The Wolverine

An Excellent Hardcore Noir Movie
by Reymundo Salao

THE WOLVERINE seeks to revitalize the comic book character Wolverine with a treatment designed to correct the wrongs of the previous movie, one that will render it "done right this time" And yes, it does accomplish that job.

The movie has various plots and subplots, in such a way that still has some sense of order; you have a family at the crossroads of betrayal, a character who is interested in Logan's mutant abilities, Logan himself trying to survive the fact that he can be mortally wounded, even be killed. He is also facing a haunting past that frequently visits his dreams. All its subplots are layered one over the other in a way that is not confusing and manages to let the story run in a fluid consistent manner. [continue after the jump]

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS

X-MEN IS INDEED FIRST CLASS
by Reymundo Salao

It was the 1960's and it was a time of Cold War. It was also a time when genetic mutation has began to manifest its existence among the population of mankind. A group of mutants led by Sebastian Shaw are planning a diabolical plot to start World War 3, and CIA operative Dr. Moira MacTaggert sought out the help of a mutant named Charles Xavier to aid them in the capture of the mutant criminals. Along the way, Xavier & MacTaggert meet Erik Lensherr and several other mutants who would aid them to bring Sebastian Shaw and his mutant criminals to justice and prevent World War 3.

This movie serves not just a prequel to the X-Men series, but may very well be a restart of the franchise to set things right. And yes, I do indeed wish for X-Men to have a fresh start or maybe at least do a storyline in the similar vein with JJ Abram's Star Trek movie which weaves the old movie continuity with this new continuity.

I initially thought that this was going to be indeed a prequel because the movie starts out with the same flashback to the Nazi concentration camp scene, as is in the first X-Men movie. But I say that this is a new continuity because of its inconsistencies as well; In X-Men part 1, Xavier says he met Erik (Magneto) when he was 17 and they built Cerebro together; that is untrue according to this new movie. In X-Men 3, there is a flashback of Xavier (who is not yet disabled) and Magneto in their late 30s/early 40s meeting Jean Grey as a kid; but in the end of X-Men First Class, Erik & Xavier have already become enemies, not to mention, Xavier has at that point become disabled. With those things considered, it would be unwise to treat X-Men First Class as a prequel to the first three X-Men movies.

X-Men: First Class is its own movie. And I love the hell out of it. There were more than several moments wherein both the storyline and the script gave me positive chills. This movie achieved what the Star Wars prequels failed at, which is originally attempting to tell a story of two iconic heroes who became close friends and the breakdown of that friendship because of a clash of beliefs. The friendship between Xavier and Erik are well translated onscreen, that you do feel their genuine care for each other, that when they finally must choose to oppose each other at the end, the pain of that is evident emotionally.

X-Men First Class is a superhero movie that is not afraid to show onscreen villains utilize their powers in realistically evil ways. What Azazel does to his victims, or what even Magneto does to his victims is ruthlessly violent; the kind that may not have been easily acceptable at least 5 years ago in superhero movies. But now is the right time to give an appropriate approach to movies like this in an almost perfectly equal level with what the mature comics really portray in terms of how dense their character arcs are, how creatively complex the stories are told, and realistically ruthless some scenes can be.

There is a whole lot of action in this movie; but that which is not your typical action. I am not talking about elaborate fist-fights martial arts and gunfights. The action here is super-power based. The cleverly conceived action is done by whatever superhuman abilities are being used. I would even dare to say that this movie is more daring than the first X-Men movie because this one has little to almost zero standard action scene. The height of the action is whatever kind of power they will use to fight each other, and there is a whole lot of outwitting the other opponent.

The film was set in the 1960s and I adored the entire look of the film; from the costumes to the set designs; I felt like I was watching one of those Sean Connery James Bond movies. But there is a degree of simplicity and does not go so far to exaggerate or even call upon itself as having a retro feel. It just simply is, and feels like a 60's movie. And most especially that they used Rose Byrne playing Moira Mactaggert, who I think has that 1960s film star beauty, she looks like a Bond girl. Although on the other hand, I could not say the same for January Jones playing Emma Frost; The White Queen, who is not as pretty as the role originally suggests, but does look like a Bond movie villainess. Although she seems to fit the atmosphere, her acting felt bland.

There is a very brief scene of Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) in the movie wherein Professor X and Magneto try to approach him, and as they were just introducing themselves, Wolverine simply told them: "Fuck off" This was a brilliant cameo appearance which, in its less than a minute of appearance, is the most accurate portrayal of the anti-hero comicbook character, and it seems that they are bent on portraying Wolverine properly from now on hopefully.

