John Berry                                  5-1-9

OK so let’s start this off with the big to do in the world of super heroes. The Wolverine movie came out today. Now let me preface this by stating that my opinion on the Xmen movie franchise seems to be at odds with most of the fan boys out there. I found the first one to be lacking something. I left the theater thinking, “Is that it?”. Now after repeated viewings I have grown more tolerant. Back when it came out it just wasn’t enough. As part of a trilogy it is a good opener. I found Xmen 2 to be better however it was lacking in the hot super on super action. The only real supers fight was the Wolverine/ Lady Deathstrike fight, which was good but not enough. The rest of the fights were mutants versus humans, and we all know how that ends. Now as for Xmen 3, this is where I just don’t see eye to eye with all my buddies. In my humble opinion I thought it was a step in the right direction. Multiple super hero on super villain fights, hot death, and new Xmen that I really wanted to see. Now I know Wolverine shed quite a bit of man tears in this one, and that sucked. But here is a news flash for you, in the comic books he is just as whiney. I cant really recall any instances of him actually shedding tears, that doesn’t mean they don’t exist, but how much whining did he do in the nineties. Lost girlfriends and erased memories were the cause of much angst. At the heart of his character Wolverine is as emo as any of them.               

So I caught the 11:15 AM showing this morning. I maximized my sleep in late time versus the get done in time to pick up the kid from school factor. The opening sequence was straight up awesome. Showing the bone claws was cool. The two brothers going through various wars together was awesome. The development of Victor was a nice touch. Actually I would say Sabertooth stole the show. He was way cooler than the previous film incarnations. Liev is a hell of an actor and it was probably for the best that they didn’t dye his hair blond. Actually the whole unit was cool. Ryan Reynolds was awesome, he really did the Deadpool character justice. Of course they ruined it at the end, but we will get to that later. Maverick and Blob were also awesome. I don’t know who the Asian dude with the guns  was, but he seemed pretty cool. Seeing Charlie from Lost was cool also.

            Gambit was cool. I never really understood the fascination with that character. He cool enough in the comics, but I never thought he was the bees knees like everyone else. Back in the nineties heroes who wore a trench-coat could do no wrong however. Speaking of which I read the Gambit mini series it sucked. In it Gambit loses his trench-coat and let me tell you, without the coat his look is straight up goofy. That being said he was never the lamest Xman, that was Jubilee. I feel they captured the character in the movie. The special effects based on his powers were well done. What I don’t understand is why did he stop Wolverine from killing Sabertooth? 

            I would say the worst part was the whole loving logger Wolverine part of the movie. They could have cut that short and thrown in another fight somewhere else in the movie. Logan is in love… Yawn. The Logan / Blob fight was certainly fun. Nothing wrong with a little friendly game of punch in the face.

            I did not like the final incarnation of Deadpool. Laser beams? Why would you sew his mouth shut? I know why the Stryker character would, however from a film maker perspective it was a poor choice in my opinion. I mean let’s face it we all like deadpool because he kicks ass and he is funny. A character that kicks ass, however, is a dime a dozen in movies. Every action movie has at least one. Where Deadpool separates himself is his humor. He is after all the merc with a mouth. I also think the sword arms are stupid as hell. How does he bend his elbows? Clearly those blades were longer than his forearms. Also what is up with X equaling 10 and Deadpool being mutant 11? That was just plain stupid. We all know that the reason every Marvel mutant team has an X in it is because the X-factor is what makes mutants mutants. Does that mean that there was a Weapon IX project before the Weapon X project? I don’t think so. Read the comic books when you write a super hero movie.

            So the incarnation sucked however I thought the fight was awesome. Sabertooth not wanting anyone else kill Wolverine was straight out of the comic book and definitely a nice touch. The Bowfinger effect, when the two brothers clasped hands and joined together in glorious battle, was thrilling. The whole fighting on the rim of a reactor was sweet.

The admantium bullet memory wipe was stupid. Had that been the case X-rays in the first movie would have shown two admantium bullets in Wolverines frontal lobe. Also I doubt the admantium covering wolverines forehead would have grown back, leaving an avenue for brain surgery. Drill skull and then have Jean telekinetically rip out the two slugs. No muss, no fuss. Brain grows back. It’s just not as cool as it was in the comic books. I prefer that his loss of memory be due to mental shenaniganry on the part of the Weapon-X program.

In closing I found the movie to be a worthwhile viewing. There were definitely things I found stupid but I got my $7.50 worth. Of course if you are a true fan boy you will see the movie no matter what. It was definitely better than the Fantastic four , Ghost Rider, and Daredevil movies.