Ariel and I went to the Marvel screening for “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” last night. As always, I’m most interested in the reactions of someone who doesn’t read X-Men comics, because let’s face it–the vast majority of the movie-going public doesn’t read X-Men comics. So what they think is more important than what the fans think, because if only the fans go to see a movie, it tanks. (Not really a ton of spoilers below, so read with no concerns.
Overall she liked it a lot. She felt there wasn’t “too much action” which she considered a good thing because she says she tends to fall asleep if there’s too much action. She felt that the opening credits, which depicted Wolverine and Sabretooth fighting in war after war after war while remaining fundamentally unchanged was the best part. She also wished that they had been more aggressive with stating the names of the plethora of mutants because she would have considered it easier to remember who was who.
I tend to think she put her finger on it. The opening credits underscored a movie that could have been, and would have been magnificent. A comic book version of “The Duelists” in which you have your two protagonists spanning not just a series of wars, but generations of wars. You could make an epic commentary on the bellicosity of man, and the futility and frustration of being unable to settle conflicts through any means except force of arms. And over the decades, Wolverine becomes weary of it while Sabretooth thrives on it until the climax in which the two square off, unable to settle their differences any other way, thus having spent their entire lives thinking that they were better than those around them and ultimately coming to realize that they’re not only no better, but perhaps even worse. Because they’re old enough, and have seen enough, to know better. You start the film with the Civil War, which was the war that turned us against each other, and you end it with the Vietnam war, the war that turned millions of Americans against war itself.
Except that wasn’t the job of this film. This film’s job was to entertain the audience for two hours, serve as a direct prequel to “X-Men,” and set up a plethora of new characters who can propel future films in Franchise X.
In that respect, it served perfectly well. Briskly directed, adequately scripted, with some standout moments and standout performances. For instance, Ryan Reynolds is on screen for maybe ten minutes and in that time will have anyone who’s never heard of Deadpool (again, most of the audience) saying, “Why the hëll isn’t there a film about this guy?” Again, that’s the purpose. Although positioned as a prequel, it actually has the vaguely dissatisfying feel that you typically get in the middle film of a trilogy. It requires knowledge of what went before it to appreciate, and it sets up stuff that’s going to be carried out later. And all of it is anchored by a ripped and ready to rumble Hugh Jackman, staking his tent pole cred on Wolverine since he’s yet to turn a profit at the box office as someone other than Wolverine.
I will say that I liked the film a lot better than many other people who came out of the theater grumbling about it (the mere mention of the plot device used to leave Wolverine sans memories garnered laughter and groans, although honestly I didn’t consider it any dumber than a lot of other things in comics that people have accepted without question.) I wasn’t expecting “Citizen Kane” or “Casablanca.” I spent two hours engaged by the film, and that’s typically sufficient for me.
But even I could see that the story was a plotgun wedding. It’s like a shotgun wedding, except basically a lot of plot elements are shoved into a gun and then fired at the movie screen in hopes that seeing it splattered all together will form a marriage of sorts. You’re not seeing a story so much as you’re seeing a whole bunch of studio notes about everything that has to be IN the story, which can serve to take you out of the story unless the actors and director do their dámņëdëšŧ to haul you back in. There are truly dramatic moments, truly exciting moments, several requisite moments where your hero looks heavenward and screams at a retreating crane shot in order to convey just how truly pìššëd øff and griefstricken he is. Plus several intriguing cameos, including some that I was truly jazzed about (Quicksilver? Really?) and one that generated a genuinely enthused shout of joy from the audience. I liked Gambit, I thought the Blob was great.
I just think that, with all the talent involved, it could have been a great film if the intent had been to create a great film rather than a film that would set up other great films.
PAD
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I’m gonna go see it, because the trailers had some really good footage and because I want Hugh Jackman to be ridiculously successful — but, bluntly, I’d rather see the movie you wanted this to be. I love that idea a whole lot.
I thought it was total crap.