For me, the movie was so close to perfect except for a few minor ignorable scenes at the final 15 minutes of the movie. One was right after Xavier got shot, and when Magneto was delivering his final farewell to Charles as a friend, as he bid his final words of goodbye, we see Magneto and the mutants who would rally by his side line up in formation and just suddenly, without any initiating dialogue, they held hands as if they were about to sing Kumbaya or the People Power theme song. Yes, we all know of course that they needed to do this so that Azazel could teleport them out of that place. But the sequence seemed silly with that pose of them holding hands.

Another funny thing about the last 15 minutes of the movie is Magneto's red costume at the end and how he customized the helmet. Sure, it is a combination of the classic Magneto costume and the Magneto costume from the previous X-men movies. But this one seemed to have a loose fit. It looked like he was wearing a pajama. And his helmet; sure it's nice that they were faithful in depicting Magneto's actual original helmet, but I think it does not translate in real-life movie format all too well. It also didn’t help that his pose was a bit awkward and without any little stretch of "comicbook macho" poise.

The best scenes of the movie show us how imaginative and how simply creative Matthew Vaughn's style is. One simple scene that blew me away was in Shaw's room where he is forcing young Erik Lensherr to manifest his skills, and the camera shows us the other side of the room which reveals a laboratory filled with what could possibly be torture devices as well. Another scene is when the young mutants hear crashing noises and they later realize that the teleporting mutant Azazel is one-by-one killing off government agents by teleporting them up in the air and having them crash down. This was such a unique kind of a killing spree scene. It was also refreshing to find that this movie does not shy away from showing such a ruthless scene, it shows proof that comicbook-based movies like this are now given more or less the equal mature treatment it has in the comicbooks as well.

Aside from other minor errors of the movie, such as the special effects in some scenes, the movie is superb. Almost flawless and almost reaching the level of "Dark Knight Excellence" I can easily say that this is the best X-Men movie I have ever seen. And I hope this is the start of a better X-Men series.

X-MEN 4 & 5 in Development; Deadpool is a 'Total Reboot'

Producer Says X-MEN 3 was not a "Last Stand" after all as it continues with X-MEN 4 and 5, which are in Active Development. And that a DEADPOOL is being made, and it is a ‘Total Reboot’

X-Men: The Last Stand (X-men 3) and X-Men Origins: Wolverine are two of the WORST superhero movies ever made.

Everybody who has a good understanding of what the X-men universe is all about knows that. X-Men Origins: Wolverine not only ruined the character of Wolverine himself, but it also ruined another character who is a potential Marvel character frontrunner: Deadpool.

X-Men: The Last Stand was hastily directed by Brett Ratner, a last minute replacement for Bryan Singer when he left the project (to direct the similar failure: Superman Returns). Not only was it badly directed, but it also went to reckless directions in storyline (with poorly executed deaths of Cyclops, Professor X, and Jean Grey).

Despite the seemingly irreparable damages done to the X-men movies, producer Lauren Shuler Donner has unexpectedly revealed that sequels to X-Men 3: The Last Stand are still in ‘active development’ at Fox. Yes, sequels with a "plural S" 2 sequels to be exact.
"We took the treatment to Fox and they love it… And X4 leads into X5" says Donner.

There’s no mention of who wrote the treatment but insiders think that it’s probably Bryan Singer himself, who did the same for X-Men: First Class and seems to be circling a hands-on return to the franchise once he has made his fantasy re-imagining Jack and the Giant Killer this year.

Donner also said in regards to the long-gestating Deadpool spin-off from X-Men Origins: Wolverine;

“It’s a total reboot… We’re either going to pretend that didn’t happen – or mock it, which he could. It’s insane, it’s definitely comedy. But it’s an R script, it’s really irreverent and violent. Right away, we’re out of the X-Men world”.

So what do we have coming out? A new origin of the X-Men world in First Class, a new Wolverine solo story in The Wolverine, a completely rebooted take on Deadpool, and fourth and fifth sequels to the original trilogy. Shouldnt they just have started a full reboot with the upcoming X-MEN: FIRST CLASS instead?

Aronofsky not doing Wolverine anymore

Extremely bad news for those who are looking forward to the hopeful redemption of the Wolverine movie franchise under director Darren Aronofsky. It seems that the Black Swan director will not be around to direct the next Wolverine movie anymore.

