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Mahmoud El-Azzeh
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« on: April 27, 2009, 07:59:50 PM » |
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Whatever you do Logan, don't look at the review below...Hands up who's a fan of Wolverine? Okay, most of you. Good - you can stay. Hands up who's a fan of Gambit? Okay, just as many. This might not be the movie you've been waiting for but it will have to do. Hands up who's a fan of Deadpool? Yes, you, the person with the rage in their eyes and the froth in their mouth - you may want to sit this one out buddy. Let's get it straight. The name of the movie is Wolverine, so that means anything that happens of relevance in the movie is for Wolverine's sake. This is a Hugh Jackman vehicle plain and simple. There are lots of side characters in here that appear and are not given the movie treatment they richly deserve (Cyclops, Emma Frost, Gambit, Deadpool et al I'm looking at you) but frankly anything that features them is a either slight bonus or a royal two fingers up to what history has been previously established in the books. Is this movie enjoyable? Yes in short. My favourite part is the first 20 minutes where you get to see Wolverine and Sabretooth's pasts, growing up through and fighting in several World Wars (all during the credits) and then very quickly you are introduced to the team that William Stryker (Danny Huston) puts together in the form of Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), Sabretooth (Liev Schreiber), Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds), Wraith (will.i.am), Bolt (Dominic Monaghan) and Agent X (Daniel Henney). The team is then sent to Nigeria beat up some random bad guys (probably to prevent credit card fraud scams) in a series of very cool sequences that displays their talents. What caught my eye was how we get to see Reynolds at his best being a smart-mouth and at the same time kicking a lot of ass in the space of 3 minutes - I've never really followed the Deadpool character at all and was immediately enchanted. Shame what happens to him the end, eh? Which co-incides with the last 10 minutes being the least enjoyable for me. Anyway, it was nice to see that the movie had made way for the violence that goes with characters being shish-kebabed and others being brutally killed, especially when you compare it to the kid-friendly first X-Men movie. More blood would've been better though. Several times Wolverine's bone blades are shown graphically penetrating people yet no blood appears when retracted. WOW, I just realised how much double-entendre is within that sentence. Moving on. Gambit as played by Taylor Kitsch is almost good although he doesn't really attempt a cajun accent so no "mon cher"s or mention of his "momma's gumbo". In fact, there's not much difference between the character he plays on the Friday Night Lights TV series and Gambit, except the exploding cards and lightning rods he uses of course. The movie allude to the love-hate relationship between him and Wolverine, which was a nice nod to the fans and could easily develop in movie sequels. Special mention should go to Liev Schreiber though who is entirely watchable and makes the Sabretooth character work in his own way. Forget the rabid, hairy, neanderthal-like version that we are accustomed to in the comics, his is a sharp, devious and enjoyably evil iteration that deserves recognition in its own right. Oh yeah, there's a romantic plotline in there as well for Wolverine but I won't bore you with the details. Wolverine has a lot of ladies in his storyline and this one doesn't really stand up to Jean Grey or even his Japanese escapades. The action set-pieces are quite awesome, but you can't help but feel being put off by some of the ropey CGI. Sometimes, Wolverine's claws don't look real for one and THAT is a major problem considering it's such an iconic feature of his persona. *** MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD *** I would give this movie a solid B. Not as good as Iron Man but better than Elektra. The ending let me down a bit, especially the way they treat the Deadpool character - they basically deform Ryan Reynolds to have no hair or mouth. Then suddenly he has giant blades sticking out of his fists, can teleport and shoot optic blasts from his eyes a la Cyclops and he's the final bad guy. WTH - seriously, such a letdown as his character started so well! There was talk of a Deadpool movie before this and it would have worked with Reynolds as the main man - then they went and cut his head off. Great. Having done some research - apparently, Deadpool can survive decapitations. Yippee! Revenge!
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Sheridan Passell
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« Reply #1 on: April 27, 2009, 08:27:05 PM » |
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Nicely done.
I could tell by an interview Ryan Reynolds gave a few weeks back that he was basically apologising in advance, it was clear from that they were going to screw up the character in some way.
It's so short sighted, don't they want a spin-off?
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dnwilliams
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« Reply #2 on: April 28, 2009, 05:53:52 AM » |
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Not as good as Iron Man but better than Elektra.
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dalmatianjaws
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« Reply #3 on: April 30, 2009, 01:57:51 PM » |
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It's actually not a Wolverine movie. It's a Sabertooth movie. He's the only character they develop. Wolverine bounces back and forth between weak, gentle James and mean, brutal Logan without any real arc. It's muddled and confusing, just like Ang Lee's Hulk.
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dnwilliams
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« Reply #4 on: April 30, 2009, 02:56:41 PM » |
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i'm willing to stake my life on ang lee's hulk being the better film
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AristotleP
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« Reply #5 on: April 30, 2009, 03:30:48 PM » |
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Not as good as Iron Man but better than Elektra.
lol Elektra?  |
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AristotleP
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« Reply #7 on: April 30, 2009, 03:35:10 PM » |
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Yeah lol Last time I checked it was like 56% It's gone down to 41% now
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Sheridan Passell
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« Reply #8 on: April 30, 2009, 05:11:25 PM » |
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So you guys are saying it's worse than Elektra?
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dnwilliams
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« Reply #9 on: May 01, 2009, 04:25:01 AM » |
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ha! i'm saying iron man and elektra are at opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to a good superhero movies and bad superhero movies, in dc terms it's like saying 'it's not as good as the dark knight, but it's better than catwoman,'
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David Hawk
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« Reply #10 on: May 01, 2009, 05:13:32 AM » |
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I'm gutted, i really wanted this to be a good movie. Sigh
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The next scream you hear could be your own
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AristotleP
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« Reply #11 on: May 01, 2009, 06:46:45 AM » |
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lol 34% now. The bad reviews keep rolling in.
