"X-Men Origins: Wolverine" has finally officially been released. I have to admit that I've been a little nervous about this movie. I still feel the sting after X3. The other concern was the obvious fact that things would be drastically altered in adapting Wolverine's story. My goal is to try to review this not only from a comic book reader's view but also from a simple movie-goer's perspective.
Let's start off by saying this wasn't a great movie. At the same time, it wasn't horrible either. There were several things that I liked but they were usually coinciding with things that bothered me. Starting off with James Howlett as a sick young boy was good. Most comic readers know that part of his history but I've seen comments on other sites where they were not aware of this or that he actually had bone claws. Now we all know.
What about Logan's "half-brother"? That I didn't like. I understand that we can't have the whole Dog Logan character and his story involved. I don't like that they changed the story of this "half-brother" for the movie but fine, I can live with it.
Wolverine fighting in the wars was a nice touch. It helped to show that he has been around a while. He is good at killing. This adds street-cred to his "I'm the best there is at what I do..." motto. I do wonder why he would involve himself so much in American wars since he's proud to be Canadian.
"Team X" was good. I'm sure we will all agree that Ryan Reynolds was a blast as Wade Wilson. If only his scenes could have lasted longer. What's the bad part of this? What ends up happening just seems crazy. Ever since the spoiler on his fate came out, I've been trying to figure out why they decided to go this route. It does seem unnecessary. It could've been another character that was experimented on. The good news is, there is some hope for Deadpool. Ryan Reynolds has been talking about wanting to do a Deadpool movie as long as it's done right. Let's hope that happens.
What about Gambit? I didn't really like him when he first came on camera. Yes Gambit is a cocky character. I just didn't really feel Taylor Kitsch right away. Maybe because he's supposed to be a younger version of Gambit. Perhaps if we get a Gambit spin-off movie, we can see why he'd be so cocky at this young age. His short time with Wolverine on screen did get better. We've been waiting a long time to get to see his movie debut and it wasn't bad.
What about the others? Liev Schreiber was good as Sabretooth. I didn't care for Danny Huston as William Stryker. That has to do more with the character rather than the actor. Agent Zero was shown to be a bad-ass in the beginning but quickly became annoying. Will i Am was good as John Wraith and Kevin Durand did a decent Blob.
What about Silver Fox, or should I say "Kayla Silverfox"? I may be wrong but I just don't recall her name actually being Kayla. Lynn Collins' performance was fine. I liked parts of what they did with the character. Her fate and what happened afterwards was similar to the comics so that was a nice touch. What bothered me was the fact that they made her have a sister. Why they created her having this sister is beyond me. Yes this falls into the "changes in adapting the characters" part but I just don't see the purpose. It was meant to push a certain part of the plot along but it just wasn't necessary. They could have had anyone be her sister and I don't see why they did what they did.
I know with all of that, maybe I'm just nit-picking. How was the movie overall? Box office predictions put it at $75 million for the opening weekend. I mentioned that it wasn't a bad movie. But you have to accept that things are going to be different than what they should be for the sake of moving the movie along. They were able to capture key moments well but others fell a little flat. When Logan underwent the Adamantium process, it wasn't a picnic. In the movie, he got a little angry but was fine afterwards. His memories were left intact and he didn't really go into berserker barrage-mode. Yes he does lose his memories later to fit things together with the other X-Men movies but I won't go into the weak solution that was used.
Should you see this movie? I'd say yes, as long as you can accept that changes were made. It was entertaining for the most part. I did find myself getting a little bored towards the end. There were lots of good parts (along with some bad). It's hard to look at this movie with an unbiased opinion after movies like "Iron Man," "The Dark Knight" and "Watchmen." The bar has been raised but Wolverine didn't quite reach it. I think some people will like this movie. There will be angry comic-fans as well. Bottom line, it's a comic book movie. You almost owe it to yourself to check it out. You just need to decide if you're looking for a movie to entertain you or a movie to capture the "essence" of the character.
For me, even though I tried to accept the changes, the movie gets a 3.5 out of 5. It was good. It was fun (at times). There was just parts that bothered me. Perhaps Hugh Jackman will get his wish and the next movie will focus on his time in Japan. That could make for a better story. Don't forget the different endings. At first I thought I got one of the weaker ones I'd heard mentioned. Do stay until the end of the credits, just in case. I did get a "good" ending. All I'll say about it is "Shhhhh..."