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Yeah, I read Wolverine and X-Men comics; I have done so for more than 20 years. But I’m not *that* hard to please when it comes to movies. I mean, X-Men 3 was a mess, but I at least pretty much enjoyed it for what it was. Based on the trailers, I went into this film with little expectations and I still couldn’t enjoy much of anything in it.
Prior to the first X-Men movie the only thing I had read with them was a Star Trek/X-men crossover comic that made me just vomit. I couldn’t understand why the X-Men were so popular.
Once I saw the first movie I got what the fuss was about, but still have never read a comic because based on what those who had said it sounded a bit too confusing, and I decided that I would just follow the movie universe of X-Men and be entertained.
( you all can criticize, but having spent 8 years seeing the differences in the “Smallville” universe as opposed to the DC universe, I enjoy the break)
In that light, then, and the fact that I enjoy watching Hugh Jackman (yes, I actually pay for his other movies too), I expect I’ll enjoy Wolverine and it’ll probably work for me since the movie universe is my version of X-men.
It will at least be a break until “Star Trek” comes out and I can see it again ( I saw a preview, it’s good)
and “Harry Potter” later in the year (which I will nitpick because I have read the books)
My big question is: How cool was Quicksilver? This is the first that I have heard of him being in the film, and I MUST know.
I saw X3 for the Jamie Madrox cameo, I may do the same with Wolverine. I was pìššëd about what they did to Deadpool, but if they redeem themselves with a solid Pietro I may go drop a 10 on it.
It’s really nothing more than a cameo. To give more details would be to blow a late-in-the-film plot point, which I don’t want to do.
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Man, I still remember going to the X3 screening and Madrox shows up. And Magneto asks him to join up with the bad guys, and Jamie says, “Sure!” And I, in disgust, muttered, “Fantastic.” Except my voice carried in the momentary silence much more than I expected, and everyone heard me. The place erupted in laughter because everyone knew it was me.
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PAD
Heh, I believe I’d just recently started reading X-Factor when I saw X3, and having only your version of Madrox to go by (never having even *heard* of him before, AFAIK) I was almost as annoyed by him being a baddie as I was by him not being Nathan Fillion, who (for some reason I couldn’t begin to describe) I envision as the perfect Jamie Madrox.
LOL- that’s an awesome story!
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I’ve always hated how everyone seems to think that Madrox was introduced as a villain (and thus he should be portrayed as one, like in X3 and The Ultimates). Sure, he was fighting the Fantastic Four during his first appearance, but that was only because his power went haywire and he was out of control. In the end, Xavier took him away to help him control it: he was never once portrayed as malevolent or malicious.
Hi, PAD!
My girlfriend, her roommate, a friend of mine and myself are looking forward to seeing the movie.
Also, why the old BID articles? 🙂
I read this review just after watching last night’s “Daily Show,” on which Hugh Jackman was the guest. And, on that (haven’t seen the movie yet), I loved his story about his 8-year-old son hitting on older girls by telling them “My dad is Wolverine.”
Also, the comparing of notes between Oscars hosts was interesting.
I saw it today, thinking that Free Comic Book Day would be a logical day for seeing any comics-related movie.
I had a somewhat disappointing moviegoing experience at first when the lights went down and I sat through seven previews, most of which I’d seen before, and noticed that the images on the screen were visually pretty dark. I finally got up and notified the management, who didn’t do anything with the auditorium I was in (as far as I know), but DID let me go to another showing in another auditorium where the lighting was just fine.
I didn’t hate the movie, I didn’t love it. (And I was disappointed that they didn’t show Logan and Sabretooth fighting in Korea. If nothing else, it would bring up the possibility in some universe of Logan stopping by the 4077th.) My mood probably wasn’t helped by my having to undergo a certain medical procedure on Monday that requires me to not eat popcorn for five days before the procedure.
My comics retailer told me that he had heard there were three different final scenes at the end of the movie. Anyone else here anything about this?
PAD – You gave it away! No one was supposed to know that a kiss from Mary Jane (Parker) courtesy of Mephisto was what caused Wolverine to forget (and later to be irresistibly attracted to another redhead named Jean (which is an anagram for Jane)).
Thought it was mildly entertaining, but rather dumb from a writing perspective.
