Posts Tagged ‘Sabretooth’
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Not to start things on a down note, but I have a couple of problems with X-Men Origins: Wolverine and this issue that Cami brings up in today’s comic is probably the least radioactive among them.
As someone who firmly believes that too many mutants spoiled the broth on X-Men 3, it doesn’t please me to see so many mutants in what is supposed to be a Wolverine origin story.
Granted, Marvel has woven our favorite sawed-off runt into some of the biggest historical events of the last 100 years and he always seems to be running into someone we know from the larger comic universe.
But I think there is potential for overkill when you try to cram all of these relationships into a two hour movie and not over the course of months or years of storytelling like they do in the comics.
Wolverine’s history is complicated enough. Why complicated it further by distracting us with characters we don’t care about?
I think it makes sense to include Sabretooth in Logan’s past and I think it’s smart to include Deadpool as well. But Gambit’s just in there because they couldn’t squeeze him into X-3. And The Blob? Seriously? The Blob? What does he have to do with any of this? Combine this with cameos from younger versions of Cyclops and Emma Frost and it becomes a mutated mess.
Lastly, put whoever cast Will.I.Am in this movie on the phone right now. They’re fired.
Now it’s very possible that these characters won’t be featured prominently and their impact on the overall story will be insignificant.
But if that’s the case, why is Fox cutting TV spots for nearly every last one of them?…
Was there anyone on the fence about this movie who said to themselves, “Yeah, I don’t know if I want to see X-Men Origins: Wolverine. But know that I know Fred J. Dukes is in it, I HAVE to go!”
To me, it’s symbolic of Fox’s wasteful, over-saturated marketing strategy. Between those 8 spots, I already feel like I’ve already seen the whole damn movie! How about leaving something for the theater, Fox?
I could probably go on – and on Friday, it’s likely that I will – but I want to leave it at that for now. By the way, if you noticed the series of 10-star graphics in the sidebar on the way down, that’s the list of Top 10 comics here on the site as voted by you, the readers. I added a new ranking plugin on Monday and a few of you have been going through the archives ranking your favorite comics. Don’t agree with the list? Rank a few comics of your own!
In the meantime, how are you feeling about X-Men Origins: Wolverine? Are you excited for it or do you think it has been over-hyped? Do you think anyone will even remember this movie after the reboot of Star Trek comes out next week? Does it matter so long as you get to see Hugh Jackman without his shirt on in a couple of scenes?
Leave your comments below!
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Something I wanted to mention in my review, but couldn’t find a way to fit in was the opening credit sequence and first 20 minutes of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. This was the best part of the movie.
In a credit sequence that shows Wolverine and Sabertooth fighting in nearly every war from the last 100 years, we get a sense of their camaraderie as well as Wolverine’s concern and condemnation of Sabretooth’s growing blood lust and violence. Fast forward a few years to when the two are part of William Stryker’s elite mutant black ops team, they’ve done a good job of setting the stage for conflict while succinctly introducing a lot of supporting characters.
It should be mentioned that Ryan Reynolds steals the show in these opening scenes and it’s positively criminal he wasn’t given more to do.
At any rate, before I de-evolve into more criticism, I wanted to make mention of the curious phenomenon going on with 20th Century Fox’s super hero movies. It seems like they’re able to knock it out of the part in the first 20 minutes, but totally lose traction after that. Exhibit B? Watchmen.
Another film with a brilliant opening credit sequence and strong opening scenes. Then, a handful of screwed up details later and you’re left with a big steaming pile of “Oh, well.”
What’s going on over at Fox that creates this? Are the executives so busy they only have time to watch the first 20 minutes of their films and the crew knows they can phone it in after that? Or maybe the just have EXTREMELY unfocused editors who only have enough stamina to maintain the narrative in the first reel? In any case, I thought it was worth mentioning.
Something else worth mentioning is The Triple Feature, the movie podcast I host with Joe Dunn from Joe Loves Crappy Movies and Gordon McAlpin from Multiplex.
There’s no doubt we’ll be talking about X-Men Origins: Wolverine tonight. But we’ll also be talking about something else…
Joe issued an interesting challenge last week – To predict the Top 10 Box Office earners between now and the end of August. The victor will be judged not only by how many correct movies he has on his list, but by how many movies he correctly places within the Top 10.
All three of us have put together our lists and will be sharing them on the show tonight. So be sure to tune in at 9PM CST so you can listen live and chat with us in real time.
If you need a reminder, follow my Twitter account. I usually send out a notice 15 minutes before we start recording.
Be there!
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