Deadline has heard that his withdrawal has to do with his breakup with actress Rachel Weisz, and custody issues involving their son. All but two weeks of the film will be shot in Japan (a few scenes are being shot in Canada). His withdrawal had nothing to do with the script, because I'm told that Chris McQuarrie delivered. Or even the current crisis in Japan after the earthquake and tsunami. Aronofsky simply couldn't be out of the country that long. There hadn't been a firm start date. There was once an intention to start in the spring, but the situation in Japan and Hugh Jackman's Real Steel promotional schedule pushed things back a bit.

Aronofsky released this statement:
"As I talked more about the film with my collaborators at Fox, it became clear that the production of ‘The Wolverine’ would keep me out of the country for almost a year. I was not comfortable being away from my family for that length of time. I am sad that I won't be able to see the project through, as it is a terrific script and I was very much looking forward to working with my friend, Hugh Jackman, again."

Twentieth Century Fox also issued this statement:
“While we are of course disappointed that Darren can’t do ‘The Wolverine’, we also understand and respect his reasons. Having done both ‘The Wrestler’ and ‘Black Swan’ with Darren, we know he is an extraordinary talent and we look forward to working with him on other projects in the future. Hugh Jackman and Fox both remain fully committed to making ‘The Wolverine’. We will regroup and move forward aggressively.”

Many fans including myself were looking forward to Arronofsky's style (appropriately) applied to the brooding mood of Wolverine universe. It should be noted that the previous movie X-men Origins: Wolverine which starred Hugh Jackman was a very unfaithful interpretation of the Wolverine comicbook character, and is considered by most critics as one of the worse comicbook/superhero movies ever made, second only to Joel Schumacher's "Batman and Robin"

In addition, this take on Wolverine was immensely watered down to please a more kid-friendly audience. In the comics, Wolverine has a more violent nature, and is simply a ruthless unflinching killer.

Aronofsky's history of extremely dark and depressing movies such as "The Wrestler" and the classic "Requiem for a Dream" is a perfect fit for the actual story/history of Wolverine, a Marvel comics character who, in the actual comic book references, has actually had experienced countless traumatic tragedies in his life.

It is tragically funny to note that Aronofsky's career with movies in production purgatory is such that he has teased on big genre projects, only to be dis-attached to them at the last minute. Years ago, before Chris Nolan was chosen to direct Batman Begins, it was Aronofsky who was initially picked to revive the once-dead Batman franchise. Just a couple of years ago, he was also attached to the planned Robocop sequel/franchise relaunch but that did not push through. Now, maybe production with Aronofsky should have begun this season. But now, we are left to dream of a better director to redeem the Wolverine film franchise from its current awful image.

Info on the upcoming X-MEN: First Class

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS is the fifth installment of the X-Men film series and will probably be best understood by general audiences as a prequel to the first three movies. The film, set during the 1960s, will focus on the relationship between Professor X and Magneto and the origin of their groups, the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants.

"Before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Before they were archenemies, they were closest of friends, working together, with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known. In the process, a rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto’s Brotherhood and Professor X’s X-Men."

The film stars James McAvoy as Professor X (you will remember him as the main character in the movie WANTED) and Michael Fassbender as Magneto (many of us saw him in the movie 300 as one of the spartan warriors). Other cast members include Kevin Bacon, January Jones, Rose Byrne, Jennifer Lawrence and Lucas Till. The film is mostly being shot in England and parts of the United States. Fox envisions this film as the first in a new trilogy. X-Men: First Class is scheduled for release on June 3, 2011.

To those familiar with the comic books, when you say "X-Men First Class", it refers to the original first X-men characters; the first mutant class that went under the tutelage of Professor Xavier; namely, Scott Summers (Cyclops), Jean Grey (Marvel Girl), Bobby Drake (Iceman), Warren Worthington (Angel), and Hank McCoy (Beast). But this upcoming movie "X-men; First Class" appears that it will not focus mainly on these characters, rather it will focus on the characters of Professor Xavier and his once best friend Erik Lensherr (Magneto) when they first sought out to save mutants from the prejudices of mankind. The First Class referred in this movie will refer to characters such as Sean Cassidy a.k.a. Banshee, Alex Summers a.k.a. Havok, Raven Darkholme a.k.a. Mystique, & Hank McCoy a.k.a. Beast, as well as lesser known characters such as Riptide, Darwin, and Azazel. The villains in this movie will be the aristocratic mutant group The Hellfire Club.

The X-Men Universe have a rich history, and it is actually a good thing that this new "reboot" of the franchise goes back to its roots in order to tell its great stories properly and with a hopefully decent continuity and faith to the source material. 

