X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE a Waste of Time

Let me first say that growing up in the '80s & '90s I read a lot of comics one of which was The X-Men from Marvel so I'd like to think I know a lot about the characters. I know that sometime at the end of the '90s and '00s Marvel's brains were scrambled and they decided to re-boot their comics (most of which from what I've heard was a disaster but some did stick).

I love comic book films of which BLADE, SPIDER-MAN, SPIDER-MAN 2, HELLBOY & HELLBOY 2: THE GOLDEN ARMY are among the best recent examples. If you notice none of the X-Men films are included on this list and that is for good reason as none of the films are all that good (although I do consider X2: X-MEN UNITED the best). The only reason why any of the films suceeded is because of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine and Ian McKellen as Magneto because the screenplays are pedestrian at best with no sense of what the X-Men truly were, which was a team of mutants who banded together in order to combat majot atrocities to their kind as well as humankind. Now the theme is present in all three films but the word "team" is lacking in all except the 2nd film (hince why I think it is the best). The first film is nothing more then a film about Wolverine and Rogue who just so happen to meet the X-Men (since no one in the team is given nearly as much screen time as Wolverine & Rogue nor as much of a story/plot). The 2nd film managed to have plenty of great subplots amongst the great action set pieces and actually tried to be a good and well rounded film and Wolverine didn't hog all the screen time (although Cyclops the leader of the X-Men is still under used). The 3rd film was a total mess as old characters from the first two films are killed or completely discarded to make room for all the new characters who were just on hand as popcorn eye candy. It was one big action film mess withy no redeemable qualities.

The same can be said of X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE which rewrites X-Men lore to suit whatever the filmmakers thought would be "cooler" in a story that's so uninspired that I almost fell asleep in the theatre. Fleshing out events already alluded to in X2 this new film tries to explain the origins of Wolverine which is the least interesting story to try and tell. With so much history to pull from with the Wolverine character the filmmakers decided to go with a story that pretty much told itself it the previous film. Let's not even mention the complete overhaul done on the Sabretooth character and the complete misuse of the Gambit character (another one of the X-Men's most popular characters who bares has a comeo in this film). The film comes off as nothing more than a marketing ploe to get butts in the seats with lots of things that go "boom" and "pow" and I for one never bought it.

The film is an uninspired mess of which I'm shocked that Jackman didn't have more input into (especially since they plan on making a trilogy of these films). I don't recommend this film to any one unless you ust love Jackman or just can't wait to see the film on video.

Seeing Robots Everywhere in TERMINATOR SALVATION

Am I a TERMINATOR fan?

Having enjoyed both of the James Cameron films I delved into the continuation of the franchise in the four-colored world of comics first throw NOW comics original series TERMINATOR: THE BURNING EARTH and later through Dark Horse Comics who published various limited series based on the franchise (all fairly good although like most franchise tended to run out of steam towards the end of their run).

Then came TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES (2003) directed by newcomer Jonathan Mostow who did an excellent job small thriller BREAKDOWN (1997) and U-571 (2000) but T3 ended up an ill-fated mess only enjoyable to those who have never seen the first two films. This film had a bigger budget but no brains and ended up nothing more then a very good paycheck for the current Govenor of CA. Sorry to say that I no longer was a Terminator fan.

Then in 2008 TERMINATOR showed up on the small screen with THE SARAH CONNER CHRONICLES, a spin-off with a great cast but messed with the continuity of the franchise so much that I'm not sure that in even belongs in the TERMINATOR franchise or if it's just a bad dream (like what eventually happened with HALLOWEEN 4, 5, and 6 to that franchise). Although this show was cancelled after only two seasons it has its fans (because frankly the show wasn't that bad).

Now we have TERMINATOR SALVATION (2009) a film that tries to be a sequel while also trying to reboot the franchise (ala STAR TREK). I'm not going to say the film is great but it's a whole hell of a lot better then the previous film which is mainly because of the good writing and great cast on board. Whereas the 3rd film poked fun at itself on several occassions this film is a gritty war film that asks the question - in a world ruled by robots is humanity dead? After watching that 3rd film you'd think so but stars Christian Bale (as prophet of doom John Conner) and Sam Worthington are great foils for one another. It's tuff to play opposite rising star super giant Bale but newcomer Worthington does a great job of holding his own in the film which is a testament not only to his talent but also to the great screenplay by John D. Brancato and Michael Ferris.

It film not only has a gripping (and intellent) story behind it but it also has the action and excitement required of a summer popcorn film. I give great praise to director McG for putting together such a great team of experts (especially after the rumors of how hard he worked to get Bale interested in the film). Some people only see him as the guy who directed the CHARLES ANGELS films but I was willing to give him a chance (especially since Mostow - whom I like - screwed up the 3rd film).

My interest in the TERMINATOR franchise has been rekindled, for now, and I hope that they continue to do it right with any subsequent films.