Jason KingX-Men Origins: Wolverine ($13-)
May 3rd 2009 00:07
Category: No Category
X-Men Origins: Wolverine ($13-)
Minor Spoilers Included
Hugh Jackman reprises the role that made him a superstar – as the fierce fighting machine who possesses amazing healing powers, retractable claws and a primal fury. Leading up to the events of X-Men, X-Men Origins: Wolverine tells the story of Wolverine's epically violent and romantic past, his complex relationship with Victor Creed, and the ominous Weapon X program. Along the way, Wolverine encounters many mutants, both familiar and new, including surprise appearances by several legends of the X-Men universe whose appearances in the film series have long been anticipated.
Again, another film I was expecting to be crap that was a brilliant surprise. I think I need to go into watching films with more negativity - it offers more chance of being impressed. Bring on cynicism
. The acting is brilliant, the action is abundant, the story is perfect, cinematography was well done amd whem it finished I wanted more. I look froward to the next installment.
There have been a lot of tall poppied "tare down the film" reviews and this is understandable - it's the fourth film in a franchise and it's a prequal. Don't go watching this film expecting the most brilliant thing you have ever seen because like I have said - it's the fourth film in a franchise about heroes with powers.
A friend of mine, Simon, responded to my Facebook status of "I really enjoyed Wolverine" with the following comment:
"Sorry dude - it was a bit boring. The back story went forever and was achingly tedious. Hugh Jackman still has fantastic charisma which saved it from being atrocious - but it had no magic at all. Any film that starts with a montage is probably going to be trouble - wtf was with the random killing of his dad? It was never referred to again!
In lot of ways it had the same problems of X-Men 3 - glimpses of good ideas just badly executed - except this time it wasn't poor direction - the script was anorexic and the dialogue was wooden. Patrick Stewarts face!!!?
The mystery of Wolverine of was what made him cool. Like Clint Eastwood in "Pale Rider" - he was a mysterious, indestructable revenge filled guy who had done lots of bad stuff to good people - but now was going to whump some bad mthfkers to make up for it.
Now I am going to have to go and forget that movie and just hope Bryan Singer has a rainy day lined up where he might fiddle with some sort of re-make."
And I have to disagree with nearly everything. In response to this:
Boring - definately not - it has more realistic and emotional action than any of the previous three films. I never found the back story tedious at all. If you didn't want the back story you should have considered more when reading the films title. XMen Origins: Wolverine. With emphasis on the word ORIGINS this whole film is about how Wolverine got to where he is and how he became to be.
Yes to Hugh Jackman being charismatic - he is the film and he is what is loved and this helps a lot as the film is all about his character. I did miss the correct hairdo though. I wasn't after magic when I watched it - I was after action action action and a decent plot which explained Wolverine. I have never read the comics as I am not a big fan of comics in general and to me this film hit on every level.
When I type into Google - what makes a good action film I get over 91 million responses. My favourite one which echoes my thoughts on pretty much every level is this (thanks to Yahoo Movies):
And Wolverine gives us all of this and some. It has the ABC's of action in a great environment and goes beyond pure action to one with much drama - to me this is the magic of the film.
But back to Simon's comment - in regards to a film starting with montages - this is a farily general opinion and you are going in judging on past films and not even giving it a chance after 5min's - were you wearing your negative pants Simon?
I thought the montage was well placed and executed to fit the story perfectly - did you really want to sit through three wars over 60yrs of his back story before we got to present day? Imagine how tedious you would have found the back story then.
I would have liked to have seen more of Taylor Kitsch as Gambit - great character and amzingly good looking actor, his card playing scene and what follows was very engaging - I think we will see more of Taylor Kitsch in the future and look forward to him appearing in future XMen films. There was lots of the others I could have happily watched a story of them - but this film is called Wolverine for that reason - it's about him - if we see more Xmen films inthe future they may give us equal billing of other important characters. I look forward to this.