Did it bother anyone else that it’s set in the 70’s, witht eh climax presumably being 1979 – yet Cyclops is in his late teens, when the next time we see him, in 1999, he’s in his early 20’s….
Not that anything in the film actually made it look like it was set in the 70’s.
Well, those of us who read the X-titles have already made our peace with the fact that Cyke was perhaps 17 in the original comics, back in the Sixties, and today seems to be somewhere around 30…
I thought it was mediocre. Much like all the past X-movies, they focused almost exclusively on two or three main characters (here it was Wolverine, Sabretooth, and Stryker) while reducing the others to cameos of powers rather than characters (this one teleports! that one has mind control!). The action was good — when it wasn’t in that annoying slow-motion. And (since you mentioned spoilers at the top, here’s one towards the end) does this mean going forward that Deadpool will be a kind of Sylar, mxiing various abilities (we saw teleportation, optic blasts, and healing — not to mention his own preternatural swordsmanship)? BTW, weird scene at the very end of the credits.
BTW, weird scene at the very end of the credit.
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Which scene was it? The director commented the other day that there might be different prints with different post-credits scenes. The leaked print had a scene of Wolverine in a bar in Japan… but did not a thing other than showing Wolverine in a bar in Japan.
Wolverine in Japan was my ending. My question is what was the point of the scene? At least Ironman had a point to the last scene, not this movie.
Overall, better by far than the travisty known as Xmen 3. I have no idea where Quicksilver was, missed him. What decade was the second half of the movie supposed to be set in, is a big question. And how we are suppose to believe that Sabertooth in this movie is the same person as in the first 3 is beyond me. If they did it right, Gambit who is not one of my favorite characters from the comics could really rock as a movie character and the actor they used to bring him to life.
Overall, Liev and Hugh did what they could with little to work with but it was not a kick butt movie. Better than X3 but nothing to write home about.
I think we were supposed to go “Oh cool, this is right before X-Men 1, and now it all ties together.” But it wasn’t cool and nobody cares. They might as well have shown Liev getting plastic surgery and turning into Tyler mane. Nobody would have cared about that either.
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Hey, for a 150 million dollar movie did it not seem kind of average looking? Some movies manage to squeeze every buck and make sure it gets on the screen…then you have movies like Wolverine and Superman Returns.
Definitely a movie to see in the theater. We tend to forget that there’s a “community” aspect to seeing films, especially blockbusters and riotous comedies. People were laughing, tittering, and cheering at various places in the film. You don’t get that effect when it’s you and your sweetie in front of the 54″ at home.
There are two post-credits scenes (one is mid-credits). Both tie up small loose ends, but they aren’t significant in terms of content; no hospital bed or Tony Stark level of significance.
Two things did mark it as occurring in the late 70s: Three Mile Island, and Logan driving an El Dorado.
I caught “Heather Hudson” as a cameo in the credits. Was she the female doctor?
“A B”: a new meme for a ridiculous plot conceit, to go with “nuke the fridge”?
I caught “Heather Hudson” as a cameo in the credits. Was she the female doctor?
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No, the Hudsons were the elderly couple who took in Wolverine right after he was treated with the Adamantium. Obviously a nod to the Heather and James (which was not the name of the movie character) from the comics, but not the same characters.
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PAD
I caught “Heather Hudson” as a cameo in the credits. Was she the female doctor?
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I think she was supposed to be the wife of the couple who owned the barn. But the husband wasn’t named James; credit say he was Travis. And considering what happens, it’s godawful that they gave the character that name.
I don’t remember seeing Quicksilver in the film either, although I suppose that leaves me open for any number of speedster puns.
As a long-time fan (I can still remember when and where I picked up Hulk #181 with Wolverine’s first appearance, as well as Giant Size X-Men #1) it’s very hard to shake off all of that accrued geek-knowledge, but if it’s a comic book movie, I do my best to divorce myself from that knowledge and try to judge a film on its own merits. Not easy to do, I’ll grant you.