In April 2006, one month before the release of X-Men: The Last Stand, writer Zak Penn revealed he was contracted to write and direct a spin-off. He later explained in 2007 that "the original idea was to have me do a young X-Men spin-off, a spin-off of the young X-Men characters. But someone came up with a pretty interesting idea; it was this guy who worked with me named Mike Chamoy, he worked a lot with me on X3. He came up with how to do a young X-Men movie which is not what you'd expect." Penn compared the idea to the comic book series X-Men: First Class, and Josh Schwartz was writing the screenplay in May 2008. Schwartz's writing assignment also included the possibility of directing of X-Men: First Class, but Fox approached Bryan Singer, director of X-Men and X2, in October 2009. The original idea was to green-light the film depending on the success of X-Men Origins: Magneto, but Singer added elements of the Magneto spin-off, merged into a new script by Jamie Moss. In addition to Moss, Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz were hired to rewrite the script. Miller compared it tonally to Singer's work on the first two X-Men films. Singer dropped out of the director's position in March 2010 due to his commitment to a Jack the Giant Killer adaptation. He formalized his duties from director to producer. Matthew Vaughn signed on as Singer's replacement in May 2010. With his hiring, Fox announced a June 3, 2011 release date, and Jane Goldman was hired for another rewrite. Vaughn wanted to model X-Men: First Class after the 2009 Star Trek film, taking the franchise in a new direction with a fresh, young cast. An action scene that was to have been set in a dream sequence with revolving rooms was scrapped after the release of Inception. The 1960s setting of X-Men: First Class will be technologically inspired by the James Bond films of that era, also adding to the international feel of the characters. The X-Men costumes will look much more as they did in the original comics compared with the first three films.

Fox envisions X-Men: First Class as the first film of a new trilogy. Donner compared the franchise plans to the darker, more mature content of the Harry Potter film series. X-Men: First Class is scheduled for release on June 3, 2011.

HERE IS THE TRAILER:

The Future of the X-Men, Magneto, & Wolverine movies

The X-Men spin-off movie: "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" may have been one of the worst and ugliest big budget action movie last summer, but there will be more X-Men spin-off movies.

Empire magazine talked to Ian McKellen about "X-Men" spin-off Magneto and he thinks it doesn't involve him:

"There's meant to be a Magneto script floating around, but I've not read it, so I suspect it wouldn't involve me," he said. "I think it would be about the younger Magneto, and the most I could hope for would be to top and tail that. They can't have someone whose face is as lined as mine any longer!"

And Wolverine? Even though it was a bad BAD movie, its earnings in the box office was enough for the studio (the ever-predictable & a clear corporate pig-- 20th Century Fox) to plan a sequel for it. According to an interview (made by Oscar Hillerstrom of Rotten Tomatoes) with Wolverine director Gavin Hood --"at the moment is that the studio has just commissioned the script for Wolverine 2 to be written. Whether that film will ever get made will depend on so many factors -- whether the studio likes the script, whether they find a director who responds to the script. Might that be me? Sure, I'd be extremely interested and thrilled if they were to send it to me"

As for the X-MEN itself, according to the Associated Press, Bryan Singer is interested to direct more X-Men movies. Well, I really am glad if he does return to the X-Universe. But unfortunately, the damage has been done, and in my opinion, the awful third movie (X-Men 3: The Last Stand) in the X-men film series franchise he started, kind of destroyed what reputation the X-men universe might have had (spoilers: most especially after the third movie had Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Professor X killed off, in a story that did not deserve such drastic twists). Last summer's "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" made sure that the X-Men reputation stay dead and down the drain, if not just made it an even less reliable franchise.

With a Magneto movie planned to be made & another X-Men spin-off also in the works; It is so sad that we are about to see these spin-offs in a time when the X-Men Universe has already gone the route of awfulness.

SOURCES:
Empire Magazine, Rotten Tomatoes, Associated Press

X-2 : X-MEN UNITED

Never underestimate the X-Men
Posted: 11:17 AM (Manila Time) | May 02, 2003
By Reymundo Salao, Contributor
Inquirer News Service
link to the article on inq7.net

(also published in The Guardian, May, 2003)

MISJUDGED

CRITICS often misjudge films adapted from comic books.

It is in this sad manner of criticism that we see that there is bias, among the so-called "film critics". Truth is, though, that film adaptation of comic book stories has the same footing as with films adapted from good science fiction books like "Dune" or "Minority Report".

After all, what differs between the comic book and the novels was too little to make a hasty comparison. If the story in a novel is good, why not a story in a comic book? And at this point, no other comic book-film-adaptation can compare to the sequel of the "X-Men" movie, "X-2: X-Men United".

The story continues the saga of the X-Men, a team of mutants, banded together by Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), training and educating them to hone their gifts for a noble purpose: to use it for the goodwill of mankind and mutant-kind alike.