One gripe I do have with this one was the quality of the CGI - I thought this let it down somewhat. The big action CGI is great but the important CGI of his claws was woeful. In one humorous scene with a bathroom mirror and sink while Wolverine is checking out his new claws they just look cheaply photoshopped on. Forgoing the original gloved claws worn by Hugh in previous installments I think they could have spent a bit more time perfecting the usage of the CGI claws as they are nearly a character of their own. And I found his original bone claws looked weak and they kind of creeped me out.
Trivia (thanks to IMDB):
1) This and X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) are the first movies being produced by Hugh Jackman and John Palermo's new production company, Seed Productions.
2) Zack Snyder and Bryan Singer turned down the chance to direct the film. Snyder was too busy developing Watchmen (2009), while Singer was too busy with other projects. Snyder also was interested in making the film R-rated, while Hugh Jackman and Lauren Shuler Donner wanted to settle on a PG-13 rating.
3) Wolverine was created by writer Len Wein and artist Johnny Romita.
4) This will be the first time the popular mutant, Gambit will appear in any of the X-Men movies. He was rumored to be X2 (2003) and originally slated to make an appearance in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) but was cut from the story.
5) The characters depicted in this movie are the result of 3 generations of X-Men creators --Wolverine and Sabretooth were created by Len Wein & John Romita Sr. and Chris Clarement & John Byrne respectively back in the '70's; Deadpool is a product of Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld's work on the title during the '90's, and; John Wraith was created by Larry Hama in the '90's, and the Weapon X/Weapon XI stuff is all a product of Grant Morrison's period on 'New X-Men', 2001-2004.
6) Ryan Reynolds had been attached to play Wade Wilson/Deadpool in a Deadpool solo movie spearheaded by David S. Goyer some time after Blade: Trinity (2004). Reynolds has been quoted numerous times expressing his interest in the character and to one day play him.
7) Liev Schreiber got involved when Hugh Jackman, his good friend, asked him to be apart of the movie. Liev was originally intended to play Stryker, but he was more interested in Sabertooth/Victor Creed
8) David North/Agent Zero also went by the name Maverick.
9) Gambit was set to appear in X2 in a non-speaking cameo as one of the mutants Professor X hurts with Cerebro.
10) Ryan Reynolds (as Deadpool) and Wesley Snipes (in the Blade movies) are the only two actors with roles in Marvel Comics film adaptations to have not gone through an audition prior to signing.
11) Sabretooth and Wolverine's first appearances were both in non X-Men books. Sabretooth's was in Iron Fist #14, Wolverine's was in The Incredible Hulk #181.
12) Both the Comic Con and Official Trailers feature scores from films that were released in 2007. The Comic Con Trailer features "Come and Get Them!" from Tyler Bates' 300 (2006) score, and The Official Trailer features "Sunshine (Adagio in D Minor)" from John Murphy's score to Danny Boyle's Sunshine (2007).
13) Originally, Liev Schreiber was given a muscle suit to wear for his role as Victor Creed, in an effort to make his physique look comparable to Hugh Jackman's 220lb figure. The suit, similar to that worn by Vinnie Jones in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), made Schreiber feel "humiliated." Schreiber then requested he be given a chance to gain real muscle by putting work in the gym and changing his diet. He trained for 3 months while on the set of Defiance (2008) in Lithuania, and eventually trained with Jackman on the set of X-Men Origins: Wolverine in Australia. Jackman also got Schreiber to alter his diet further by adding a great deal of protein which Schreiber called "The genocide of chickens." In the end Schreiber gained 35 lbs and had to buy several new suits due to his back gaining several inches in width. "I can't fit into my favorite suit now! But I felt like I owed it to the genre to be big."
14) With this film, Hugh Jackman emerges as the first actor to play a comic book hero in four consecutive films since Christopher Reeve as Superman.
15) Dominic Monaghan was originally slated to play a character named Beak, a character unassociated with Weapon X. But over the course of production the character has become Bolt, whose mentor was David North.
16) Cameo: [Daniel Negreanu] The only other poker player shown at the table other than gambit and wolverine when they first meet, is Daniel Negreanu, a popular real life Canadian professional poker player. He has won four World Series of Poker bracelets and two World Poker Tour Championship titles.
