Saturday, May 9, 2009

The Big Double Feature (Part 2 of 2)


When last we left Joe & Tom, they were in the middle of 2 big summer blockbusters! I know sounds more exciting but I had to start somewhere!

The 2nd movie of our double feature was X-Men Origins: Wolverine. This is the 4th movie in the X-Men series and also a prequel. For those who don't know about Wolverine & his unusual story, here's a brief rundown from Wikipedia:

"X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a 2009 superhero film loosely based on the Marvel Comics' fictional character Wolverine. It was released on April 28, 2009 in the Netherlands and worldwide up to May 1 2009. The film is directed by Gavin Hood and stars Hugh Jackman as the title character. It is a prequel to the X-Men film trilogy and is primarily set roughly ten to seventeen years before the film X-Men. The film focuses on the violent past of mutant Wolverine and his time with Team X, before Wolverine's skeleton was bonded with the indestructible metal adamantium. The plot also details his early encounters with Colonel William Stryker (Danny Huston),[2] the Weapon X program, Wolverine's interactions with other mutants[3] and his complex relationship with his half-brother Victor Creed (Liev Schreiber).[4] The film was mostly shot in Australia and New Zealand."

Now that we're all caught up, how was the movie? It was good. Not great but very good.

It was nice to see the back story and history of this great character. The problem with these movies is too much of a good thing! There are so many characters in the story, it is hard for everyone to have a fair "piece of the pie". What do I mean by that?

Some characters seem to be very important to the story (and therefore get a lot of screentime) & others seem to be left on the side of the road. They leave and you're left at the buffet line, plate in hand saying, "Hey he or she was cool. May I have some more?" Their answer to you is: "No, we have 2 hours to tell a cool story and there are big explosions to get to." So you sit back down and take your serving of summer blockbuster. It's light & cheesy, but still leaves you hungry for more.

Tom (his movie blog, http://thelastreel.blogspot.com/) and I see these type of films and have long discussions about them. Weighing the pros & cons. Good vs bad scenes etc. We often think that these stories might work better as a weekly show on television. That way every one's story could be explored in detail. Will it ever happen? Anything can happen in sci-fi/fantasy! ;)

No comments:

Post a Comment