Ok so I saw and wrote the first review of the wolverine movie based off the work print, posted it on march 31st (http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/scoops/news/?a=6824), taken down the next day, but I think reposted in the comments section. So those were my initial thoughts, and I gave it 5/10.
Now I have seen it in theaters and I have to say that some feelings changed and some stayed the same.
Ok so for those who are wondering, YES fox did lie to us fans. They claimed they added 10 minutes of extra footage(supposedly of Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman) but absolutely nothing was added or edited differently from the work print. Way to go fox, just keep lying till this whole thing blows over. Anyways Old News.
Again I was thoroughly impressed with the performances of Hugh, Taylor Kitsch, Danny Huston, and Ryan Reynolds. Everyone else could have been played by someone else just as well, if not better. There was no character development beside Wolverine, now granted I realize the movie is his, but that doesn’t mean you should focus solely on the development of that character only. I have also been told by the group I went with (many who aren’t comic fans) that it was hard to care for any of the characters and too many seemed to be just thrown in there for namesake(blob was mentioned the most).
For some reason this just doesn’t feel like enough, I think they could have made a better film if they cut some characters, added some length, and tried not to dumb down this film for general audiences, I mean it seems the writers read the characters bios on wikipedia and threw together a script(Emma Frost is Silver Fox's little sister, really?). The editing is probably still the worst aspect of the film, this is has a very poor flow to it, which just adds to the feel that the editor had no idea what he was doing here. Also the WHOLE movie felt a bunch of random action thrown together, every scene seemed like it was leading up to a fight, with no story in between fight. Where there is some story, its crap, and not even gripping, I could have not even paid attention and I would have had all the plot points down(that’s not good for a film fyi). The film still seemed very boring and unnecessary in the middle, but maybe a little less so without the track bar to skip with. CONTROVERSY AHEAD!!! Honestly I could have lived without this or the upcoming Magneto movie, I mean the first 3 films were based all around these guys, why not give some other characters a chance? This whole thing just feels very unnecessary to the xmen film series.
OK now to the CGI…..WOW how many ways can I say this? Well to put it briefly. CRAP. It looks like the work of a college student, actually I’ve seen better effect in a college students film than this. They should have had some balls and used practical effects for the claws, like 1 &2. I thought they were going to actually fix the stuff from the workprint, but really besides the noticeable things (cgi building/planes) the effects are just as bad.
The action was just the basic eye candy one would expect, explosions, slashes, and basic senseless destruction. Although some of the fights/ action were ok, theres no standout fight, there all kinda he same. Also I found it weird that Sabertooth would just randomly show up and fight wolvie, plus I thought the fought too many times in the film.
Another thing that really bothered me this time around was the whole escape from lab part. Ok so throughout the first 2 films they show us these awesome, bloody, and amazing operation and escape clips. But here, we get a small 2 minute mad dash for the door. REALLY. I thought at one point that wolvie would start to casually stroll out the door.
As a fan of the comics I loathe this film, but if I was just a general audience member who just saw the first 3, would probably like it, thus the reason why it will make bank this weekend.
Ok so positives…..?
-some of the performance
-some of the fights/action were ok, nothing special, just the basic eye candy.
Negatives
-overall weak/bad story
-no respect for the source material
-taking those ‘liberties’ with the characters
-the CGI/effects
I know I was criticized before for watching and judging the unfinished product, but I’m just going to say, told ya so. This movie was disappointing the first time and even more the second time. This film really just seems like a ploy of Fox’s to milk their license for what its worth, and I think this is evident in the fact they lied to the fans, and just threw more characters in there to get fan boys pumped up to see it.
Oh ya I got the deadpool after credit scene, and it really doesn’t fix anything. Fox seems to have shot it last week and threw it in there since the other one was seen so negatively. It does nothing to remove he massive raping that the deadpool character received throughout the film, and it just seems really cheap of fox to put in there to try and cover their asses.
So yep final rating :
4.5 - 5/10
-DennisW22