That being said, I’m hardly familiar with the incredibly convoluted Wolverine continuity of the past decade. I recently picked up one of those freebie ‘the story so far’ books that Marvel put out for Wolverine and frankly I couldn’t follow it at all. What I came away with was that maybe a dozen or so different writers had their own cool ideas for Wolverine origin stories, which successive writers had to then incorporate and explain into their own stories.
Again, trying to judge the film on its own merits, it’s just not very good. With a charismatic actor like Jackman and a director like Gavin Hood (his debut film was superb) I was rather hoping for something reasonable, but honestly the best part of the film was the opening sequence with Wolverine and Sabertooth fighting their way through the big wars of the past century. After that, it was pretty much downhill after that.
For me, the biggest problem was not the plot but the dialogue, which was simply awful and felt as though a bunch of writers were brought in to give it a ‘polish’ (translation: throw in a bunch of crowd-pleasing lines) but in this case, those lines were cliched and annoying. To their credit, Jackman and surprisingly, Schreiber manage to pull some of them off, but that’s more a testament to their acting abilities than the script itself.
Some character beats I just didn’t understand at all, although maybe it was just me. I enjoyed the Blob, but what was his mutant ability as seen early in the film when he shoves his arm into a cannon muzzle? And why take Ryan Reynolds who did a fun and interesting turn as a wise-cracking Deadpool and turn him into a scarred and mouth-less assassin (apparently played by a different actor no less)?
And finally, and I know this sounds like nit-picking, but I really didn’t like Wolverine’s claws, which of course is a major part of his character. In the first X-Men film, those claws were actually real (as in fabricated by the makeup FX people) objects, which actually looked ‘real,’ but in Origins, it felt as though the filmmakers couldn’t be bothered, so they just added them in post-prodcution. As a result, the claws often don’t match the ambient lighting of the scene, and often look, well, digital.
And before I forget, if you take a mutant with healing abilities and extendable bone claws (which appear to have been broken in one fight scene) and you ‘bond’ him with an indestructible metal by pumping it via needles into his skeletal system, how does he suddenly emerge from that surgical bath tub with a set of fully polished and razor sharp claws? It’s as though the filmmakers couldn’t even be bothered, and just figured we would accept that development without question or comment.
Joe, FWIW, the situation with Wolverine’s bone claws presents the same problem (ie, lack of explanation) in the comics as well.
I blame myself. If I hadn’t opened my big mouth at that story meeting and said, “You know, I don’t know why Magneto doesn’t just yank his adamantium out of his skeleton and be done with him, editorial would never have come up with the bone claws so he could continue to have them after his other claws were removed.
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PAD
Yeah, PAD, but I always felt the the revelation that he had bone claws all along was the coolest part of that whole storyline and matched what we knew of other ‘feral’ mutants in the Marvel universe. It also provided one of Adam Kubert’s finest moments ever. Also, keep in mind that they weren’t always drawn as Ginsu knives.
PAD, I still chuckle at the fact that you’re the one that came up with that. 🙂
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In the end though, I don’t think the bone claws AFTER Wolverine has his adamantium yanked out is a bad idea. I always simply viewed it as his body’s healing factor working overtime to make up for something it had obviously gotten used to having. His body just grew the bone claws to replace the adamantium ones.
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No, the problem is the Origin mini-series, which is where it’s first presented that Wolverine has the bone claws BEFORE the adamantium.
Didn’t Barry Winsor-Smith introduce bone claws in the Weapon X mini?
And Claremont was going to have Wolverine lose the admantium due to Hand Ninja Magic had he not left the X-Books and reveal bone claws so it was always there…(wonder if that’ll happen in X-Men Forever).
Are you sure? I’m 99% positive that Wolvie’s claws were digital in the first film. Think about the when he first unsheaths them: could have have been done without CGI?
There was some digital trickery in the first film, but mainly they were real. I even read a Hugh Jackman interview where he said he accidentally stabbed himself in the leg with them.
I don’t remember seeing Quicksilver in the film either, although I suppose that leaves me open for any number of speedster puns.
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Okay, fine.