17) A bootleg copy of the film, missing many of the SFX, some 20 minutes of footage, and a finalized score, but nevertheless a complete cinematic unit, was leaked online a month before the movie's official theatrical release. Despite frantic efforts of Fox to squelch the leaked version, reportedly thousands of downloads occurred.
18) FoxNews.com columnist Roger Friedman was fired from his job as a result of downloading and reviewing the leaked, but incomplete copy of the movie.
19) As in the last X-Men feature film, there has been talk about a scene after the credits.
20) Gambit's real last name, LeBeau, translated from French to English means "the handsome", a clever reference to the character's well known good looks and charm.
Halle Berry is rallying for an XMen Origins: Storm and if they do it they better do it right - because I think Catwoman when I think of her leadning an action film and we all know how that one turned out. This won't be for everyone and I have seen a love or hate response to this film and I can happily say I am in the love group. Worth $13-
Minor Spoilers Included
Hugh Jackman reprises the role that made him a superstar – as the fierce fighting machine who possesses amazing healing powers, retractable claws and a primal fury. Leading up to the events of X-Men, X-Men Origins: Wolverine tells the story of Wolverine's epically violent and romantic past, his complex relationship with Victor Creed, and the ominous Weapon X program. Along the way, Wolverine encounters many mutants, both familiar and new, including surprise appearances by several legends of the X-Men universe whose appearances in the film series have long been anticipated.
Again, another film I was expecting to be crap that was a brilliant surprise. I think I need to go into watching films with more negativity - it offers more chance of being impressed. Bring on cynicism
. The acting is brilliant, the action is abundant, the story is perfect, cinematography was well done amd whem it finished I wanted more. I look froward to the next installment. 
There have been a lot of tall poppied "tare down the film" reviews and this is understandable - it's the fourth film in a franchise and it's a prequal. Don't go watching this film expecting the most brilliant thing you have ever seen because like I have said - it's the fourth film in a franchise about heroes with powers.
A friend of mine, Simon, responded to my Facebook status of "I really enjoyed Wolverine" with the following comment:
"Sorry dude - it was a bit boring. The back story went forever and was achingly tedious. Hugh Jackman still has fantastic charisma which saved it from being atrocious - but it had no magic at all. Any film that starts with a montage is probably going to be trouble - wtf was with the random killing of his dad? It was never referred to again!
In lot of ways it had the same problems of X-Men 3 - glimpses of good ideas just badly executed - except this time it wasn't poor direction - the script was anorexic and the dialogue was wooden. Patrick Stewarts face!!!?
The mystery of Wolverine of was what made him cool. Like Clint Eastwood in "Pale Rider" - he was a mysterious, indestructable revenge filled guy who had done lots of bad stuff to good people - but now was going to whump some bad mthfkers to make up for it.
Now I am going to have to go and forget that movie and just hope Bryan Singer has a rainy day lined up where he might fiddle with some sort of re-make."
And I have to disagree with nearly everything. In response to this:
Boring - definately not - it has more realistic and emotional action than any of the previous three films. I never found the back story tedious at all. If you didn't want the back story you should have considered more when reading the films title. XMen Origins: Wolverine. With emphasis on the word ORIGINS this whole film is about how Wolverine got to where he is and how he became to be.
Yes to Hugh Jackman being charismatic - he is the film and he is what is loved and this helps a lot as the film is all about his character. I did miss the correct hairdo though
. I wasn't after magic when I watched it - I was after action action action and a decent plot which explained Wolverine. I have never read the comics as I am not a big fan of comics in general and to me this film hit on every level.
When I type into Google - what makes a good action film I get over 91 million responses. My favourite one which echoes my thoughts on pretty much every level is this (thanks to Yahoo Movies):
We all enjoy a ride, and we especially enjoy a ride that not only thrills us but tells a good story at the same time. A mix of drama, character development and of course action gives us the best movie. Disappointingly, there are only a select few that actually take the time to brew action along with a fine story line. It's an art and for the sake of entertainment and satisfaction afterwards, it is important to know what movies make great action films.
