X-Men Origins: Wolverine - Movie Discussion and Grading (SPOILERS)

[archeryguy1701]

A lot of people have been complaining about how Wolverine has been destroyed because he spent most of the movie as a kinder, gentler Logan. Now, from what I hear, I know that in the comics, he was an "animal" even before the procedure. But this isn't the comics. I realize that people grew up with the comics, but I think it's kinda important to judge movies, and especially adaptions, based on their own merits and not what the comics say is right. I thought a "kinder, softer" Logan worked pretty well, and it would make sense that the guy without memories would have to become a bit of an animal to get along.

 

[exodus]

A lot of people have been complaining about how Wolverine has been destroyed because he spent most of the movie as a kinder, gentler Logan. Now, from what I hear, I know that in the comics, he was an "animal" even before the procedure. But this isn't the comics. I realize that people grew up with the comics, but I think it's kinda important to judge movies, and especially adaptions, based on their own merits and not what the comics say is right. I thought a "kinder, softer" Logan worked pretty well, and it would make sense that the guy without memories would have to become a bit of an animal to get along.

Plus, if Wolvie was animal like all the time, how does anybody think he mentored Shadowcat & Jubilee? Who would allow a man that behaves criminally insane around children? Xavier's place is still a school.

 

[Othello]

Yikes, I haven't seen this yet but the grades aren't kind!!

 

[TheArsenal]

The grades aren't too bad if you group them by "excellent", "good", "average" "below average", etc. and look at how they break down; but they're certainly not sterling either. More striking to me is this may be the largest lack of consensus on a movie that I think I've seen on these boards.

 

[FlyingLemons]

I saw it last week, and I thought it was okay, and far better than the garbage that was The Last Stand (that got on my nerves for ripping off the Whedon storylines and ruining Dark Phoenix's onscreen potential).

Overall, it was okay and it managed to dovetail quite nicely into the original films, although I was quite confused about what decade it was meant to be set in given some of the advanced technology featured (I assumed X-Men started in the early 2000s...).

But still, one major nitpick:

Spoiler: Sabretooth

What caused him to become so thick between this film and X-Men? Here he can actually speak and schemes to get to Logan, whereas in that film he was a complete moron that could just roar and get bossed around by Magneto. WTF?

 

[Davros]

It was a fairly enjoyable movie. It had some pretty cheesy moments but it was a watchable movie. Not one I would buy a copy of for myself, but I did not regret seeing it.

 

[Captain Craig]

Just for the sake of following the film it made another $5.45m on Monday(5/4) to bring its domestic take up to $90m in 4days.

 

[FlyingLemons]

It was a fairly enjoyable movie. It had some pretty cheesy moments but it was a watchable movie. Not one I would buy a copy of for myself, but I did not regret seeing it.

I think it's a "bargain bin" film, where I pick it up for about £5 or so. It was okay in that it didn't make me want to die rather than continue watching (that honor goes to you, Alien vs Predator 2: Refund!) and managed to be fairly entertaining, but I wouldn't have a desire to immediately own it when it becomes available on DVD.

 

[JacksonArcher]

And man, it still bugs me that they never say onscreen where or why he goes by the name Logan but everyone knows he goes by it. How fucking incompetent can you be as a storyteller and filmmaker!?!

Everyone knows his name because they were spying on him thru Silverfox. It was obvious he changed his name because the lastthing Sabertooth & Stryker told him was he couldn't walk away and they'd find him.

You're just assuming that, though. It would have been nice if the filmmakers actually, y'know, showed that, or told us.

 

[Davros]

I could not help but think of the old couple with the farm as being like the Kent family.

 

[Dark Gilligan]

And man, it still bugs me that they never say onscreen where or why he goes by the name Logan but everyone knows he goes by it. How fucking incompetent can you be as a storyteller and filmmaker!?!