Maybe it's the changes in the character that I hate, I mean cyclops is just lame (did Hollywood hates him so much that he, well being portrayed as an. I don't know, lame character). Emma Frost, well no comments except that the girl whose playin it, well, not as hot as I think Emma should, would and could. Deadpool, well sucks (after the experiment that is, "They finally know how to shut you up" Logan said, sorry if I'm miss-quoting it).
Just an average movie, compared to other comic to movie adaptation such as 300, Iron Man, Batman.
PS: It's like I'm wastin my time which I never get it back, for a movie that make my sub-conscious scream, "I want my money back!!!"
I hope you get waht you expect Nutcase, cuz my review 3.5 out of 5 is my objective review, my subjective fan-boy is 2.5 out 5 (it's should be lower, but thanx 2 deadpool it was lifted to 2.5).
At least as a fan of cyclops i like how his optic blast is devastating, but why it gets weaker when deadpool (oops, almost spoiled it, sorry).
Anyhow, please watch it and let me know how you feel about it
I totally agree with u, after seeing IRON MAN last year we all felt that MARVEL UNIVERSE could be really portrayed in the big screen for the first time and I was expecting that Wolverine could put us even deepest in the Marvel universe. Allthow there were enough new Marvel characters it didn't feel so much REAL as Iron Man which really tied in the real world .Anyway it's a good movie and I believe the Hugh Jackman does a great job as Wolverine ....it's fun and enjoying ..so just Watch it..!
You've pretty much hit the nail on the head. It's a good movie if you know nothing about the X-Men or if you know Origins, but don't care about the characters... As an old X-Men geek then it isn't bad. It's not great, and it's far from perfect... but yeah, it's not bad.
A lot was taken for granted. If you know nothing about Agent Zero or Wade Wilson then you wouldn't be blamed for thinking they have probability altering abilities like Domino (i.e. no obvious powers, but amazing abilities in battle that you wouldn't believe until you saw them in action). And the locked up mutants. There was no time or explanaition given to who they were. I could see who most of them were (or hazard pretty good guesses) but even then the cameos were briefer than in any of the other X films. If you didn't know them or their powers, you'd wonder why they were caged in different ways.
I actually felt that Deadpool's script was lacking. He had one funny observational moment (in the lift) and the rest was just regular chatter. He wasn't particularly witty or fast talking. That's the fault of the script, not Ryan Reynolds. But he, and most of the supporting cast, didn't really have enough screen time to develop any kind of care for them. From his extremely brief time on screen there's no reason for him to have a solo movie. I can image why so many people might want one... but do people honestly want to see his character altered any more than it has already been done?
Personally I enjoyed the Jimmy & Victor stuff, and that they kept adding subplots to make the story longer... but instead it just kept distracting from the best part of the film.
I've known all of this since the start of April O.o The only good thing about the movie was Ryan Reynold's performance as Wade :D He done a really good job, and I suppose Hugh and Liev done a pretty good job too. Possibly Kevin Durand... but the rest just SUCKED!!! Hopefully Ryan does the spin-off and keep to Deadpool, instead of ruining him.
"I've known all of this since the start of April O.o "
Some of us have been avoiding the spoilers & the leaked print. It's one of the reasons why I haven't read many Deadpool threads until now.
I was surprised to see Heather Hudson's name scroll in the credits. I just didn't realise who she was till I saw her name... Yet I was hoping Heather & Mac would be in there to find him when he was starkers & running through the woods.
Well honestly I like reading reviews but I really loved the movie,I would give 4/5.The only thing bothered me was Gambit's accent and what they've done to Deadpool.
.... Deadpool get's beheaded at the end and seeing as he has a regeneration factor, he could somehow grow his body back, then, he would be spripped of it and well, looking new. Plus he could rip that sewn mouth of his open, then probably looking as scarred as he does now.
heres the DEADPOOL multiple ending from wolverine that wasnt included in the workprint version:
Basically they zoom in on the rubble of the destroyed nuclear plant. We see Deadpools hand out of the rumble and then we see his head on the floor. We then see a guy in a long black over coat with his hood up, kneel down and pick up the head. We then hear dialogue as the camera pans around, " who the hell are you supposed to be?" and as it pans around we see its Wade Wilson. (Ryan Reynolds). then the screen fades to black. BTW its after the credits.
so Wade is alive and well... Weapon XI was a Wade Clone.... DEADPOOL lives
"heres the DEADPOOL multiple ending from wolverine that wasnt included in the workprint version:Basically they zoom in on the rubble of the destroyed nuclear plant. We see Deadpools hand out of the rumble and then we see his head on the floor. We then see a guy in a long black over coat with his hood up, kneel down and pick up the head. We then hear dialogue as the camera pans around, " who the hell are you supposed to be?" and as it pans around we see its Wade Wilson. (Ryan Reynolds). then the screen fades to black. BTW its after the credits. so Wade is alive and well... Weapon XI was a Wade Clone.... DEADPOOL lives "
I am guessing that the multiple endings are with DEADPOOL. And honestly, after the last 15 or so minutes of the film I saw last night, I think they added those alternate, "after the credits" endings to make up for the WORST part of the movie, the destroying of the Deadpool we all know and love.
