It seems after such a long time after watching this movie that i'm getting off my ass to write this review for it. To be pretty honest, i watched it the first day it hit cinemas, on the 29th April and to be exact to the nitty ditty details, the first show of the day at 10.30am. And in short a simple reason why i took so long to review this film was because it wasn't really up to my standards and worth my time to review it.
Yes, i said it, you may begin cursing this site, begin a witch-hunt to find me, disembowl my entrails... etc...etc....but hey, my decision still stands.
now, onto the detailed review.
=====================
Despite its ensemble cast and change in director, i must confess that this movie still sports, and carries much of its unfavourable flaws similiar to its predeccessor. The X-men trilogy. In reference to its trilogy counterpart, i would say that the revamp in costumes were fantastic, and the revamp to it to suit the relevance of today is acceptable to fans around the world. An example would be how Iron Man is made into movies and changed slightly to fit into the modern world today *scenario* ...eg viet war where he got the shrapnel accident to middle east conflict etc etc...you know what i mean.
The concept of adaptation of comic books to reflects today's ever changing society is perfectly fine with us fans, though KILLING PROFESSOR X, murdering CYCLOPS is somewhat totally something we fans could never possibily expect or see coming our way when we bought those movie tickets.
and with X-men wolverine Origins, do expect the same *WTF %!&*#$* expressions and jaw dropping exasperation to come from you at the end of the day.
butchering deadpool and turning him to a mouthless, armbladed, laser eye blasting, teleporting mutant sure as hell doesn't cut it with us. and yes, that is the major spoiler for most of you out there. If you are not yet familiar with Deadpool, he is possibly one of the most likeable X-men characters, to me. Being the Mercenary with a mouth, smart assed, self-aware. He is in fact one helluava of a comic character. And with how the scriptwriters and Fox totally reshaping and changing him to weapon XI and embodying powers of all the other mutants that have been captured and or had their dna extracted, eg: cyclops, wolverine, wraith etc..
Fight scene right before good ol' Deadpool gets decapitated.
===============
Weapon XI is also called by Col. William Stryker as "Deadpool", due to having powers "pooled" from many other mutants killed and/or kidnapped in the film, including Wolverine's healing factor, Cyclops' optic blasts, Deadpool's martial arts ability and Wraith's teleportation ability. He also has retractable blades from his arm capable of killing Wolverine. He's the final antagonist of the film, having been genetically altered to be the ultimate mutant killer. It is mentioned that Weapon XI is the possible product of experiments on Wade Wilson aka Deadpool===============
I believe i've ranted enough about FOX and origin's scriptwriter's most crucial flaw which they continue to repeat in their movies, killing beloved characters with no rhyme or reason, and changing them so much we just gape in sheer terror. (and dissapointment after we recover from the tragic butchery)
Now in terms of plot,
this story hinges on the brink of oblivion. Yes they do explain how wolverine got his claws, and nails the century long debate of whether Wolverine originally had bone claws before adamantium implants or not. The introduction of the film with James Howlett/Logan/Wolverine ripping up his claws and supposedly killing his father answers it all.
And apart from the abrupt introduction, the cutscenes where they flash through logan's life in a timeline of wars he's faced since WWI -WWII and then the vietnam war, were very well done. However i must say that this and the scene where team X storms the building in search for adamantium are the only interesting and memorable parts of the film.
That aside, the graphics for most part of the film are pretty obvious and somewhat to the point of over the top ( agent zero's gun slinging moments @ the fortress) and makes it rather phony.
i must say the moment which shone best for me was WADE wilson/ deadpool as he wisecracks off his ass at stryker before taking on an entire room filled with soldiers with just his weapon of choice, the two katanas that make him iconic through all comic books. - " okay, i'm done....people are dead...'' - deadpool
indeed ryan reynold's smart assed wisecracking nature
was the best choice as deadpool, however it still saddens many that despite all that, poor direction and vision from a director and scriptwriter killed his character and what that could've been a potentially good movie.
don't blame Ryan if you don't like deadpool, he's the perfect deadpool/wade wilson. his character sucks because it's all FOX's fault.
To commend, one cannot deny that Liev Scriebber shone through this disaster franchise with a complex relationship shared between him and Wolverine. And Liev indeed shone with his chops as an actor and is the ideal victor creed even if he ain't that hairy.
Talk about poor casting....Gambit sure flopped flat with a poor casting choice and wound up more like a pansy more than a roguish and formidable adversary whom you never want to cross. It only was the graphics of the card throwing that help boost his screen presence. otherwise, i can't be bothered about him.
That all aside, whilst we were expecting a story of loss and hatred, and the thirst for revenge ( over silverfox's death ) which drove wolverine to get those fancy claws, (as seen / pushed by the trailers)...this sure as hell isn't the case towards the end, as they reveal everything as a major plot twist which doesn't quite shake or part the ground beneath you , but rather gives you a bitter aftertaste in the mouth making you feel way cheated.
Silverfox not dying, wolverine not particularly shaken up after what should've been a very traumatizing sugical procedure. Talk about action action action and no storyline. This film has so much potential to delve into the animalistic nature of wolverine, the hurt the anger the rage the revenge the betrayal and the trauma thereafter....with so much emotions to work with and platforms to begin from...its a wonder how FOX managed to screw up so badly by missing all these.
All in all, X-MEN origins : Wolverine is a Roar without substance, with certain scenes visually entertaining and some totally over the top unbelievably phony. The storyline lacks in so many places, with moments which could be used to delve into a complex storyline, substituded and ditched for plain mindless over-the-top action...boy FOX, you sure did screw up big this time.
and with the ''origins'' which they push as a name with so much bravado ....seems like an irony to the film which murdered the comics of x-men. ( deadpool is a good example ) by totally changing the origins of characters and throwing it all away for action.
well need i say more? I'm running low on vocabulary to describe this desecration of a fan favourite franchise. out of the stormtrooper effect's rating system.
i rank this film 2 out of 5 stars.
- Largely dissapointing for its continued failure to maintain a storyline. (like its predeccesors
- for butchering deadpool
- too over the top to the point it seems phony graphics
- producers, directors and scriptwriters had so much emotions and directions and faucets of wolverine that they could've potentially explored, which they strangely didn't and shortchanged viewers.
watch it because there's no other action blockbuster yet, or as an appetizer before terminator salvation, or just because you've got too much time or money in your hands.
from the small font, taken directly from EDDIE WONG of www.eddiewong.net
On another note, Sam Worthington's likeness here as Marcus Wright is now finally, SPOT ON! The jaw to the nose and ears now resemble the iconic Terminator he played in Terminator Salvation, though i honestly missed the intense stare he had from the first sculpt.
