K=one guy E=other guy S=the girl
E: THE movie to kick off the big summer season is X-Men Origins: Wolverine and K sums up our feeling as a group:
K: Blah! Heck I was laughing during the opening scenes of the movie because I had a feeling then that this was going to be one of those “groaner” action movies with a flashy lead Hugh Jackman.
E: Kind of like Van Helsing?
S: If by flashy you mean H-A-W-T then I agree. He is a good actor, not so much for the other actors in my opinion.
K: The acting performances were solidly entertaining by Jackman, Liev Schreiber, and Danny Huston. Ryan Reynolds was only in a very few scenes…a letdown.
S: Ryan Reynolds was finally not himself (or what I assume, ‘his self’ is) in a movie. However, Will.i.am, not so much! He sounded like he was actually READING the script, not portraying a character. Which could have as much to do with it as poor development of a character or maybe even writing.
E: I thought the action was good, but a little staged. By the third Wolverine versus his brother fight, it was becoming predictable: One brother catches a glimpse of the other. Each snarl. One shout’s the other’s name. They run full speed at each other. They fight.
K: The overall direction of the action sequences were very competent by Gavin Hood. The REAL major letdown is the lack of inspired imagination in the writing (let’s call it bland) of this Batman Begins, reboot-wannabe movie about Wolverine that I thought was kinda covered already in X-Men 2.
E: I whispered that to S part way through that the writing wasn’t great. I’ll give some credit to Iron Man and Spiderman series that at least these movies are trying to lighten up a bit and not take themselves so seriously.
S: Even for me, who has LOVED Wolverine and the X-Men movies, it was a let down. Iron Man is still my fave of the comic book movies thus far.
K: By the way what was that dubious backstory of Wolverine being a lumberjack in Canada all about by the way? Riiiight. Whatever (rolls eyes).
E: Lumberjack = more chances to show Jackman’s muscles.
S: But more importantly, his ass-ets! WOW when he ran naked through that field all I wanted to do was hit the DVR rewind button and watch it again and again and again and again…
K: X-Men Origins: Wolverine never felt like a legit summer blockbuster to me.
E: It’s like the month of May is the ‘freshman year’ for summer blockbusters. They let a few big ticket/big budget pics into “big boys” time, but most fail and get shoved in their lockers. The real stuff comes out Memorial Day weekend.
S: Oh yeah, Star Trek is the next one I care about. It has Syler from TVs Heroes. I hope he doesn’t creep me out in this movie like he does on the TV show. (She shivers!)
K: I’m at least five times more excited to see the Star Trek reboot coming this week so I can forget 20th Century Fox’s weak effort for a new franchise.
S: I think we all agree on the recommendation. And I am a hard core Hugh Jackman fan. Anyone who can sing, dance and look like that naked is just OK with me!
Recommendation: Rental. Matinee for hardcore Hugh Jackman fans.