It’s amazing how quickly a movie can go from being considered one of the surefire blockbusters of the summer to a colossal flop. Less than a year ago fans were ecstatic to hear Jackman would be reprising his role as “the best there is at what he does,” but once the film leaked and the first reviews started coming in Wolverine became persona non grada. Even with the mildly negative press The Blot still wanted to see Wolverine this past weekend, but everyone else seemed uninterested in the film anymore. In fact, it was hard finding anyone excited about Wolverine’s impending opening. I think this lowering of expectations actually helped the movie, because by the time I saw Wolverine on Sunday afternoon the theater was packed and everyone seemed to have really enjoyed it.
I did have a few problems with the liberties the film took with Logan’s back story and the handling of one of comicdom’s favorite mutants, the merc with a mouth Deadpool, but the film did prove to be thoroughly entertaining. Even my girlfriend Aly (who doesn’t like comic books or their live action adaptations) liked Wolverine. In some ways it helps not knowing these characters “true” back stories. The worst part of film for me came at the very end, but I don’t want to spoil anything for those of you haven’t seen it yet.
If you want a humorous take on the ridiculous way X-Men Origins: Wolverine tied up one of its many loose ends to close the movie, head over to Matt Moylan’s Lil Formers for a great movie Wolverine webcomic. Moylan’s views of the film are very similar to my own, but he says much more succinctly. Whether you love or hate Fox’s take on Marvel’s merry mutant, after this past weekend it looks like we can expect many more X-Men and Wolverine films in the very near future. Next up, if all goes according to plan, is X-Men Origins: Magneto.