X-Men Origins: Wolverine (PG-13) slashed its way into theatres this past weekend, thus ushering in the summer movie season. Set as a prequel to the X-Men trilogy, X-Men Origins details the genesis of Wolverine becomingWolverine. Hugh Jackman is back as Logan and is surrounded by a recognizable cast including Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Will i Am and Ryan Reynolds.
Andy: Many people feel that Wolverine is the most interesting character in the entire Marvel Comics Universe. While I’ll leave that debate to people who are more informed on the subject, I think it is safe to say that he is the most popular member of the X-Men. Jackman has a reasonable amount of star-power as well, so there was at least potential for this movie to be pretty good. Unfortunately, that potential was left unfulfilled.
Ryan: Those hoping that “Origins” would ease the medicore taste that X-Men 3 left for a lot of moviegoers are going to again be disappointed. Like X-Men 3, X-Men Origins: Wolverine fails to live up to the stature of the first two X-Men flicks. The movie is watchable and there aren't many dull moments, but there's nothing to get excited about either and that's the main problem with the film. For a big summer spectacle, X-Men Origins: Wolverine lacks punch that one would expect.
Andy: Perhaps the biggest obstacle for the Wolverine movie is the writing. The dialogue is frequently laughable, hindering otherwise quality actors. I’m generally a fan of Live Shreiber, but when your lines include clichés like “Look what the cat dragged in,” it take some serious chops to make the words seem vibrant. I know the argument could be made that dialogue isn’t actually all that important in a summer action film, but the action sequences seemed a little stale as well.
Ryan: Part of the problem with the movie is how it sanitizes the character of Wolverine. Fans of Wolverine want to see him be Wolverine. Basically—and this is putting it bluntly-- they want to see him kick butt—a lot of it. To me, the Wolverine/Logan character doesn't open itself up to the same sort of inner conflict analysis as say a Spider-Man or Batman so it doesn't make sense to me to try to spin the movie that way. The lack of action in the movie greatly surprised me. There's no memorable action moment where one sits back and thinks that was cool.
Andy: At this point, the superhero movie has become something we expect a healthy dose of every summer. To avoid seeming mediocre, a good superhero needs to either excel tremendously in one of the stereotypical areas (action, gadgets, characters), or bring something new to the genre. Wolverine does not even attempt to do either of these, and it feels much like a stale retread for it.
Ryan: The saving grace of the movie is Jackman. The rest of the movie pales in comparison to his portrayal of Wolverine. I'm not going to fault the guy for giving it everything he's got to make the movie successful. The bottom line is that the rest of the movie doesn't measure up to Jackman's performance. That is unfortunate because a Wolverine film with Jackman in the lead really seemed like a can't miss idea. Now we know that is not the case.
X Men Origins: Wolverine is not a terrible movie, but it doesn’t do anything to make itself seem very good either. Final grade: C-.
1 comment:
i wondered sometimes (like during any of the explosion scenes) if the producers were trying to make fun of their own movie, or maybe the superhero genre in general
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