|
 Here's my reward for sitting through Mutant Chronicles and Crank 2: High Voltage. This week I get to review X-Men Origins: Wolverine and next week I get the new Star Trek trailer. I'm not sure it balances out, but it at leasts alleviates some of the pain.
This latest installment of the X-Men franchise does what you'd expect it to do from the title. It follows the origins of Wolverine. It's an interesting concept, and after the disappointing X-Men 3, I'd say a welcome one.
The trailer opens with a buff Hugh Jackman as Logan/Wolverine strapped to a rack suspended above some liquid. He's in a military complex, and they're about to do some not-so-kind things to him.
He has flashbacks to his youth, when his claws were organic instead of an indestructible alloy. We see him fighting in the Civil War, World War I and storming the beaches at Normandy on D-Day. We see him mourning the loss of his love.
 |
You wouldn't like me when I'm angry. |
A scientist tells him that this is going to be worse than all of that. It will be, but for the military, not Wolverine.
A mysterious voice tells Wolverine, that all the bad things in his life he can make go away. He's putting together a special team. Probably not in the short bus special or very special episode of Growing Pains definition of the word, but the kind of special that involves kicking ass.
We see glimpses of some of the other mutants. The mysterious voice tells Wolverine to "Join him" so Logan can have his revenge. The guy is probably hoping that Wolverine hasn't seen any of the Star Wars movies, because it's pretty clear he's not a good guy with that kind of talk.
Then we jump back to the military complex. Wolverine tears himself out of the restraints and rockets out of the water looking like he took an overdose of those Insta-Roid muscle building pills. That's when things start to go wrong for the military.
 |
Death from above! |
Wolverine kills a bunch of his captors and escapes on a conveniently placed motorcycle. Now, the military must hunt him down and stop him. Oops, maybe you shouldn't have made him indestructible and installed those superweapons first. Military intelligence, continuing to be an oxymoron from one generation to the next.
Now the ragtag band of mutants and the military must contend with an angry Wolverine. Topmost among these is Liev Schreiber as Sabretooth, who has the uncanny ability to always land on his feet.
Wolverine spends a lot of time riding or walking away from explosions. Including a slow-motion hero walk that is standard fare for trailers. Hollywood never gets tired of that cliche do they? To their credit though, if there is one guy that can survive walking the hero-walking-away-from-the-explosion bit, it's Wolverine.
Wolverine finds a bunch of mutants. One guy that can shoot lasers from his eyes, another that can do some neat card tricks. He also stumbles upon a government prison full of mutants. Just for fun he lets them go.
|
Reviewinator |
| Trailer |
Quicktime |
| Starring |
Hugh Jackman
Liev Schreiber |
| Director |
Gavin Hood |
| Official Site |
Link |
| US Opening |
May 1, 2009 |
| Rated |
PG-13 |
| Genre |
Comic Book-to-Movie |
| Explosions |
14 |
| Weapons |
Bayonet, rifle, machine gun, helicopter, swords, Wolverine claws, handgun, sideburns, eye lasers, playing cards, magic staff, fist, feet, sticks, assault rifle, tank, missile |
| Man Quotient |
12.4 |
Trailer
Déjà Vu |
X-Men |
| Geek Factor |
95% |
| See Trailer? |
Yes |
| See Movie? |
Yes (confirmed) |
| Follow Up |
Here |
What follows is an action shot montage of a bunch of the mutants fighting with a chorale music backing score. In these we get to see some primo special effects. It's good to see some quality special effects after the low-budget junk I've been seeing the past few weeks.
Ending Prognostication: I didn't get to say it much this college football season, but Wolverine(s) win(s)!
Conclusion on Trailer: It has all the elements of a high-quality action trailer. The special effects are top notch. The action sequences are spectacular. Hugh Jackman has been a great choice as Logan. I'm glad they could keep him for this role. This trailer had to work hard after the not-so-great X-Men 3 movie, but it did its job and now I want to see it.
Conclusion on Movie: I don't see many red flags in this trailer that make me think the movie won't be a great addition to the X-Men franchise. I'm not sure any of the other "Origins" movies will have quite the impact of this one, but I'll be happy to sit back with a bucket of popcorn to enjoy this one. Recommended.
Images created on aviary.com.
|