The world is faced with great awareness with the existence of mutant-kind. Such existence has brought about hatred and discrimination among the society, fearing and loathing them for their unusual nature. As such, the government likewise was growing cautious of mutant threats, as many mutants have the capability to violate the law with the crudest of means (some mutants can go through walls, some can read minds, etc…).

In the light of recent events, a twisted military chief, William Stryker, has been authorized to set its sights upon the activities of Professor Charles Xavier and his school for gifted youngsters, which was the institution where mutants were trained, educated, and likewise, housed the X-Men. With events complicating one after the other, remaining survivors of the X-Men find themselves allying with their former nemesis Magneto (Sir Ian Mckellen) to stop Stryker and saving mutant-kind.

You may be familiar with the comic books, or the two animated series (which pretty much sucked). X-Men have become quite popular, with its appealing characters like Wolverine and Storm. And although this film was more than enough, a high-impact action movie, it has the depth and the makings of a true science fiction classic. Because X-Men was popularized here in the Philippines via the animated series, many were a bit frustrated with the first movie, complaining that it lacked the action they expected. What they may have failed to comprehend was that X-Men had many messages to tell. The one about mutant discrimination, for instance, may be a metaphor for racism and discrimination.

The first X-Men movie was too wordy. But it actually laid the groundwork for this sequel "X-2", so this film did not require much explanation and did not elaborate upon many issues. That doesn't mean though that in order to appreciate this movie, it is a requirement to watch the first film.

This film can indeed stand alone by itself, for the explosions and special effects did not hinder the actors and actresses to shine with their human touch of drama. It succeeds in delivering the sentimental aspect of the film, giving it a more human touch. It also had the best punch lines that made the audiences chuckle now and then, never failing to make the audience entertained visually, emotionally, and even intellectually as well.

LESSONS

Unlike many other films like "Batman Forever" and that "Spawn" movie, producers have learned their lesson in choosing the director and the concept for adapting a comic book. In the past, many comic book films were created with great insistence that it be a family-oriented movie, understandably that it would be more profitable.

But in the long run, it just deteriorated the concepts, Warner Bros. tried to remake the Batman concept, turning him into a goody-two shoes, commercially-friendly figure, giving the directorial helm to Joel Schumacher, and transformed the dark avenger into this boyband-generation version of him, with matching shimmering nipples on his body armor.

It failed miserably making "Batman and Robin" one of the worst movies in history, and Arnold Schwarzenegger into a doofus with a silly Mr. Freeze costume. The entire movie reminded me of the Power Rangers. Warner Brothers had to remake the Batman concept, planning to make him yet again the dead serious dark knight that he really is.

This is where X2 succeeded perfectly. Brian Singer, one of the youngest and finest directors (The Usual Suspects, Apt Pupil) did take the concept seriously. And made it even better. While being truly faithful to the original was good enough. It really doesn't work literally.

For, indeed, if we have had the film version of the X-Men wear the brightly-colored X-Men costumes, it would look like a costume party-fashion party mix-up. The same goes with the many concepts that needed to be altered to fit a good movie version (In the comicbooks, Rouge acquired the cosmic powers of Ms. Marvel, another superhero. This could only make the movie look ridiculous).

As expected, the actors and actresses here shined with effective brilliance. Hugh Jackman is as menacing and as savage as what Wolverine ought to be, especially in situations that confronted him in this movie. The fatherly Patrick Stewart as Professor X is as strong as Sir Ian McKellen, as Magneto, Famke Jansen (Jean Grey), James Marsden (Cyclops), Halle Berry (Storm), Anna Paquin (Rogue), and Shawn Ashmore (Iceman), and Aaron Stanford (Pyro) fit their roles like a comfy jacket.

But it was the introduction of Nightcrawler, played by Alan Cumming, which with his humor and appeal, portrayed a character that can match Wolverine's "cool-action-hero" factor. Rebecca Romjin Stamos (Mystique) had more acting to her role this time, proving there was more to her acting career than a fine body figure. Kelly Hu (Yuriko/Deathstrike) may look like a cool villainess, but she's actually playing a mere bodyguard of Brian Cox (William Stryker), who makes for an impressive villain. Although the former Hannibal Lecter may have been deprived of the fame that he might have gotten from Anthony Hopkin's place, his role here certainly gives him something that X-Men fans will surely remember.

A good sci-fi is as fantastic as it is realistic. This is what X2 did. It crosses the line between what may be far-out to what is acceptable and plausible. The ending promises a sequel, and it seems we cannot wait for that to happen.