A) There must be a plot. Duh. But an engaging plot that creates circumstances, perhaps unbelievable, but entertaining is all you need to have a good action movie. Terminator 2 - Judgment Day (Extreme DVD) gives us a plot on a grand scale, where human life hangs in the balance. That's the kinda plot that holds your interest.
Whereas, some action films don't have as grand a plot. Predator (Widescreen Edition) tells us a story of soldiers, in a jungle, hunted by some alien creature. It's not end of the world stuff, but it's simple and intriguing. Other action films combine a grandness along with simplicity. Aliens (Two-Disc Collector's Edition) is a perfect example of a potential danger in these aliens, yet the action is far away on a distant planet. All these films are examples of excellent plots that are grand yet simple in their make up. Complicated action storylines are for the pits.
B) Character development. Yes, there must be plenty of action, but it's no good without understanding your characters. The Fugitive is an action flick that let's us get to know Dr. Richard Kimble. The action in this film is blended perfectly with drama, and most the action is that of hide and seek rather than punch and shoot. Silverado although has perhaps too many characters, the vast majority of them are developed nicely in this action/western. Not to mention this film makes their characters so likeable, it makes the action fun. We Were Soldiers (Widescreen Edition) is a war film that is all action it seems, but the characters are well shaped, and the action creates instant pity for them. Sometimes it's how the action is used, not necessarily the quantity of it, that shapes characters in action flicks.
C) Lastly, drama. Action without drama can be extremely blaw. Some say that action creates drama, but that isn't so. As The Fugitive proves, it's often the other way around. Drama makes the action memorable and copeable. Without it, there is no great action movie.
A) There must be a plot. Duh. But an engaging plot that creates circumstances, perhaps unbelievable, but entertaining is all you need to have a good action movie. Terminator 2 - Judgment Day (Extreme DVD) gives us a plot on a grand scale, where human life hangs in the balance. That's the kinda plot that holds your interest.
Whereas, some action films don't have as grand a plot. Predator (Widescreen Edition) tells us a story of soldiers, in a jungle, hunted by some alien creature. It's not end of the world stuff, but it's simple and intriguing. Other action films combine a grandness along with simplicity. Aliens (Two-Disc Collector's Edition) is a perfect example of a potential danger in these aliens, yet the action is far away on a distant planet. All these films are examples of excellent plots that are grand yet simple in their make up. Complicated action storylines are for the pits.
B) Character development. Yes, there must be plenty of action, but it's no good without understanding your characters. The Fugitive is an action flick that let's us get to know Dr. Richard Kimble. The action in this film is blended perfectly with drama, and most the action is that of hide and seek rather than punch and shoot. Silverado although has perhaps too many characters, the vast majority of them are developed nicely in this action/western. Not to mention this film makes their characters so likeable, it makes the action fun. We Were Soldiers (Widescreen Edition) is a war film that is all action it seems, but the characters are well shaped, and the action creates instant pity for them. Sometimes it's how the action is used, not necessarily the quantity of it, that shapes characters in action flicks.
C) Lastly, drama. Action without drama can be extremely blaw. Some say that action creates drama, but that isn't so. As The Fugitive proves, it's often the other way around. Drama makes the action memorable and copeable. Without it, there is no great action movie.
And Wolverine gives us all of this and some. It has the ABC's of action in a great environment and goes beyond pure action to one with much drama - to me this is the magic of the film.
But back to Simon's comment - in regards to a film starting with montages - this is a farily general opinion and you are going in judging on past films and not even giving it a chance after 5min's - were you wearing your negative pants Simon?
I thought the montage was well placed and executed to fit the story perfectly - did you really want to sit through three wars over 60yrs of his back story before we got to present day? Imagine how tedious you would have found the back story then.
wtf was with the random killing of his dad? It was never referred to again!
- it is not meant to be referred to again - it is the precursor that sets up his entire persona - he is filled with guilt at his use of aggression and how it hurt an innocent - it is what differs him from his brother and what sets up his sense of morality to never harm innocents again. I felt that he saw that first kill in every kill he made and also what makes him the angry gruff man - that combined with his anger at his wife's death.In lot of ways it had the same problems of X-Men 3 - glimpses of good ideas just badly executed - except this time it wasn't poor direction - the script was anorexic and the dialogue was wooden. Patrick Stewarts face!!!?