Now, I'm not going to get into what Deadpool exactly IS in this film. The only thing I will saying is that he had about 20 minutes of 109 of airtime. Horrible. ***SPOILER*** My ending had an arm(Deadpool's) searching around a bunch of rubble, and it finds his head. The decpitated Reynolds then opens his eyes, and mouth and whispers, "Shhhhhhhhhh." Which was about the coolest part of the film.
The whole "origin" of Wolverine is something that I have always said was better left UNsaid. I'm in the minority in saying that original "WOLVERINE: ORIGINS" story sucked total ass. And the death of his parents in the movie made HATE Batman even more than I already do. I love the recent explaination of the "lupin" line of Marvel characters, but the story of "James Howlett" was unecessary and made Wolvie just like any one else in the Marvel U. We now know his past and for me, that was something that hurt the character because it made him look like a sell-out, if that makes any sense.
As far as this movie appealing to non-comic book readers, it'll be a big hit. I went with a friend last night that was a total novice and she enjoyed it. Then again, it was a SHE, and Hugh Jackman is running around. She really liked him. And as Wolverine, I do too. To me he IS Wolverine. He plays the part great. What I don't get is why the hell Marvel won't allow a comic book writer to write these films. If so, a Wolvie movie written by Mark Millar would be sick, not making people sick like this one.
They split the character of Emma Frost in two. Silver Fox has the mind powers, and her little blonde sister w/o a name has the diamond skin. Scott Summers...ugh. Those three characters were a waste. And where was the little African-American girl with the white hair? Gambit should NOT get a spin off, his accent sucked. He didn't say anything like, "Chere" or "Mes braves" once. He was basically like a team-up character on Brave and the Bold of something.
All in all, I'd say it is two stars, at least. But when I read a review from Roger Ebert that says he's been inspired on-screen by Batman, Superman, Iron Man, and even an Iron Giant, but he wouldn't walk across a street to meet Wolverine...I thought that said something about a novice to the whole Wolverine story.
And totally not. Enough. Blood. Just sounds of gutting, no blood hardly at all. I know that's kind of morbid to say but c'mon, what Wolverine comic DOESN'T have a little blood.
Two things bothered me about this movie, the first is just my opinion, but I think during the adamantium feed he should have worn the helmet that wolverine always has on during his lab breakout in the comics it would have look great if pull of correctly.
The second thing was Deadpool, great in the beginning, but I don't know what they thinking in the end it was too much of a stretch for me. This would have been a great cameo for Mimic, he would have been perfect and I would have been on he edge of my seat! If they wanted to keep Wade around they could of keep him as a failed a experiment with his well known skin condition.
The ending I saw wasn't about Deadpool. It was Wolverine in a bar (in Madripoor I'm gessing) getting dunk. The barmaid asks him if he is drinking to forget the past and he answers: no I'm drinking to remember it.
Im a X-men fanboi and I just dont understand why all the X movies a CRAP!!!!!!!. The only good they did was casting Hugh Jackmen as wolverine. Im just angry cuz I feel none of the Marvel movie are done right like DC's. Yes Iron Man was good but that is the only one that was good to me. Come marvel DC is whooping our A** in the movie feild ." But you Know Im gonna Still see this damne movie, I have to I am a fan boi ya know, through the good and the bad.
Yeah, the movie was ok, all this bark and no bite, Wolverine is my favorite character but, meh, this was supposed to b Marvels Dark Knight... and it turned out 2 b.... a meeh, Deadpool was awesome, and he was everything fans like me, wanted to see him like
Good review.. Fundamentally it's a good movie. It was never going to be perfect, I mean, a lot of the Wolverine story is flawed and constantly changing.. But I'd agree with the rating. It was a good film, it had mutants, fighting, nice scenery and big spandex-clad doses of wish fulfilment and escapism.
There were several things in this movie that made me go "Meh." I think it was better than X-Men 3, but not that much. Wade/Deadpool was the best part and, honestly, I wouldn't had seen it if he weren't in it.