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Sir Collin
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« Reply #12 on: May 03, 2009, 11:36:15 PM » |
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Gonna be honest, Ryan Reynolds wasnt the best choice for dead pool. Overall the movie was totally bad ass though. Wolverine i think was the best X-men movie yet. I found myself entertained the whole time, and when the movie ended i was bummed out. One thing i did want to know was why he lived so freaken long, he fought in all the wars and then all of sudden he joined a mutant group and then lived in the mountains. But all in all, i am buying it first thing when it is released
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David Hawk
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« Reply #13 on: May 18, 2009, 05:08:26 AM » |
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Saw Wolverine yesterday and what a crushing dissapointment. dalmatinjaws is right this is Victor Creeds film not Logans, he also has the best lines.
Without even going into the so bad its terrible directing with shots like the chopper exploding behind a slo-mo Wolvie as he walks towards the camera.
There were some nice touches like the barn scene but they were few and far between.
Ultimately this did exactly what Last Stand did, it took way too many characters without enough time to develop them and then dropped them in when it was convenient not because it made sense.
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The next scream you hear could be your own
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Sheridan Passell
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« Reply #14 on: May 18, 2009, 07:20:10 AM » |
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I know I might as well hop on the cross for saying this, but I actually quite enjoyed X-Men 3. It had some TERRIBLE scenes (Halle Berry at the funeral etc), and it lacked thematic depth, but I actually found the death of Professor X at the house and the entire finale pretty exciting. Sorry everyone.
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David Hawk
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« Reply #15 on: May 18, 2009, 09:23:35 AM » |
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Haha no need to apologise mate, we all have our filthy guilty secrets  I admit i loved the Xavier kill scene but the ending made no sense, i mean why move the Golden Gate Bridge over to Alcatraz but leave the other end on land so the Feds could turn up?! and why use the lumbering Juggernaut to go fetch the kid when Magneto could've used that disappearing chick to whip and pick him up? |
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The next scream you hear could be your own
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dalmatianjaws
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« Reply #16 on: May 18, 2009, 01:04:48 PM » |
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X3 is actually my favorite on a story level. Rubbish directing and fight scenes, but they kill off Cyclops who never mattered, made Jean Grey interesting, and bring Wolvie's character to completion by making him the leader. And the scene where he has to kill Jean Grey! Awesome!
Though, the pinacle of the series is the first half of X2 ... once it gets to that lake in Canada it's shit, but before that it's amazing. Nightcrawler sucked though.
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dnwilliams
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« Reply #17 on: May 18, 2009, 01:55:57 PM » |
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X3 is actually my favorite on a story level. Rubbish directing and fight scenes, but they kill off Cyclops who never mattered, made Jean Grey interesting, and bring Wolvie's character to completion by making him the leader. And the scene where he has to kill Jean Grey! Awesome!
Though, the pinacle of the series is the first half of X2 ... once it gets to that lake in Canada it's shit, but before that it's amazing. Nightcrawler sucked though.
OMG PASSELL! You and DalmationJaws will be the first to go when the nerd revolution comes. X3 took Joss Whedon AND Chris Claremont books and butchered them completely. Cyclops *should* have mattered, that was the one thing X2 got wrong! Making Wolverine lead the frickin' X-Men is so out of character its insane! And the scene where he has to kill Jean Grey is *supposed* do be the scene where Jean Grey kills herself using Cyclops' optic blast to do so, redeeming herself and scarring the man she loves for life! |
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dalmatianjaws
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« Reply #18 on: May 18, 2009, 02:26:52 PM » |
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In every comic, episode, and movie that I've seen/read Cyclops is a one dimensional character. I'm sure some thread somewhere along the line made him better, but from his creation he's always been boring and simple.
Can't speak to how other versions of this story ended Jean Grey. Better or worse, the one in X3 is fantastic. It did scar the man who loves her for life.
As for it being out of character for Wolvie to lead the X-Men, remember that movies are a totally different medium from comics. And despite the flaws, those three movies were built to be a one story trilogy. So they gave Wolvie an ending.
It worked quite well. A natural arc for him is to assume the responsibility for his life that he's been running from for over 100 years. It's not "out of character" it grew out of his character. In comics you can keep a character the same for 30 years (I think that's rubbish, which is why I don't like most comics, but it's an industry standard) but movies need to have an end, they are a more streamlined storytelling medium.
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dnwilliams
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« Reply #19 on: May 18, 2009, 03:27:27 PM » |
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From his creation Cyclops has been a divisive character; people say what you've said, that he's one dimensional or 'too good', the same blanket statements made about Superman, Captain America and other more subtly defined characters. What he's supposed to be is a paragon of mutantkind, a shining example of a good mutant that can champion Xavier's dream of human/mutant intergration and bear the burden that comes with it - something Wolverine can never do because he is a killer, and always will be. It's not about someone who loves Jean being scarred for life really, it's about her making the impossible decision to end her life, and doing so by using the powers of the person she loves, which isn't Logan... And despite the considerable changes to Wolverine's character, the solitary one that ruined the character is making him leader. Making him the centre of attention when he's best suited to being the shady mysterious team member is one thing, turning the guy into a leader is something else entirely...an absolute betrayal of the character, irrespective of the medium in which he's portrayed. You're right, he needed an ending of sorts, but no longer running from his life and realising that he is at home with the X-Men is arc enough. As for keeping characters the same not being cool, I thought you enjoyed the hell out of a movie called Star Trek  |
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February 14, 2008, 11:58:15 AM
