The problem we (comic book fans) often have with these comic book movies is that we’re too close to the characters and their story. Wolverine is probably my favorite character even though I haven’t not consistently read his comic (I know more about the history of the Flash and Teen Titans than him because I’ve read 70% to 80% of their comics).Yet, I love him as a character and many of us do because of what he represents (which depends on your interpretation of him) and what he is capable of (the good, bad, and the ugly). Let’s be real, in pop culture he is a small fry but for us true comic fans he is up there with Spiderman, Captain America, and The Hulk; he is a pillar in the marvel comic book universe. Artistically he is probably the best character in the Marvel Universe, the complexity and incredible history of this character is rivaled by few and as true fans we see this and appreciate it.
What makes us fans of these movies is also what makes us despise them as well, our passion for these characters and their story often limit our perspective. When we view these movies we are art critics and we are viewing a bastardized versions of masterpieces on a large scale. It is like we went to school and studied classical art and go to a an exhibit in New York and see a counterfeit of the MONA LISA. We are outraged as critics but the normal viewing public can’t even tell it is a fake. The problem is that comics are like soccer (fútbol) in this country, everyone played it when they were young, but most people stopped and those who did not, really understand it and have a passion for the sport. This comes into play in how soccer is promoted and handled in this country, only when it is financially viable is it taken seriously (.i.e., the world cup and the Olympics). When money is what drives any artistic endeavor (from a painting to a song, to a movie, to design a building) the foundation is superficial and the act of creating this art will be fundamentally be corrupt at its core. That is the problem with FOX and the X-men franchise and most franchises that have sequels, those that are behind the film are not coming from a proper foundation and are driven by greed. At the same time the original art is so profound that even in its faulty form it is something to view. One can still see a diamond is a diamond even when dirtied and aged, its value is still present. So even though these stories have been abused and misused by these film makers the foundation of the original stories are so sound that the characters cannot be ignored. In some cases they even bring new fans to the comic book world or old ones back home sort of speak. If you have read this much you probably want my actual review now, huh?
I give the movie a B-, but to be honest I had low expectations in the first place. I just wanted the movie to be good enough to make a sequel. Is it good enough, I don’t know, we’ll see in the coming weeks (also they have a lot of competition with Star Trek and Terminator coming out so close to the release date) but it has a chance because it is a good action film. The fight scenes were ridiculous and there was enough humor to make one laugh out loud at times. Did they squeeze too much in? Yes. Did they misuse characters? Yes. Were they inconsistent with the CGI quality? Yes. Did the Deadpool thing not make sense? Yes. Even with all those flaws it was still OK because Hugh Jackman and Liev Schreiber did a good job acting and kicking ass.
Ever since the debacle of X-Men 3I have come into these movies wanting only one thing, that is for the film to peek a child’s interests so they’ll buy a comic book or bug their parent’s till they do, because that keeps comic books a live. And as fans that is all we want, to keep comic books relevant so we can keeping escaping to a world of limitless possibilities and have others experience the same joy. Let’s be honest traditional paper comics are struggling, just like the news paper. We need a new generation of comic book fans and with technology being one of most dominant factors in our lives it is hard to get a child to read a comic when they can play one on PS3 or X-Box 360. I know this movie was entertaining enough to get a child’s interest, so were the other X-men flicks. I actually saw a ten year old in full Wolverine gear running around gutting people before the movie started. I refuse to believe that his only exposure to Wolverine were the X-men movies. This lets me know we have hope and it will be a long time before I am unable to waste time reading my version of fantasy world (Ping, the mike has been dropped on the stage).