And while I am a little nervous to the future of movie Deadpool, I was impressed by Weapon XI (if only he talked).
I thought Emma being SFoxes sister was a bad thing to do Since I love Emma and like her to stay as true as possible.
But I loved the thing about the escape's joininG Prof X at the end =] leading to the formation of the 'X-Men' with Emma in it this time to replace Iceman as he was a teenager in the original continuity on the X-Men movies.
I thought the movie was pretty good overall... I mean Weapon XI aka Deadpool was done horribly at the end of the film... but I liked the portrayal of Gambit in the movie as well as Emma Frost's small part at the end of the film as well... the fight scene between The Blob vs Wolverine in the Boxing Ring was hilarious too
"Im a X-men fanboi and I just dont understand why all the X movies a CRAP!!!!!!!. The only good they did was casting Hugh Jackmen as wolverine. Im just angry cuz I feel none of the Marvel movie are done right like DC's. Yes Iron Man was good but that is the only one that was good to me. Come marvel DC is whooping our A** in the movie feild ." But you Know Im gonna Still see this damne movie, I have to I am a fan boi ya know, through the good and the bad."
i think marvel is slightly 'winning' in the comic book movie adaptations. Iron Man and Incredible Hulk was done quite well and were both good movies. So far DC only made one GREAT movie, The Dark Knight. Batman. Only batman. so far its all about batman. nothing else. and plus with marvel intertwining the marvel universe in the movies is a plus also. with the mention of the avengers, cap, and putting stark in hulk movie is awesome to me. and with cap seen frozen in the artic at the begining of hulk was fucking AWESOME. with thor coming out soon, then captain america, THEN the long awaited Avengers, marvel is kicking ass. DC needs to step up and start retaliating with movies leadin up to a Justice League movie. I was honestly SUPRISED when i heard about green lantern being made. come on dc, batman is like...not even your best comic. we need flash, green lantern, wonder woman, martian manhunter...good ole' stuff. we already have like 6 batman movies. marvel is got yall right now.
Eh. I thought it started well but failed to live up to the potential that the beginning set the stage for. I'm trying to determine when it started going downhill for me. Maybe when he jumped down the waterfall (not because of the waterfall or anything, though that looked really fake, just as a mark in time) or after he took down the helicopter, if only because the old people were nice. The brother thing worked better than I might have thought and I felt like there were actual characters there. Victor and James were not bad. At first... None of my problems with the movie are as a comic fan. At least I don't think so. I just didn't think it was that good of a movie once it started going down, and that was fairly early on. On another note, the effects sucked and I don't know why. Seems like they could have made it look a lot better at some points and just didn't. Stuff (Wolverine's claws, a lot of the superhuman running/jumping, normal people running, "younger" Professor X, battle damage, etc) just looked bad. I really feared that what was going to happen with Deadpool would be the worst part of the film and that he'd be the worst character, but I give that award to Gambit. He just didn't work for me, not as a version of Gambit, and not as just another character. Best part with him involved an elbow to the face. I actually thought Deadpool was amazing. As Wade he was great and even later as Deadpool he wasn't bad. I know that's not how Deadpool is at all, but I feel like they didn't mess him up the way I was most worried about. I thought they might have Weapon XI Deadpool and just be like "This is Deadpool", but they had Wade first so when they turned him into Weapon XI it was ok because he was now something different, and that was fun too. Dunno if I got that out how I think it, but whatever. Deadpool was good (though I really wish there had been more Wade in the movie.) I've seen some places where people complain about things not going how they do in the comics. I thought everyone had already realized that the movies do things their own way and had come to terms with that. I guess not.
I enjoyed the movie but I do have a few complaints:
Deadpool - Ryan Reynolds rocked in this role, up until the end. What was that? Despite the fact it was awful looking and was against the comics, it completely defeated the purpose of casting someone like Ryan Reynolds to play the role.
Memories - The way Wolverine lost his memories bugged me. It wouldn't have been that bad if it was just Stryker trying to kill him, but the bullet in the head did that too him. But the fact he stated before he shot him would get him that exact result bothered me greatly. Just seemed kinda cheesy I guess.
Credit Ending - I know these are supposed to be different, but my was a waste of time waiting for.
