Saturday, June 4, 2011

...But What About X-Men Origins Wolverine?



X-Men Origins Wolverine is a fun one. It is the fourth X-Men movie, and the first prequel. But it is not as prequelly as X-Men First Class. So where does this fit in with the rest of the films?

Wolverine >>> X-Men 1, 2, and 3
(PS. I saw First Class, but just for this article I'll pretend I haven't yet. Spoiler Alert: it's the best one yet)

Yes, the movie that somehow attracted tons of hate is better than anything in the original trilogy. See, unlike the first three movies, there is actually some focus. The original ones had such a broad view and were all over the place. This one is Wolverine and nothing but Wolverine. By doing so there is actually some character development and a plot, something so rare in the first three. As it turned out, by having less in this film, we are given a whole lot more of what we enjoy.

Also, this film doesn't hide the fact that it is primary an action movie, and it gives us plenty of that. Plain and simple, there are some great, adrenalin pumping scenes in this. I could watch two straight hours of just Wolverine fighting helicopters.

And of course, the series' great casting continued into this film. Hugh Jackman is again wonderful. It is great to finally see Sabertooth in a X-Men movie (I have no idea who was with Magneto, Mystique, and Toad in X-Men 1. Was it a male Wolfsbane or Feral's evil clone? Or maybe even Hrimhari the Wolf Prince), and Liev Schreiber brought the character alive. Off topic real quick, Liev Schreiber is the best documentary narrator, ever. Kevin Durand was quietly solid as Blob, and even Mr. Black Eyed Peas was good, as he fit the role perfectly. And course, Ryan Reynolds was surprisingly funny during his short stint as Deadpool.

That leads us to my only true problem with this film: They turned Deadpool -- one of Marvel's most profitable and interesting (depending on the writer) characters -- into whatever that was at the end. Although, that is fairly easy to revise by saying he was just cloned or whatever. But it really doesn't matter because they are never going to rip Reynolds away from Warner Bros to reprise his role anyway.

There is one other major change with Emma Frost, but someone from /co/ of all places has a great solution to that. She was Kayla's sister (and credited only as so), one of the girls released at the end who turned into diamonds, but didn't have Kayla's, or comic Emma's, psychic powers. Well it's suggested Emma from First Class (who has both powers) has two kids, and each retains one of mom's powers. That makes perfect sense! Besides that, any of the other departures from the comic can be overlooked if you aren't a stupid comic book elitist. You wouldn't believe all the crap they complain about.

And I should mention the best part about this movie. If you remember right, a "Mostly finished" DVD quality version of this was leaked to the internet a complete month before it hit theaters. Fox was freaking out, even though it still cleaned house at the box office. Now by "Mostly finished" I mean many of the special effects were not in place, and you saw a lot of green screens and MS Paint quality place holder effects. You were also treated to on screen notes, saying where to add said effects and ADR. It was GREAT watching the movie like this. Especially if you have ever worked with film before, it is very fun to see a work-in-progress cut to a major blockbuster. Every DVD, Blu-ray, and VHS should add such a version in their extra features.

But even with the finished version, it is a very good movie that gets a ton of undeserved hate. Don't listen to the comic book nerds, go watch this movie and enjoy it for yourself.

   

19 comments:

  1. I wasn't digging it much, I hated deadpool. Well I don't hate deadpool, I just hate Ryan Renolds. :/

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  2. deadpool was strange for real, anyway nice review

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  3. I heard this was good. gonna watch it when i get the chance

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  4. I love Wolverine as a character and Hugh Jackman but strangely I haven't seen this movie yet, probably affrctrd by the bad press, I may give it a chance.

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  5. I enjoyed this movie a lot. The scene with the old couple was kind of depressing though.

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  6. Cool blog, pal! followed, MC-hammer style!!!

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  7. This movie had the most bad-ass rendition of Sabretooth EVER! Liev Schreiber was absolutely awesome! However - Agent 0, Deadpool, and Gambit effed it up. Would've also loved to see Cyber.

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  8. I've been waiting for see this movie since I saw the previews a month ago.

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  9. I think the xmen series is going downhill!

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  10. It's not bad. Aronofsky's Wolverine is gonna be insane though. Can't imagine it not being the best X-Men related movie yet.

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  11. i liked the 3 x-men movies better, this one didn't do it for me

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  12. in my other comment i said that i never seen xmen!
    but i did? i loved it! with the long nails:P hahaha:)

    NEW OUTFIT POST
    www.mirfashion.blogspot.com

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  13. I did not enjoy this movie one bit, I liked the others though.

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  14. i really liked this one! haven't seen the others though...

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