I really had to restrain the fan-geek in me for this movie, let me say from the outset. A movie like this has the potential to be so amazing, but at the same time can upset fan-geeks a lot, primarily because there is already an established movie continuity for the X-Men. What if they were to destroy that? Could I handle it?
As it turned out the fan-geek had absolutely nothing to worry about and while, as I expected, this didn't turn out to be the thought provoking X-Men movies of Bryan Singer, it was still an entertaining and action-packed film that doesn't have a dud moment.
Fox and Marvel must be thanking Tom Cruise every day for the fact that Mission: Impossible II ran over schedule and Dougray Scott was forced to pull out of the role of X-Men, handing over to song-and-dance man Hugh Jackman. Jackman, of course, turned out to be handsome, charming and able to bring Wolverine perfectly to life for three movies, so much so that by the third X-Men movie he was, undeniably, the star. If any X-Man was going to pull off a solo movie, it was going to be Wolverine, and thanks to Hugh Jackman's success and popularity, it became a no-brainer.
What was slightly more controversial, though, was recasting established characters such as Stryker and Sabretooth. However, given the context of the story, this is perhaps, not that surprising. Tyler Mane was brilliant as the tall, muscle bound heavy that Sabretooth was in the first X-Men movie, but I'm not sure he could have gotten through the acting and dialogue that Sabretooth has to carry in this film. Liev Schrieber was an odd choice for me when I first heard about it, but the trailers allowed me to warm up to him and on film, he's an absolutely terrifying beast, even more agile than in the first film.
Danny Huston as Stryker didn't really make me uspet, but at the same time I didn't also get terribly excited about it. He plays the part competently, giving some nice character moments to the part, but unfortunately he fails to make much of an impact.
In truth, most of the film fails to make much of an impact. While the story is servicable and gives a nice backstory to Wolverine, where he comes from and why he is like he is, it's not a particularly new story in any genre, and at times seems more of an excuse to introduce us to a much wider group of characters from the X-Franchise. Characters like The Blob, John Wraith, Deadpool, Agent Zero, The Bolt, Silver Fox, Gambit and Emma Frost all make an appearance while the intricacies of Stryker's plot doesn't entirely add up. We discover that he is rounding up all the mutants to create a supermutant that he can control to hunt down and kill mutants. Except that, if he can round up mutants, why not just kill them there and then? Indeed, at times it seems that Stryker's primary motivation is to create a mutant that can kill Wolverine and Sabretooth - except that if he hadn't tried to create the supermutant, he wouldn't need to kill Wolverine and Sabretooth. It's slightly circular.
What's funny is that, given the Marvel trend to tie their movies into a coherent universe, this one could actually have easily been tied into the Marvel universe, while at the same time giving a little more scope to Stryker's actions. If Nick Fury had had a cameo to check on Stryker's progress in recreating the super-soldier program, suddenly you would have a lot more depth to Stryker; something which would have been more effective than a quick cameo by a kid with two eye colours stuck in a freezer. This would also have been a nice touch for the fans, something which the movie never shies away from; dropping names such as the Hudsons and having a cameo appearance at the end of the film by a certain distinguished British actor.
However, to most people, and to me as well to a certain degree, this movie could have been awful but would still have been saved by watching Hugh Jackman recreate his Wolverine character. Although on a couple of occasions he drops his accent and goes Ocker for a bit, Jackman still manages to inject so much into Wolverine that he simply steals the show whenever he's on screen. Wolverine is much more of a hero in this movie than he was in previous ones, but it doesn't matter because that's what you expect from this movie, and from Jackman as well.
Wolverine is a far more entertaining movie than it's immediate predecessor, but one of my friends remarked that it was the kind of movie that was best seen at the cinema with a group of like-minded friends. I think he's pretty much on the money with that observation.
3 comments:
Sweet. I'll have to actually see it then.
How was the Hummer/bike/helicopter scene? Awesome as hell or what?
The movie did not work to great for me. Still loved all the set-pieces.
Having just finsihed watching Wolverine and the X-men, I firmly believe that animated is the way for X-men. They finally seem to have thrown off the majority of the "american cartoon" stigma that plagued earlier attempts and have made a ripsnorter series.
Oh and Ry, there are 2 short seasons which make up the "Sentinels" the new confirmed 3rd season is a full season, and apparently going to wrap up at the end as it did with the Sentinels.
This kicks much arse... Much much arse....
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