Everyone knows his name because they were spying on him thru Silverfox. It was obvious he changed his name because the lastthing Sabertooth & Stryker told him was he couldn't walk away and they'd find him.

You're just assuming that, though. It would have been nice if the filmmakers actually, y'know, showed that, or told us.

He was going by the name Logan long before he met Silver Fox. Back when he was with Stryker's team in Africa, everybody on-screen called him Logan. It was hardly a secret. Sabertooth was the only one who continued to call him Jimmy.

Think about it. Serving in war after war after war, would someone who is virtually immortal keep the name James Howlett through the decades? Especially since he wasn't even a real Howlett. I imagine he went by any number of names. And once he'd lost his memory, the name Logan on his dogtags was all he had left.

 

[JacksonArcher]

Everyone knows his name because they were spying on him thru Silverfox. It was obvious he changed his name because the lastthing Sabertooth & Stryker told him was he couldn't walk away and they'd find him.

You're just assuming that, though. It would have been nice if the filmmakers actually, y'know, showed that, or told us.

He was going by the name Logan long before he met Silver Fox. Back when he was with Stryker's team in Africa, everybody on-screen called him Logan. It was hardly a secret. Sabertooth was the only one who continued to call him Jimmy.

Think about it. Serving in war after war after war, would someone who is virtually immortal actually keep the name James Howlett through the decades? I imagine he went by any number of names.

Okay, but never once is it mentioned or shown why he goes by the name of Logan and when.

 

[Dark Gilligan]

^^ Did it need to be?

 

[T'Baio]

It should be.

And do you know, without having read the comics, why he takes the name Logan?

 

[JacksonArcher]

It should be.

And do you know, without having read the comics, why he takes the name Logan?

Exactly. So much stuff in the film is thrown at us and we're expected to just understand it and accept it. That's just lazy storytelling.

 

[Mr Light]

I can't recall offhand but in the comics don't the claws come out halfway between his wrist and his knuckles? Or even from the wrist? It looks so odd in the movie where they're between his knuckles. Not to mention, if the claws in his forearms come out between his knuckles, doesn't that lock his wrists into a stiff position since the claws are going through that joint, so he couldn't bend his wrist at all if his claws were extended?

 

[CaptainCanada]

In the comics, the claws come from raised areas just above his knuckles. It's not an especially easy thing to render in real life, so I think the knuckles idea works quite well.

Yes, in both cases they should impare his wrist movement, but they don't.

 

[Trekker4747]

I saw it last week, and I thought it was okay, and far better than the garbage that was The Last Stand (that got on my nerves for ripping off the Whedon storylines and ruining Dark Phoenix's onscreen potential).

Overall, it was okay and it managed to dovetail quite nicely into the original films, although I was quite confused about what decade it was meant to be set in given some of the advanced technology featured (I assumed X-Men started in the early 2000s...).

But still, one major nitpick:

Spoiler: Sabretooth

What caused him to become so thick between this film and X-Men? Here he can actually speak and schemes to get to Logan, whereas in that film he was a complete moron that could just roar and get bossed around by Magneto. WTF?

Technological inconsistancies: Chalk it up as "it's a comic book movie." Want a better explanation? A mutant alive in te 60s/70s came up with ideas decades before his time.

Sabertooth: Experimentation/enhancements in the intervening time.

I could not help but think of the old couple with the farm as being like the Kent family.

I had the same thought. I was like, "Huh, he ran to Kansas and then ran into the Kents!"

 

[Dark Gilligan]

It should be.

And do you know, without having read the comics, why he takes the name Logan?

There's no reason. It's just a name. In TOS, why did Flint pick the many names he went by over the centuries? No one explained that on-screen either and it hasn't been an issue, as far as I know.

Now in the real world, Wolverine was named after Mount Logan. Which is in Canada, and he's, you know, Canadian. Comics aren't terribly deep in that regard.

 

[Davros]

My biggest problem with the movie is all the times I hear people calling it a summer movie. Summer is over a month away.