Deadpool 2: Super Duper $@%!#& Cut (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)

Deadpool 2 should be a happy review for me considering the very first 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray I bought back in 2016 way before I even had a set up was the first Deadpool movie.  So with that train of thought I’m very honored to be covering the second.  The sole reason, however, I’m not flipping doing cartwheels over it all is because I just think of the film as average.  It was not as memorable as the first film was to me, which I put on a pedestal.  Deadpool 2 felt stale to me.  Were my expectations too high?  That’s what I was hoping to prove given this 4K UHD review of Deadpool 2 marks my second viewing of it.  Everybody else loved it so why didn’t I?  Low and behold Fox’s marketing had a disclaimer for me, which I’ll sum up here.  “If your second time wasn’t enough, your second, second time will blow you away. The Deadpool 2 Super Duper $@%!#& Cut gives you even more of everyone’s favorite red-spandexed superhero now with 15 minutes of brand-new action and jokes lovingly inserted throughout. That’s a whole lotta D in a surprisingly small package!”  Let’s get started!

Film 

Deadpool 2 is the eleventh installment in Fox’s X-Men film series.  Sad to say, but with Disney’s takeover this could very well be the last Rated-R X-Men film we ever see.  I really hope I’m wrong about that, but I digress about my disdain of Disney’s takeover of Fox here.  This one is very much a direct sequel to the first film and is directed by David Leitch from a screenplay written by Rhett Rheese, Paul Wernick and even Ryan Reynolds.  Reynolds stars as our mercenary hero with a mouth alongside Josh Brolin, Morena Baccarin, Julian Dennison, Zazie Beetz, T.J. Miller, Brianna Hildebrand and Jack Kesy.  In our sequel here Deadpool not only seeks vengeance, but also forms the  X-Force team to protect a young mutant with fiery powers from the time-traveling soldier known as Cable (Brolin).

Needless to say Deadpool 2 was a bonafide cash cow for the studio.  It more than quintupled its budget at the box office (minus marketing of course) making it one of the highest-grossing films of 2018, the third highest grossing R-rated one and also the third highest-grossing of the X-Men series.  Boom!  And as I stated up above already the critics and fans loved this one.  So needless to say I was looking forward to a second viewing of this one especially now that it exists as an extended cut too.  This Super Duper $@%!#& Cut was originally screened at San Diego Comic-Con this year and includes a cut montage of Deadpool trying to commit suicide in various ways, an extended sequence in the X-Mansion, and alternate versions of jokes that were not chosen for the film’s theatrical version.  In other words not too much really is changed or noticeable in my opinion.

So after a second helping of Deadpool 2, this time some 15 minutes more of it, I find myself feeling much the same as I did with my initial theatrical outing.  I laughed some more and appreciated all the one liners, but it just felt devoid of the magic of the first.  Cable was once again unsatisfying to me.  The story felt average and by the end I still just wanted him to die due to lack of deeper character development and rehashed shock value.  The other part that bugged me were the after credit scenes.  While I’m in the minority here I’m just sick and tired of the same old, tired device these X-Men movies utilize to get themselves out of jams.  By the time you have invested two hours of your life into this the ending credits scenes make you question your wits and choice to do so.  Will you do this to yourself again?  Ultimately, I’m just left with a shell of an above average film here not the 4 to 4.5 scores most critics gave to it.

Despite my disdain for the story I really am happy to have a second film with Deadpool.  I think there’s a lot of fun to be had with this movie and let’s be honest with ourselves.  The chemistry and laughs shared between the onscreen stars is once again appealing, satisfying and leaves you wanting more.  Speaking of “once again” Reynolds owns every single onscreen moment and I applaud him for everything he has done over the years to make this franchise even remotely possible and ultimately exist.  Truth be told I think Domino has the coolest super power…being lucky.  I’m just saying though.  Also, if humor is something you need in your Marvel action movies, then look no further than Deadpool and Deadpool 2.  If there should be a third go around, I personally would love to see them up the ante.  I love seeing all the Morena Baccarin I can get, but must there be a third movie about losing her again?  Have a kid already.  Maybe do a Taken story.  I don’t know.  Just give me something more, and keep those X-Men cameos and Easter eggs coming too…minus the convenience of time travel.  Sigh.

