Okay, so the Summer Movie Season is off with a bang! So far four of the big blockbusters this year (and I'm talkin' popcorn movies here, people, not sappy love stories or dramedies) have finally hit the silver screen and I couldn't be happier! Roughly $400 and 8 hours and 15 minutes later, and the following is what I've taken away so far.
We'll start with the movie that everyone knows I was waiting for; X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Now, it's no secret that Wolverine is my favorite Marvel character--I named my son after him for cryin' out loud!--and that I had been excited to see this movie since Hugh Jackman went on record after X3 with news they were beginning production. I'm a big fan...
...which is what, after much deliberation and two viewings, I believe is what kept a smile on my face through the film. Now, don't get me wrong, the movie isn't without it's charms and I, for one, will be buying the BluRay when it hits shelves. That said, however, there are a great many things on a growing list that they screwed up or, quite simply, missed out on. I'm not talking about things like making Victor and Logan actual brothers, or Emma Frost Silverfox's sister and making her look like something Favor Flav would put in his grille (really, how else are you going to convey diamond skin and make it look believable as a moving organism?). I'm not even really talking about the creative liberties taken with Wade Wilson and the (sigh) "Dead Pool". All these things are forgivable...well...not Deadpool's retardedlly long hidden blades, that's just poor editing and character design.
No, the biggest mess up is probably also the biggest missed opportunity to do something damned cool with a damned cool character. Gambit. He does one cool thing and then it's all down hill from there. After he charges the Ace and throws it at Logan Gambit is done being anything but a massive example of how these people simply didn't get the character. I might have been able to forgive the telekinesis had it not been for the ridiculous way they used it. But what I simply could not get passed (especially after the second time) was the staff and the way he used it to defy gravity and physics. I could have accepted the climbing the walls if the staff had been glowing at the ends to show him blow the holes in the wall but there's just no way to forgive the helicopter glide...bah!
Other than that, though, I loved the movie. Really. Once again, Jackman really personified the character and showed me once again why I love the Canadian berserker. The use of the bone claws was an excellent visual and the adamantium infusion sequence was awesome; especially the x-ray view of Logan's claws unsheathing. I even liked what they were trying to do with the bathroom sequence at the farm...even if the execution was someone on the cheesy side.
Moving on...
There isn't much to say about Angles and Demons, really. I was a huge fan of The DeVinci Code and, through I'd never read the books, thought that the narrative and character development was phenomenal. Tom Hanks seemed to really sink into the Langdon character with the kind of totality you rarely see anymore. I loved the theological undertones and the mystery of the whole thing. The sequel was simply a continuation of all these elements with a new plot and several new characters. Langdon was once again a man you could relate to and I rooted for, but this time around he was a little less "out of his element" and, since this plot didn't directly include him and he was more of the detective investigating a crime with no connection to the victims. All and all, though, it was an excellent experience. If for nothing more than the purely filmmaking elements of it; the score, the cinematography and overall direction of superb acting.
Star Trek was, well, more than I expected. A handful of people I've spoken with about it have cited slight displeasure with the plot and it's apparent "weakness" but I tend to be of the opposite view on this. I thought the plot was everything it needed to be and a little more for an origin film; which, let's face it, this really is. It established characters, fleshed relationships and laid the foundation for them to build a new history on. On top of all that, J. J. Abrams also managed to use time-travel and the ripple effects of tampering with the past to satisfy old fans while not drowning new ones in decades of story and pre-established continuity. I wasn't sure what to expect going in, but left with a feeling of having witnessed the beginning of something with massive potential to grow and encompass a whole new audience.
The modernization of the original series' designs were probably my favorite aspect of the film. I grew up on The Next Generation and have always had a kind of mocking distaste for the look of the original. From the bell bottom uniforms to the "ray gun" phasers and box-and-tube construction of the ships. But the new film managed to update all of these designs while sticking ridiculously close to the look of the originals. Excellent work, guys.
And, finally, Terminator Salvation. I can only say that I was so totally blown away that it is hard to believe they hadn't done this before. Since my childhood, I have been a big fan of the Terminator in all it's paradoxical glory. I was even a huge fan of Rise of the Machines with the exception of the heavy-handed female terminator. John Connor's fight to fulfill a destiny he never wanted and isn't even sure he can live up to was always one I enjoyed following. My only problem was the fact that my favorite part of this story was the part they kept eluding to but only gave me flashes of. The future in which John leads the war for humanity against a relentless, soulless enemy of our own creation (come to think of it, aren't Adama and Starbuck fighting the same war?).
Well, it would be a massive understatement to say that I have finally been granted my wish...with a giant fucking cherry on top!
Not only do I get to see the fight for our future, but it would seem that the future John is fighting in isn't the future he thought it would be. The future Kyle Reese told his mother Sarah about. It would seem that all that all those trips back through time have given more than John the intel needed to win. See, I'd always thought that a computer that keeps sending machines back to wipe out it's biggest enemy should be learning from its mistakes just as much as John had been. And, to a certain extent, it alwasy appeared that they had...a little...with each subsequent Terminator being an upgraded model. But Salvation does a fantastic job of showing that Skynet is a computer and learns like a computer learns. Thinks like a computer thinks.
Cold. Calculating.
I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about Marcus' character but with every bit of information that was revealed I found myself growing exceptionally fond of the concept of his character and Skynet's plan. Finally they show that they've learned from their previous failures. Finally it's apparent that messing with the past has had a significant impact on the future as John knew it. As even Kyle Reese knew it. Finally the writers and director acknowledge how fragile the paradox they'd created was. Brilliant!
And, the acting! Wow. What perfect casting. I was originally skeptic of how hard it'd be to get behind Bale as Connor since he's already so very much Batman in my brain. But very quickly I found myself believing in his portrayal of the character just as readily as I do when I watch Han and/or Indiana. And Kyle...oh, man, Kyle...I can only say that if they do more of these films (or another series to replace the unrenewed Sarah Connor Chronicles) I hope they focus on Kyle and that he's played by Anton Yelchin!
Well, that's about all for me for now.
Come back next week for a catch-up on some game reviews, including X-Men Origins: Wolverine (the better version of that story)...
Later!
