f-words taken out, so teens in middle school can watch it too.

There's a couple of funny bits with Savage, especially one centering around a Matt Damon joke and the debate of the 'lazy writing' in "Deadpool". There are some — albeit few and far in-between — bits of fresh material here.

There are two reasons why this movie exists:

*Raising money for a kids cancer foundation, Fudge Cancer. A portion of the proceeds from each ticket will go there. Any help in fighting a terrible disease is a fine reason to laugh, especially if it's the very one that set our anti-hero on his devilish ways.

*An extremely classy Stan Lee cameo and tribute at the end of the credits. Spoiler alert here, but the best part of this movie happens at the very end. Outtakes from the "Deadpool 2" trailer that featured the phone booth and the failed attempt to catch the robber show Lee hamming it up for the camera. Afterward, interview footage has Lee hoping that his legacy reminds people of the good stories he told.

It's great, but a little late. Overall, I could think of better things to do in a movie theater right now than rehash a summer blockbuster with Reynolds and company, no matter how funny the baby leg scene is. Then again, I could think of worse things to do as well.

If you want to laugh at "Deadpool" again and send some dollars to a cancer-fighting foundation, give this movie a look.

Or donate from home, save your money, and watch both "Deadpool" movies instead.

"Once Upon A Deadpool" isn't a complete waste of time, but it's close.

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