"Eh. I thought it started well but failed to live up to the potential that the beginning set the stage for. I'm trying to determine when it started going downhill for me. Maybe when he jumped down the waterfall (not because of the waterfall or anything, though that looked really fake, just as a mark in time) or after he took down the helicopter, if only because the old people were nice. The brother thing worked better than I might have thought and I felt like there were actual characters there. Victor and James were not bad. At first... None of my problems with the movie are as a comic fan. At least I don't think so. I just didn't think it was that good of a movie once it started going down, and that was fairly early on. On another note, the effects sucked and I don't know why. Seems like they could have made it look a lot better at some points and just didn't. Stuff (Wolverine's claws, a lot of the superhuman running/jumping, normal people running, "younger" Professor X, battle damage, etc) just looked bad. I really feared that what was going to happen with Deadpool would be the worst part of the film and that he'd be the worst character, but I give that award to Gambit. He just didn't work for me, not as a version of Gambit, and not as just another character. Best part with him involved an elbow to the face. I actually thought Deadpool was amazing. As Wade he was great and even later as Deadpool he wasn't bad. I know that's not how Deadpool is at all, but I feel like they didn't mess him up the way I was most worried about. I thought they might have Weapon XI Deadpool and just be like "This is Deadpool", but they had Wade first so when they turned him into Weapon XI it was ok because he was now something different, and that was fun too. Dunno if I got that out how I think it, but whatever. Deadpool was good (though I really wish there had been more Wade in the movie.) I've seen some places where people complain about things not going how they do in the comics. I thought everyone had already realized that the movies do things their own way and had come to terms with that. I guess not. "
If you possess the god-like ability to watch this movie without any kind of judgments or angry feelings because of it's inability to keep comic canon, then I give you credit.
"Im a X-men fanboi and I just dont understand why all the X movies a CRAP!!!!!!!. The only good they did was casting Hugh Jackmen as wolverine. Im just angry cuz I feel none of the Marvel movie are done right like DC's. Yes Iron Man was good but that is the only one that was good to me. Come marvel DC is whooping our A** in the movie feild ." But you Know Im gonna Still see this damne movie, I have to I am a fan boi ya know, through the good and the bad."
First, you should really consider taking a fifth grade English class.
Second, only X-Men: The Last Stand was crap. X-Men was good and X2 was amazing.
Third, what alternate universe do you live in where there are all these amazing DC movies? Unless you think Steel and Catwoman were cinematic achievements, in which case, Marvel movies are the LEAST of your problems.
"I enjoyed the movie but I do have a few complaints:
Deadpool - Ryan Reynolds rocked in this role, up until the end. What was that? Despite the fact it was awful looking and was against the comics, it completely defeated the purpose of casting someone like Ryan Reynolds to play the role.
Memories - The way Wolverine lost his memories bugged me. It wouldn't have been that bad if it was just Stryker trying to kill him, but the bullet in the head did that too him. But the fact he stated before he shot him would get him that exact result bothered me greatly. Just seemed kinda cheesy I guess.
Credit Ending - I know these are supposed to be different, but my was a waste of time waiting for.
"
Clone.
I agree. How many times is it possible for him to have been shot in the head during all those wars he had been in? Even considering he ran right into the bullets. It just seems like that was a weak way of explaining his memory loss. I would have been happier if he had simply been captured by Weapon X again.
Yeah, the part about how he got him memory wiped was lame, especially since stryker said it would do it. I agree that he has probably been shot in the head a lot and that it would have been better if they caught him again, did some crazy experiments on him to see how to kill him, and in the end they couldn't kill him but all the trauma caused his mind to forget everything. Then he could escape from the facility and be in animal mode and live in the wild like in the comics. That would have been a much better ending in my opinion. Also, does anyone else think they were trying to alude to vibranium when the metal they were looking for "fell from the sky"?
Well 1 thing is those weren't ordinary bullets they were adamantium bullets. I being DP fan was okay with Weapon Xi that last fight was my favorite! That Gambit on the other hand...i just felt like i wasn't watching Gambit...
I really enjoyed it, I plan on seeing it a second time. A lot of people need to get past the whole "it's not the same as the comics" thing. If you were a screen play writer would you REALLY want to go by another person's words? No, you would want to write it your way. We can't have everything the way we want. I thought the movie was awesome, I don't care for DC so I am biased, but compared to Iron Man and Hulk it's with X-Men, you can't explain it away with high tech machinery and science. It's a different animal (no pun intended). I am looking forward to future installments. I recommend this movie!
I thought Gambet was okay, Deadpool at the begining was great. But yeah I thought no blood was weird even in PG-13 there can still be blood and plus it's Wolverine's movie I was kinda looking forward to maybe an arm or a leg or two flying across the screen, but other then that the movie was great! :D - X-Men Origins: Wolverine gets a 4.5/5
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