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In the sequence in the mutant prison, we see someone whose body is basically tethered. He’s moving at super speed, trying to break loose of the cell, but the tethers are holding him in place so he can’t do much more than be a stationary blur. He’s got a full head of silver hair, which is even more clear when we see him released later on. I’m reasonably sure that was intended to be Pietro.
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PAD
Yeah, that last point (no pun intended) bugged me, too.
I have to be honest, while I thought the movie was decent, overall I was a bit disappointed.
Was Diamond Girl supposed to be Emma Frost? Or a wacked out version of Diamond Lil?
No, that was Emma.
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PAD
Emma Frost, and in this ‘continuity’, sister to Kayla Silverfox. Another one of the mind-boggling things about this film, imo.
I think we have to look at the movies as an entirely different reality from the books, whioch causes it’s own problems for people who want to seek out the books after seeing the movie.
Well, a different continuity is to be expected. And not every change that is made is bad.
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For example, I actually think one of the least sinful things was to make Wolverine and Sabretooth half-brothers. In the comics it was always hinted that they could be related, but here it’s a necessity to help streamline the story. Ok, I can live with that. But when you look at what they did to Deadpool, or that Logan volunteered to join Weapon X instead of being forced into it… I don’t feel that there much respect for the source material.
Okay, everyone who now wants Peter to write a comic based on what he thought this movie could have been (“The Duelists” with super-powers), raise your hands.
Yeah, I think that’s pretty much everyone.
lwk
Based on the previews, I haven’t been too enthused about this movie. Based on the reviews I’ve seen over the last couple of days, I don’t see any reason to run down and watch it, either. Believe it or not, this is the MOST positive review I’ve read about it. Most seem to be dismissing it as short on plot, and too heavy on pointless action that doesn’t drive the plot. All the popcorn and community in the world can’t change that this movie seems to be about as pointless as X3 – which was also little more than a star vehicle for Berry and Jackman.
Still, my wife and daughter will likely want to see it. It does star Hugh Jackman, after all……
I had to see it… after all, it was the Xmen and mainly Wolverine that got me into comic books. That and a car running me over and keeping me in bed for two months. I got tons of Marvel comic books to read (my dad worked in the spanish publisher marketing department…come to think of it, didn’t you PAD work in that area too?), but after getting hooked, the first regular title I started to buy with my meager funds was X-Men, the Cockrum issue with Wolverine trying to get rid of the Brood inside him. I didnt miss an issue until two years ago. There were times that X-Men was the only american comic book I was buying.
I enjoyed the film… I saw the plotholes but they were tolerable, given the kind of crap I have swallowed with gusto in these 25 years of reading comics. It was faithful enough to the original material and sometimes brilliant when it decided to innovate. I absolutly loved the opening credits montage and I like Gambit, which is something I never did on the books. Some cameos were unnecesary but enjoyable nevertheless. But above all…it felt like reading a comic book. Not a mind shattering one, not “the best book of the year” kind of experience, but the “embedded in continuity” kind that Marvels can do so well.
So as it has been all these years, I glady pay for that.
I’ve never read the comics, but I loved the movies, so of course I was at this one at first show. It was … Satisfying. It didn’t have the awesome Ooomph of the Xmen movies, but at the end I was surprised it was over already – it sucked me in so I didn’t notice the time. I had no knowledge at all of the Wolverine background, and I must say I was a little confused. I did not realize Wolverine was immortal, and once they started talking about taking off heads all I could think of was Highlander. Yes, a little more introduction to characters would have made it easier to follow. I recognized precious few of the Mutants, but I thought Gambit was really cool and wish I could have seen more of him. There was enough action to keep it going, without it taking over (which killed Indiana Jones 4 for me), but – and I know, I’m a total dork, it’s a comic book, it doesn’t have to make sense – I couldn’t help wondering about the energy utilization factor by the character (forgive me, I don’t remember the name, the one with the mouth and knives who is later mutilated and brings everything down at the end)on top of the cooling tower – all that bouncing and shapeshifting has got to take a toll on the body. If that kinetic energy is unlimited, where does it come from? Why does he need to eat? I would think the mutants with the more dangerous powers would need to eat immense volumes of food to maintain health.
