Sigh… While not a “bad” movie - if you look at it in the light of X3... The soul of the story was M.I.A… If you are not familiar with the old Marvel Comics- you very may well like the movie; but what director Gavin Hood did was take all the reason that I have for liking the character and dull it down or completely do away with it… Let me break it down:
1. The Acting:
Let just say some of it was really… HORRIFIC! Hugh Jackman has seemed to take the character as far as he can… Don’t expect anything new… Liev Schreiber, keeps your attention and does seem to embody the Sabertooth spirit pretty well; but don’t even get me started on Danny Huston’s portrayal of Stryker… A wax figure of Corey Feldman could have been a more convincing actor! Gambit, looks cool and does several card tricks – but his best trick was having Cajun accent for about 2.5 seconds - then it disappears! I guess that is what they mean by “Movie Magic!”
2. The Story:
Here is my real beef… The story of the Wolverine is one of brutality, passion, confusion and ultimately redemption. The Man vs. the Animal within! Way too much for one movie – but they tried to cover it all anyway! The movie should have been titled: Weapon X and been a cross between Saving Private Ryan and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre… (Read Marc Cerasini's Wolverine: Weapon X! The scene in the book with Logan and the wolves… That was the epitome of Logan vs. Wolverine… Still gives me chills!)
I can hear it now, the mother’s crying, “That would be too gory and wouldn’t be appropriate for my children!” Well tell me this, what is so kid friendly about human torture, human experimentation, war and brutal murder? That is what the story is about! (Sounds a whole lot like the nightly news to me, anyway…) While the movie never gets realistic about it’s portrayal of these events – they still happen. People are sliced and diced in an abundant fashion… Tell me what is more dangerous – marketing a movie to kids where they see that there is NO consequences for your actions? “You wanna hack someone up, Jr.? It’s ok – it is nice, clean, fun and cool!” Or marketing the movie more towards adults and at least somewhat realistically portraying the brutality of the characters actions? Don’t tell me you won’t make more money – The Watchmen was HORRIBLE and in no way watchable but the flick made a little money – they would have made a TON if the movie would have been even remotely good…Wolverine is not Spider Man or Iron Man! Marvel made a conscious decision to have a ruff, edgy, more down to earth character - Come on PEOPLE! The character is a man with KNIVES that protrude out of his bleeding, bloody hands! I don’t think Wolvie’s claws are made for easier food processing! Marvel used Wolverine to bring a nastier, more dangerous character into their somewhat light universe…
3. The conclusion:
Wolverine was a killer, a mercenary, an animal - But he was also a man in constant search for redemption. This character is no where to be found in Hood’s movie. Logan is little more than a pretty boy trapped in an unbelievable world, where it felt more like the actors, producers and director were just off screen pushing little buttons on a Playstation controller…
"I'm the best at what I do . . . and what I do ain't pretty." Well, this time it was Mr. Wolverine… This time it was…
I give it 3 out of 6 very shiney, unblemished Adamantium Claws through your computer screen and all my old comics! Man...