- I do agree that XMen 3 was by far the worst of the bunch - it was on TV last night and I turned it off after half an hour - it was too much to put in a film and I will never understand how Jene Grey was the monster. I never found the script anorexic - I found it had some great work that was acted out brilliantly and showed the complexities of the individual characters - it also had some typical and enjoyable humorous delivery. Hugh and Liev Schreiber being the standouts with Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson / Deadpool being underutilised. But like I said I have never read the comics so fail to see his importance in the story line. I did like his original character and wanted more - the scene with his swords was amazing and I think his comic timing could have been used more alongside Hugh. Patrick Stewarts face is obvious - you have to make people look younger somehow and this is where you are supposed to suspend disbelief to accept the story. The mystery of Wolverine of was what made him cool. Like Clint Eastwood in "Pale Rider" - he was a mysterious, indestructable revenge filled guy who had done lots of bad stuff to good people - but now was going to whump some bad mthfkers to make up for it.
- this I agree with but if you wanted mystery and no reason as to why Wolverine is who he is then you should have again considered the title - this is a prequal history of Wolverine - not the angry bastard killing bad mthfkers LOL. But from his history emerges the angry man - and I don't think it is so much the journey that made him the angry bastard he is - I think it is more his frustration at losing his entire memory combined with his honest and kind heart that will not tolerate bad things happening to good people.
I would have liked to have seen more of Taylor Kitsch as Gambit - great character and amzingly good looking actor, his card playing scene and what follows was very engaging - I think we will see more of Taylor Kitsch in the future and look forward to him appearing in future XMen films. There was lots of the others I could have happily watched a story of them - but this film is called Wolverine for that reason - it's about him - if we see more Xmen films inthe future they may give us equal billing of other important characters. I look forward to this.
One gripe I do have with this one was the quality of the CGI - I thought this let it down somewhat. The big action CGI is great but the important CGI of his claws was woeful. In one humorous scene with a bathroom mirror and sink while Wolverine is checking out his new claws they just look cheaply photoshopped on. Forgoing the original gloved claws worn by Hugh in previous installments I think they could have spent a bit more time perfecting the usage of the CGI claws as they are nearly a character of their own. And I found his original bone claws looked weak and they kind of creeped me out.
Trivia (thanks to IMDB):
1) This and X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) are the first movies being produced by Hugh Jackman and John Palermo's new production company, Seed Productions.
2) Zack Snyder and Bryan Singer turned down the chance to direct the film. Snyder was too busy developing Watchmen (2009), while Singer was too busy with other projects. Snyder also was interested in making the film R-rated, while Hugh Jackman and Lauren Shuler Donner wanted to settle on a PG-13 rating.
3) Wolverine was created by writer Len Wein and artist Johnny Romita.
4) This will be the first time the popular mutant, Gambit will appear in any of the X-Men movies. He was rumored to be X2 (2003) and originally slated to make an appearance in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) but was cut from the story.
5) The characters depicted in this movie are the result of 3 generations of X-Men creators --Wolverine and Sabretooth were created by Len Wein & John Romita Sr. and Chris Clarement & John Byrne respectively back in the '70's; Deadpool is a product of Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld's work on the title during the '90's, and; John Wraith was created by Larry Hama in the '90's, and the Weapon X/Weapon XI stuff is all a product of Grant Morrison's period on 'New X-Men', 2001-2004.
6) Ryan Reynolds had been attached to play Wade Wilson/Deadpool in a Deadpool solo movie spearheaded by David S. Goyer some time after Blade: Trinity (2004). Reynolds has been quoted numerous times expressing his interest in the character and to one day play him.
7) Liev Schreiber got involved when Hugh Jackman, his good friend, asked him to be apart of the movie. Liev was originally intended to play Stryker, but he was more interested in Sabertooth/Victor Creed
8) David North/Agent Zero also went by the name Maverick.
9) Gambit was set to appear in X2 in a non-speaking cameo as one of the mutants Professor X hurts with Cerebro.