For even greater insight to the film as a whole please refer your attention to Sir Aaron Neuwirth’s Blu-ray review of it all over here.

Video 

The below video score and related critique of things here are based solely upon my viewing of the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray presentation of Fox’s Deadpool 2.  The 1080p Blu-ray version was reviewed over here.

• Encoding: HEVC / H.265
• Resolution: 4K (2160p)
• Dolby Vision: No
• HDR: Yes
• Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
• Clarity/Detail: While the colors may not be that vibrant (we’ll cover that in a moment) it’s the detail and clarity that shine through in this 4K presentation.  Probably the most intricate part of it is our main hero’s red costume.  It looks so real like you can reach out and touch the thousands of grooves and stitches in it.  So yeah there’s textures every which way you look in this one from the many costumed characters and even the black scuffed pads in Deadpool’s armor to the bricks that make up buildings, porous concrete and more.  My favorite though has to be the goosebumps clearly visible on Morena’s arms in the beginning.  I guess you can “clearly” say I have a thing for her.  Ha!
• Depth: Because the on-screen characters all exhibit a sense of the three-dimensional pop to them they easily stand out from the backgrounds.  Notable environments that highlight the depths of the presentation here include the Ice Prison and even the X-Men mansion.
• Black Levels: The black levels throughout are very natural in appearance, but never overly dark or deep.  There’s also no crush to report either.
• Color Reproduction: The colors are where I feel like the first film many of the uninitiated will tend to complain.  They’re not the brightest nor are they supposed to be.  While some may call them dull I prefer to use the words lifelike and natural in appearance.  There are moments of vibrancy, but I appreciate the accuracy of them all here.  
• Flesh Tones: Speaking of accuracy I feel the skin tones are all natural and life like in appearance despite the makeup jobs done on Reynolds to scar him up. 
• Noise/Artifacts: Things were clean and well kept throughout here with no moments of unwanted noise or artifacts.

Audio 

Like I mentioned up above in the video section, the below audio score and critical comments of such are based solely upon my viewing of Fox’s 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray presentation of Deadpool 2.  I do want you to know that the  4K UHD Disc comes armed with a Dolby Atmos surround track while the 1080p Blu-ray only comes equipped with a DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 one and is reviewed here.

• Audio Format(s): English Dolby Atmos, English Descriptive Audio 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
• Dynamics: The Atmos surround track has a lot to deliver on here.  It has to keep an upbeat and positive, fun tone wherever possible, but also deliver on the chaos and action associated with the character of Deadpool.  Luckily it delivers on all cylinders.  While dialogue is not overly loud it definitely doesn’t get drowned out amidst all the chaotic events unfolding on-screen.  It’s a wide presentation at all times complete with narration, a happening soundtrack and killer gunslinging from all possible angles.  Most notably though is the front channels feel vastly wide in everything that develops from within them with lots of extra breathing room to spare.
• Height: There’s a lot to love about the height channel in this Atmos track such as all the many explosions, songs pumping through, blood squirts, rain, thunder, aircrafts such as the X-Men’s jet and a helicopter and the never ending hurling fireballs Russell throws throughout.  There are even moments of Reynold’s narration that bleed through from above.  It’s pretty nifty.
• Low Frequency Extension: Equally impressive is how active the subwoofer stays in moments of action and pumping out the jams.  Explosions, gunshots, hurling fireballs, chaos, destruction, action and more all strike with effectiveness and weight.  However, my favorite scenes highlighting the use of the LFE channel from an effect standpoint are the dream sequences Deadpool finds himself in submerged under water.   
• Surround Sound Presentation: Many of the same elements of the LFE presentation are found in the rear channels such as the many explosions, gunshots and more.  However, I prefer highlighting the directionality employed in the rears such as the many occasions of glass breaks and voices.  The latter is the coolest to me as it’s the little things that kill.  Deadpool 2 is dialogue heavy due to all the wise-cracking so there is a lot of front loading in this one.
• Dialogue Reproduction: The dialogue levels for me were all clear and intelligible throughout the presentation.  No complaints here from me.

