6 posts tagged “batman”
Picking the gristle of the Fantastic Four debacle from his teeth is Fox studio exec Tom Rothman. And by all reports it’s his repeated interference in the production of ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ that has resulted in this mediocrity.
Look at the title. It’s bad enough they’re going down the now wizened route of origin story, one that disperses the final wisps of mystery and punctures resulting tension, but this title babies an audience of presumed idiots. Those who have already forgotten this movie is the result of a successful franchise.
What’s worse, one of the worst flaws of this film rests on dumb irony. Trying to tie it to current continuity and give it more resonance they’ve muddied the waters further with adamantium bullets that turn Logan’s amnesia into goofy contrivance, a young Cyclops and, inexplicably, new character Emma Frost, a mutant that we have yet to see again.
Fox’s lack of faith in the comic material they have in front of them seems baffling when you consider Warner Bros. and Christopher Nolan’s artistic freedom and faith in Batman’s history or Marvel striking off on their own with ‘Iron Man’ and set to produce a connected movie universe.
Instead of those blockbusters, Fox gets a complete mess. Striking an uneven tone right from the start, all the epic potential from the trailers is dumped into the opening credits: a vigorous war montage that suggests exciting action, bold cinematography and a ferocious pace.
Why then are we instead introduced to Team X, supposedly a black ops unit and yet they walk right up to a mission objective looking like a bunch of narked-off strippers. Why go for subterfuge when a gay wisecrack in a lift would be far more apropos. And it’s like this for the rest of the movie: a cinematic scrap between studio-approved banality and fleeting moments of drama.
There’s no doubting Jackman’s presence, and Wolverine is one of, hopefully, many defining roles for the actor. Unfortunately he’s hamstrung by a script that spreads all of his character’s facets amongst the supporting cast. Whether it’s the motormouth merc Wade Wilson (Ryan Wilson, reprising his Hannibal King routine), later the mutant menagerie Deadpool, the tragic Bolt (Dominic Monaghan, probably the best thing in the movie) or the mysterious Gambit (Taylor Kitsch), each of them evince more humour, emotion and wolfish charm than Jackman’s Logan.
Even Liev Schreiber (a massive improvement on the previous actor), playing villain Sabretooth, has more bite and animalistic energy, leaving Jackman to pull off ferocious poses that look rather absurd surrounded by this puff piece. In fact, rather than elevate the character, it’s a regression, declawing the rebel with dubious morals and turning him into little more than Superman in a bad leather jacket.
The uneven tone aside, the script is a mess of moral platitudes, perfunctory twists, and an all too familiar redemption theme as Logan fights to prove he is not the animal a better film would have willingly indulged and still succeeded in ensuring the audience’s sympathies. Instead of rounded characters, it’s a who’s who of mutant kind that rather than sating the fans and thrilling the audience, instead, annoys and confuses them both equally.
The defining moment, the torturous baptism of liquid adamantium that transforms Logan into Wolverine, is less excoriating and more a disappointing signal of the film’s turn. Rather than let our hero suffer for a moment in the wilds, we’re inflicted with a moment of goofy comedy as an old couple spots him streaking across their ranch.
In between moments of slapstick as Logan examines his new metal claws and destroys a bathroom, sage advice is imparted by the wise old man. Fortunately he is able to gift that familiar leather jacket before the couple is cut to pieces by one of Logan’s pursuers.
While the climax is grounded in the reality of the Three Mile Island meltdown, the location for the mutant equivalent of Guantanomo Bay, it’s undercut by the hysterical comic book destruction wreaked by the characters. It’s this strange back and forth in the script, this schizophrenic setting up and then breaking down of logic that runs through the whole film and truly scuppers the movie.
In fact, when a small moment involving Monaghan’s Bolt early in the film expresses more sad humanity than all the heroic posturing in the climax, you realise this movie was doomed from the start.
Absolute tragic news.
According to various sources, including the NY police, actor Heath Ledger was found dead in his apartment today at around 2pm. He leaves his wife, Michelle Williams, and a 2 year old daughter behind.
Best not to dwell on the whys, but just mourn the passing of what I believe was a real acting talent, something that according to all reports would have been finally confirmed by his performance as The Joker in the new Batman film, The Dark Knight. He was fantastic in Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain, giving a controlled, subtle performance that belied his age and relative experience, and judging by his choices could have had a career that would have entertained as well as surprised his audiences long into the future.
Condolences go out to his family, and friends at this difficult time.
As they're calling it. And also, do my powers of perception I've come to the conclusion, that, rather than it being a separate entity it's simply the result of the Tumbler (Bats' previous mode of transport) exploding...or possibly appearing to explode.
Will be mostly wearing
You know...the new suit looks cool to me and all. But, whenever I look at this, I smell action figure variants. You know: "Deep Sea Batman", "Arctic Fresh Batman", "Jiffy Pop Batman", stuff like that. Makes me a bit uneasy. - Merrick of AICN
While driving
Looks Asshat- Nick Da Costa
In all seriousness, as it was for the first film, elements of well integrated technology are offset by ugly lumps of boom making like that bike. When I heard the rumours about The Tumbler from the first film getting blown up I was pleased, but if it's being replaced by this piece of crap, that only serves to emphasise how strange a man in a bat suit is and well, can't say I'm not disappointed. At least the Joker is shaping up to wipe the floor with Nicholson's effort. Oh, and in other news, looks like former Brat Packer and star of the tv version of the Dead Zone, Anthony Michael Hall, is set to play Edward Nigma, The Riddler, himself. With Harvey Dent starring as well, let's hope this doesn't lead to a Forever debacle in the inevitable third film.
Found this over at The Engine (Warren Ellis's discussion board) and thought I'd spread it.
'Following links in my zen-surfer fashion led me to a Flickr page featuring a series of images based on this --
And my effort is this:
Create your own, and spread it blogwide....