10) Ryan Reynolds (as Deadpool) and Wesley Snipes (in the Blade movies) are the only two actors with roles in Marvel Comics film adaptations to have not gone through an audition prior to signing.
11) Sabretooth and Wolverine's first appearances were both in non X-Men books. Sabretooth's was in Iron Fist #14, Wolverine's was in The Incredible Hulk #181.
12) Both the Comic Con and Official Trailers feature scores from films that were released in 2007. The Comic Con Trailer features "Come and Get Them!" from Tyler Bates' 300 (2006) score, and The Official Trailer features "Sunshine (Adagio in D Minor)" from John Murphy's score to Danny Boyle's Sunshine (2007).
13) Originally, Liev Schreiber was given a muscle suit to wear for his role as Victor Creed, in an effort to make his physique look comparable to Hugh Jackman's 220lb figure. The suit, similar to that worn by Vinnie Jones in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), made Schreiber feel "humiliated." Schreiber then requested he be given a chance to gain real muscle by putting work in the gym and changing his diet. He trained for 3 months while on the set of Defiance (2008) in Lithuania, and eventually trained with Jackman on the set of X-Men Origins: Wolverine in Australia. Jackman also got Schreiber to alter his diet further by adding a great deal of protein which Schreiber called "The genocide of chickens." In the end Schreiber gained 35 lbs and had to buy several new suits due to his back gaining several inches in width. "I can't fit into my favorite suit now! But I felt like I owed it to the genre to be big."
14) With this film, Hugh Jackman emerges as the first actor to play a comic book hero in four consecutive films since Christopher Reeve as Superman.
15) Dominic Monaghan was originally slated to play a character named Beak, a character unassociated with Weapon X. But over the course of production the character has become Bolt, whose mentor was David North.
16) Cameo: [Daniel Negreanu] The only other poker player shown at the table other than gambit and wolverine when they first meet, is Daniel Negreanu, a popular real life Canadian professional poker player. He has won four World Series of Poker bracelets and two World Poker Tour Championship titles.
17) A bootleg copy of the film, missing many of the SFX, some 20 minutes of footage, and a finalized score, but nevertheless a complete cinematic unit, was leaked online a month before the movie's official theatrical release. Despite frantic efforts of Fox to squelch the leaked version, reportedly thousands of downloads occurred.
18) FoxNews.com columnist Roger Friedman was fired from his job as a result of downloading and reviewing the leaked, but incomplete copy of the movie.
19) As in the last X-Men feature film, there has been talk about a scene after the credits.
20) Gambit's real last name, LeBeau, translated from French to English means "the handsome", a clever reference to the character's well known good looks and charm.
Halle Berry is rallying for an XMen Origins: Storm and if they do it they better do it right - because I think Catwoman when I think of her leadning an action film and we all know how that one turned out. This won't be for everyone and I have seen a love or hate response to this film and I can happily say I am in the love group. Worth $13-
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I think it's probably good that you didn't read the comics, because you would realize how much they have messed up Gambit.
He is by far my favourite X-Man (and Logan is up there) so hearing they were both in this movie rocked my socks.
However, Gambit was a huge disappointment. In the comics he has a thick Southern/French Louisiana-style accent, which they decided to ditch for the film. Also, he's meant to be a professional thief, not a card shark (although they didn't really go into that in the movie). ALSO, one of the big emotional storylines in the X-Men series is the love story between Gambit and Rogue, but going by this movie, by the time Rogue is of age (going by the movies) Gambit will be well into his 40/50's.
It's such a shame, because Gambit is just such a cool character. Oh well, other than that, the rest of the movie was awesome.
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That is weird but agree - if the timeline sticks then he will be way too old. But then again maybe not - if the end of the film is right before the start of the first XMen movie then it's feasible. Maybe he is still a pro thief who is just good at cards - I loved that scene with him shuffling them though. I would have loved to have seen him with the accent - it would have suited the location.
Who knows - maybe Jackman's production company may like Gambit so much we can have a Gambit Origins movie - this would be interesting.
When you watch in the cinema - stay right until the end - there is some stuff through the credits.
Thanks for the comment!! Glad someone else enjoyed it
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