Extras 

Aaron Neuwirth says it best as he exclaims “Deadpool 2 is thankfully the sort of film that feels designed for a home media release, given how much care has been put into delivering an ultimate experience when it comes to extra features.”  There’s a smorgasbord of stuff to take in here so make yourself comfortable for awhile.  However, before you do that I want to call your attention to a very important matter here.  You may notice your 4K UHD set seems extra heavy and bulky.  That’s because it really is!  There’s a whopping four discs inside, 2 UHD and 2 Blu-ray.  There are two cuts of the film included within, theatrical (119 minutes) and Super Duper Cut (134 minutes), and each cut appears on a separate disc on both respective formats.  That’s a lot of bang for your buck!  So no matter what life throws at you this set basically has a disc for you.  Ha ha.  In addition to all the extras and 1080p/4K UHD versions on the various discs there’s also a Digital Copy to boot here of course redeemable via Movies Anywhere.  Let’s take a close look at the extras housed on the Blu-ray Disc as already covered in detail here in the Blu-ray review.

• Audio Commentary – This one is available only in the theatrical version of the film and features audio commentary by Ryan Reynolds, David Leitch, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick.  Aaron Neuwirth exclaims in his Blu-ray review that “As ambivalent as I am towards the film, I do enjoy what these guys have to say about it. Good fun and insight to be found, with plenty of anecdotes and more.”
• Deleted/Extended Scenes (HD, 2:36) – This features the “baby Hitler” sequence and even a diaper change.
• Gag Reel (HD, 3:11)
• Deadpool Family Values: Cast of Characters (HD, 15:09) – Here the cast and crew discuss the main theme of the film – family, in addition to profiling the new characters in this sequel.
• David Leitch Not Lynch: Directing DP2 (HD, 11:39) – Here we have an 11-minute look at what Leitch brings to this sequel as the new director.
• Deadpool’s Lips are Sealed: Secrets and Easter Eggs (HD, 12:52) – This is a cool one.  Here we have a look at the process of holding back certain aspects of the film, before its release.
• Until Your Face Hurts: Alt Takes (HD, 9:25) – The filmmakers go over what it takes to write a sequel to a film that relies on shock value and how valuable it is to have Ryan Reynolds as one of the writers.
• Roll with the Punches: Action and Stunts (HD, 6:57) – This one is a look at filming the action sequences.
• The Deadpool Prison Experiment (HD, 11:28) – This extra puts focus on Russell and the prison sequence, “The Icebox.”
• The Most Important X-Force Member (HD, 2:21) – This one is all about a very important look at the character of Peter.
• Chess with Omega Red (HD, 1:16) – Here we have a look at the work that went into placing Omega Red into the background of the Uncut movie.
• Swole and Sexy (HD, 2:12) – In this extra the “smaller, younger” characters get some time to shine, along with Josh Brolin.
• “3-Minute Monologue” (HD, 2:14) – Josh Brolin has some fun in the makeup chair.
• Deadpool’s Fun Sack 2
  • Videos (HD, 35:22) – All the promotional material and other gags for the film can be found here.
  • Stills (HD) – 28 fun images that added to the marketing.

Summary 

There you have it ladies, gents, boys and girls.  I’m in the minority with regards to my critique of the film overall, but this one is really all about the fans.  There are lots of them and it’s really a no-brainer fo you all to pick up Deadpool 2 on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo set.  Coupled with the best audio and video presentations you’ll find of this film and you have one hell of a supplemental features package to boot too.  If you don’t have this 4K title yet, there shouldn’t even be a debate or struggle to decide.  Click on that link below and bring home Mutha F$%^ing Deadpool 2 home today on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray!  Word!

*

DISCLAIMER: This 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray review was judged and graded using the following 4K certified Ultra HD Premium television set found here and player here.  Make sure to check out all our 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray reviews archived here.

*

Deadpool 2

Dies Over & Over In An Extended Cut on

4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

August 21st

ORDER NOW!

*

*