‘Deadpool 2’ Test Screenings Are Off the Chart
No one who follows my work will be surprised to learn that I kind of love the X-Men, and have since I was in middle school when I was reading the comics. And right I think that, Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 aside, the X-Men film franchise is putting out better movies than Marvel Studios. The X-Men films each have their own identity and feel different from one another, while Marvel’s films have become more and more alike as time has gone on.
The most unique of the X-Men films has been Deadpool, a raunchy, violent R-rated comedy that turned out to be not only the highest-grossing X-Men film, but also the second-highest grossing R-rated film of all time. Of course that meant that Fox almost immediately started work on a sequel, with Josh Brolin joining the cast as Cable, the time-traveling son of X-Men leader Cyclops and a clone of Jean Grey who was also a demon, because comic books.
Anyway, a few weeks ago I heard rumors that internal screening for Deadpool 2 were a mess. The movie was over half an hour longer than the original, had no discernible plot, instead relying on insane bits from Ryan Reynolds and was, in general, looking like a disaster. If those rumors were true, then Fox has some incredibly competent editors and had a very successful six days of reshoots, because The Hollywood Reporter obtained scores from the film’s public test screenings and they have been incredibly good. Better than the original film, even. While Deadpool‘s highest audience score was a 91, that was Deadpool 2‘s lowest score, and its final screening earned a whopping 98, a near-perfect audience score.
I’m blown away, honestly. One thing I’m hoping for is some Easter eggs that call back to the original New Mutants and X-Force comics Deadpool and Cable first appeared in. Things like every scene having fog rolling in just to the middle of everyone’s calves because Rob Liefeld can’t draw feet or Cable having 200 teeth in his head. Or maybe a scene where Deadpool and Cable compare pouches and talk about what all the pouches on their costumes are for and why pouches are the best thing ever. I was kind of disappointed the movie costumes ditched all the pouches from the comics, now where does Deadpool keep his tissues and small spools of thread for costume repair and sunblock and whatnot?
