Six Blades of Death…
Monday, May 4th, 2009 |
Entertainment
…in which I talk about X-Men Origins: Wolverine
As luck would have it, Wolverine came out on May first so I would actually have money to go see it opening weekend. Had it come out any earlier or any later I would have likely missed it and just waited for it to come to DVD. But having seen it in the theater, I know now that I would have been disappointed if I had been forced to wait.
A lot of the reviews I’ve been reading have been mediocre in their assessment of the movie, citing bad visual effects and stale cliches. I’ve found, however, that I seldom agree with reviewers and have the uncanny knack to find merit and enjoyment in most every movie (some exceptions may apply, Rockabilly Vampire, perfect example). I find a lot of my appreciation has to do with my expectations and my ability to simply be entertained.
So going in to Wolverine, I was looking for was a good ride with some muttered aggression, and that’s exactly what it gave me. I wasn’t looking for any depth, and those canned cliches serve a purpose. Like the black and white hats of classic westerns, cliches work to instill an idea or emotion with the least amount of screen time possible. In those classic westerns, you always knew who the bad guy was because he wore a black hat. No exposition was needed. It was a convention of the media and part of the dialogue. We’ve become too concerned with originality and fresh ideas that cliches are now a bad thing. When the character kneels on the ground, his dead lover in his arms screaming it to the heavens, we know from our understanding of cinematic language, the anguish he feels. Yeah, it’s cliche, and it’s been used a thousand times, but that’s why it is effective.
What Wolverine promised was a glimpse into the past of this popular anti-hero laced with intense action. What Wolverine delivered was action that was over the top, so much so, it even had me gasping from time to time. Even the moments that have been teased to hell in the previews and trailers still hit hard. Admittedly, the movie surfed along on it’s “cool” factor, but it also had moments that actually caught me, emotionally, off guard.
As far as the CGI, only two instances really stick out in my mind as being god awful. The first spoiler free example is when Wolvie is inspecting his new claws for the first time, they looked like they were drawn in with crayon in post production. Even the sparks as the claws scraped against each other were about as lame as Jubilee’s fireworks. And I would feel remiss if I didn’t mention Orville Redenbacher at the end of the film. He just cracked my shit up! I actually felt bad about how off-putting his visage was.
Regardless of any and all flaws, I got exactly what I wanted. It had great action; an angry Wolverine bent on revenge; an impressively smart-ass Wade Wilson played by the only person in Hollywood that could pull off that mouthiness; and all the right cheesy cliches to pull them all together. I enjoyed it and would see it again.
I must also make a special note about the opening montage. Like the power of the credit sequence for Watchmen, I was taken completely aback by the emotional intensity. The use of textures and 3D photo effects really made the credit sequence stand out. It had both a classic and refreshing feel to it at the same time. I’d actually watch the whole movie again for that alone.
And stay in it until the end… the fourth wall will be broken, if only for those with patience to wait for it.
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