But I’m a dork who reads neuroscience for fun.
Nonetheless, it was highly enjoyable, and I’d gladly go see it again.
I like the Duellists idea, and the “plotgun wedding,” which describes this movie perfectly. The movie really needed to be at least two and a half hours for all these elements to gel into a cohesive story. I suppose they had to include bits from the lame Origin mini-series, but truncating it into a single scene made it seem even more pointless and silly than the actual mini-series was. Likewise, the whole sequence concerning the mutant team in the beginning seemed very rushed, from a storytelling perspective. The movie felt like the Cliff’s Notes version of the story, which wouldn’t have been that much of a problem if it wasn’t so poorly made.
The best part of the movie was listening to the conversations of the people leaving the theater, which all sounded like dialogue you would normally only hear in a comic book store. Senior citizens, housewives, teenagers, people of all variety who have most likely never read a comic book were analyzing and dissecting the movie, the characters and their powers with all the earnestness of the geekiest comic book geek.
The Hudsons, eh? I was wondering who Ma & Pa Kent were.
When Logan and Creed storm Normandy Beach, I would’ve loved to have seen Nick Fury and his commandos along for the ride. Of course, with Nick Fury being established as not old enough to have served in WW2 in Iron Man, that took care of that.
The easiest way to sum this movie up is that Jackman and Scheriber turn in good performances in so-so movie. It’s hard to completely HATE a flick that has Wolverine tear down a helicopter, or had some great little lines like, “You have insurance in this place?” “No.” “Too bad” or “Okay. People are dead.”, or even just the first 20 minutes of the movie until Wolverine becomes a lumberjack is great. But it’s hard to completely LOVE a movie that, well, did THAT to Deadpool. Not to say that you have to be slavishly devoted to the source… just don’t do THAT!
I’d say it’s the weakest movie of the X-flicks, but it isn’t Fantastic Four or The Spirit. It simply is.
A few things that bugged me about this movie being a prequel: First off, why doesn’t Sabertooth ever call him “brother” even once in X-Men, or even mention it? And what happened to his hair or even his gift of gab? He’s downright chatty in this flick They kind of imply that Creed is getting worse as the years go on, so you could infer that by the time “X-Men” rolls around he’s basically just an deadly monosyllabic animal. But couldn’t somebody just flat out say “Yes, Creed, you are devolving. Boo-hoo.” Also, where did Stryker’s Souther accent come from?
But I’ll admit those are nitpicks. But a real dramatic drawback of the film is simply the two main antagonists, Sabertooth and Stryker, don’t have any resolution in this film. They just kind of wander off at the end. The Star Wars prequels lead to a point and it had a Final Conflict between Anakin and Obi-Wan. Dramatic payoff. Conclusion. This one was just “Well, seeya later!” and to get your dramatic resolution, you have to go watch X-Men and X2. And that just feels like homework by that point.
And I still want to gripe about the adamantium bullet. There were THREE psychics popping up in the third act. THREE!! One of ’em couldn’t give Logan a cursory wind-wipe?
Argh. I complain because I love. Really.
There is another post-credit ending in addition to the Japan bar scene. I won’t give it away in case anyone is still going and catches it, but if you google it you can find out.
Rob
I think for me two things spoiled the movie. First I got into see a preview of star trek the day before. The two movies are both prequels of a sorts. And Star Trek suceeded in hitting all the right plot notes without feeling like it pasted together. Wolverine one would not be so bad if it wasnt plotgunned together and ended with such a dull thud.
Second the Wolverine movie seemed to have decided that X-men canon was optional. The whole deadpool thing just made me annoyed. The other plot twists i wont mention – as people may not have seen the film – was one of those old hacked tv movie of the week twists that should have been edited out and lost. Better than the X3. worse than X2.
I saw the movie on Friday.
It was O.K.
But the best “fanboy” moment for me, since I was reading X-Men in the ’70’s and ’80’s, was when Wolverine uttered the quintessential Claremont/Byrne-Wolverine line:
“I’m the best at what I do, but what I do isn’t very nice.” I laughed with delight when he said that!