While the tone for the flick was decent...crowd was excited, good previews (Terminator 4 and Star Trek come to mind), this movie left me feeling slightly dirty after having seen it.
Now, I'm not coming from the hardcore fan side arguing every nuance and difference in the story (which there were some that very obviously differed from Wolverine lore, but I am willing to accept the movie at face value, and pretend that there isn't already a story in place...I mean...I have both seen and read LOTR and am OK with the cinematic liberties taken there.)
That being said, I couldn't wait for X-Men Origins: Wolverine to end.
The opening sequence does its job, and sets the time and place of the story, as well as giving you a fuzzy understanding of our characters, and their motivations. I felt from this point on, the movie started to go downhill. I did mention no spoilers, and I will stick by that statement in that I will not analyze the movie scene for scene.
Some plus sides to this film, is that the action sequences weren't terrible, similarly, they were nothing that have etched into my mind (not in the same way that I can recall the battle between Wolverine and Saber Tooth on top of the statue of liberty in the first X-Men movie).
Ok, I really can't think of many bonuses to watching this movie, going over it in my mind i'm just left with an image of Logan whining incessantly. Really, I can't believe how much of a crybaby he was this whole movie. Thankfully he got his memory erased (if you've heard of Wolverine, you know he has amnesia of some type, so I don't consider this a spoiler) and turned into what we know today. I can't place my finger on any one thing that made me dislike this movie, it was just a combination of so much (to me) mediocre material.
The general impression I was left with is this...Marvel thanking me for giving them more money, and the promise of many more "ho-hum" movies resplendant with flashy action sequences, and cameo's of as many other heroes and villians sure to get their own big screen treatment (as long as they're still topping the billboards) as can be fit onto the screen/into the script (Gambit could have, you know, actually contributed to the story rather than just being a 'hat tip' towards his fans).
3/6 clocks - worth the rent, not worth $9 movie ticket.
**************************WARNING POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT ***********************************
I will say, the straw that broke the camel's back as it were is this...I had heard on the radio to stick around after credits for a preview. There is a brief clip alluding to (dramatic pause) A SEQUEL! *collective gasp* that literally made me burst out an explitive quite loudly...with which other patrons to the film agreed with in a sense of disgust. Without going into detail, it seemed like a jab at my ability to think or comprehend facts presented to me. Honestly, if you didn't expect a sequel, you haven't been paying attention to Hollywood lately ("Hey, this movie did pretty well, lets make more with the same characters until we run the concept completely into the ground!") and the way it was presented MAY have been cool if I was still 10 years old, but I didn't notice any 10 year olds near me to ask if they thought it was cool or not. I recommend not watching this in theaters, and if you do, do not waste the precious minutes of your life it takes to get through the credits.
