Wolverine Review

Wolverine Review

Wolverine is an icon. Arguably the most popular comic book character of all time. He has a great back catalogue of comic history and a grippiong origin story. Hugh Jackman has already played him 3 times and did a great job. So his first solo movie really should have been join the dots brilliant. It should have been Marvels "The Dark Knight". It's not. But it is a very good, highly enjoyable comic book movie.

Review Opinion
By MarkCassidy - Apr 28, 2009 06:04 PM EST

I'm not going to just give a play by play synopsis of the plot because its been posted already by Fox no less! As well as by a lot of people that have watched the leaked version. Im just going to tell you whats good and whats bad about it and let you make up your own mind. Although there may be some spoilers..if they can be called that at this stage!

The first hour or so of this movie is actually quite brilliant, and as i was watching it i found myself wondering what the hell people were moaning about! Unfortunately by the end i understood. The ending wasnt awful, but just such a dissapointment because of the good work leading up to it. This isnt even really due to the much criticised liberties that were taken with the source material..although they didnt help! But my real problem was with the cliched and at times downright awful script. Its not all bad, but theres just too many.."Im so cold" as a character is dying..and "I would kill you, but then id be just as bad as you" moments. You would think Gavin Hood and his script writers had never watched a movie. Its also quite repetative. I lost count of how many times someone talks about taking someone elses head of. And if they're not saying it then they're typing it into a control panel! And Silver Fox tells Logan hes not an animal about 5 times too. These lazy choices dont ruin the movie, but i just feel if they had of taken the time to think out more original material that it would have greatly improved the movie overall.

The performances range from solid to great. Hugh Jackman is once again amazing as Wolverine..but matching him beat by beat is Liev Schrieber as Victor Creed. They succeed in bringing these iconic characters to life brilliantly. Schreiber bringing real menace and ferocity to the psychotic Creed. Ryan Reynolds makes a great Wade Wilson, if only he had more screen time. Taylor Kitch is meh as Gambit. When we first see him at the poker table he appears as cool as he should be..but this quickly fades, with his accent! Danny Huston makes a smarmy but never really threatening Stryker. Lynn Collins is very good as Silver Fox, although she is served up the biggest clunkers of dialogue. Kevin Durand was a decent Blob..i guess! Who cares? His only purpose in the movie was to have a silly 3 stooges style boxing match with Logan. William(add dots as appropriate) is surprisingly effective as Wraith..but again, serious lack of development. Dom Monaghan plays a new character called Bolt(not beak as was thought) and is great in a very small role.Its really Schrieber and Jackmans movies, and they carry it superbly. There fight scenes (although too short) are the best thing about this.

The fan bashed decision to make "The merc with a mouth" a remote controlled, Barraka bladed zombie..WITHOUT A MOUTH! is the worst thing about this. Not even taking into account how much they pissed all over the Deadpool character, its still a rubbish villain and comes across more like an end of level boss in a computer game. This is another reason the ending is so disappointing. Also, Wolvie and Creed teaming up just doesnt feel right after everything thats happened between them.

I really enjoyed the movie, despite its failings. Sure as a faithful adaptation it leaves a lot to be desired, and even as a movie it could have been better..but i really think that many people will get a lot out of it. Im as harsh a critic as anyone on here, and i had a great time at the cinema tonight.

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MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 4/29/2009, 8:46 AM
Yeah sorry, i edited the review so hes in there.
TheMyth
TheMyth - 4/29/2009, 4:57 PM
Good job Rorschach01! I personally felt that the only thing that could damage this movie would be the story pacing. The acting and dialogue was great in the leaked version and I am sure that is no different in the real thing.
Justadjust
Justadjust - 4/30/2009, 2:48 PM
Hey Ror... Nice review. Its nice to see good critique rather than just straight up bashing...

Though I have been hearing some strange rumors about Deadpool/Weapon 11 still being seperate characters.

Plus... still no word on Clark. Did you see him?
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 4/30/2009, 3:56 PM
thanks guys, yeah i heard a strange one about the real Deadpool at the end in one after credit scene..but it still sucks that they didnt put it in the finished movie

Clark who?
Justadjust
Justadjust - 4/30/2009, 4:26 PM
Christian Clark AKA Sinister...
Oh come on Ror, I know you read theMyth's article on the possibility of his inclusion. The strange part is now on IMDB there is no reference to him being in the movie... as a matter of fact, he is now not mentioned anywhere! He did slip and say he was involved, but this is all too wierd.
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 5/1/2009, 5:15 AM
oh yeah. Well he aint in it thats for sure! Maybe hes in one of the "secret endings" but i doubt it. Best hope is for a directors cut. In fact if theres one movie that would really benifit from that its this..an extra 20 mins of so would make this a great movie
Phinehas
Phinehas - 5/2/2009, 8:17 AM
I always like to go back to the source to find where an error began. It was Bryan Singer's interpretation of X-Men that set this movie down the wrong path. I know die-hard worshippers will claim "blasphemy" and will get their panties in a bunch, but it is a perfect example of how a ship on the high seas turns only a degree off course and end up 100s to 1000s of miles off course. Singer took too many liberties that were not justified that led to this disappointment. The movie was good as a popcorn flick and a decent spectacle, but that is why Wolvie fans are pissed. They want an epic and got only a good attempt in a batting-cage pitch. Gavin Hood was handed lemons and artificial sweetner after Singer and Ratner had their hand in the pot, and tried to make lemonade. Hey! We all know what freshly squeezed tastes like, and this isn't fresh. I know fans are beginning to murmur and moan about the amount of reboots out there, but in my opinion, the time has come. If you can't do it nice, do it twice. I want a Wolverine that is no taller than 5'5" and IS an animal! I also know that 20th Century Fox is partly to blame. Perhaps the problem is in part, that they follow 20th Century rules of filmmaking (particularly mid-eighties action flicks with campy dialogue). Movie fans are a little smarter now. We can handle scripts that are a little more intelligent. Studios still think we are stupid (and the populace is, but not the fans).

That was my rant.

Ror, your review was good.
loganaspatch
loganaspatch - 5/2/2009, 10:58 AM
good review ror.

yea an unrated directors cut! i will defintly buy. there was a scene where wolverine pulled his claws out of sabes body and not a drop of blood at all! :/
2leftarms
2leftarms - 5/3/2009, 9:11 PM
Best review yet. I also hated the Wolvie/Sabretooth tag team. It was weak and unimaginitive. I think this movie excels in the subtleties, but fails where it counts. The dialouge, the minor characters, the less significant plot points are all a treat, but when it comes to the major scenes, they resort to cliches or just bad ideas.
HeyVanity
HeyVanity - 5/18/2009, 8:40 PM
Best review I've seen. Everyone else just seems to be bashing it without pointing out what actually worked. And I agree, it was an enjoyable film. Hugh Jackman always seems to make a great wolverine, which I am sure is especially difficult considering he doesn't have the advantage of the costume. He has to make us believe he is Wolverine through his acting instead. It's just a shame they weren't more imaginative. It would have been nice if they included marvel a little more and didn't resort to their Steven Segall action cliches and campy dialogue. After they beat "Weapon XI" I half expected Wolverine to get a bunch of experience points and "level up". Could have been worse I suppose. Could have been a hell of a lot better too though.
jimdrums
jimdrums - 5/20/2009, 8:49 AM
I was very entertained by the movie, I dont know a whole lot about Wolverines origin so I get the feeling that what I didnt know didnt hurt me.
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