The Marvelous years ahead
It’s no secret on this blog that I am a Marvel comic book geek. So I’m excited at the new pathway into the Marvel Universe that the Iron Man films have opened up. When you combine that with the X Men films that are lining up behind Wolverine you’ve got a pretty full calendar over the next couple of years. Here are some provisional dates fo
r your diary:
Thor: 20th May 2011
We got a tiny taste of this at the end of Iron Man 2. He’s probably the least well known of The Avengers, so I didn’t expect him to get his own movie so soon, but what do I know? Not one of my favourite characters, but then neither was Iron Man ’till the movie came out. Looking forward to being converted. Kai has got one of the first released pics over at The List for you to take a look at.
X-Men First Class: 3rd June 2011
I am a huge X Men fan but to be honest I’m not that bothered by this film. The absence of Wolverine is a major downside in my opinion, and to be honest I don’t really care about the teen dramas of Cyclops and Storm. Having said that, I’ll probably end up seeing it, and as we don’t have any trailers or anything yet they still have a chance to completely change my mind. Hope so.
Captain America: 22nd July 2011
Alternating with the X Men, we’re back with The Avengers. This guy is a bit of a household name whether or not you know who he is. Although Ross McG does think he’s Captain Planet. My only concern with this one is that Chris Evans is cast. (For Brit readers: not that one, the other one). Which means Human Torch and Captain America are the same person. Not only does that mess with my head, but I didn’t really like Evans in Fantastic Four. So he’s got some ground to make up.
Deadpool: 2011
If that character double up wasn’t enough to make my head spin, the defection of Ryan Reynold’s to the DC camp to play The Green Lantern as well as Deadpool is a real shocker. However, this film is most likely going to be awesome. We didn’t get much Deadpool in Wolverine, but we got just enough to leave us wanting more. And this should be good.
Wolverine 2: 2011
We left him in a bar in Japan (or not depending which stinger you had). A lot of you out there weren’t convinced by Wolverine, but personally I can’t wait for another helping. Expect more indestructible fighting, but this time with samurai swords.
The Avengers: 4th May 2012
They might throw in another Hulk movie first, but RDJ’s cameo was probably enough set up to finally get the team together. This is the big finish, but it could also be the beginning of a whole new series of films. With an infinite number of cross over characters. Exciting stuff.
Iron Man 3: 2012
Will it come before or after The Avengers? Not sure. But more Tony Stark is always a good thing in my world.
And that’s the cinema sorted for the next two years. Good times. 🙂
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 26 so far )Wolverine
Well, it was worth the wait. Wolverine was definitely one of the best films I’ve seen in a while. The fight sequences are awesome (particularly when you’re sitting in the front row of a big screen) and everything moves at just the right pace. The opening credit sequence was particularly good, reminiscent of Watchmen in its journey through the American Wars. I also thought the actual story was good, and although the twist is guessable in part, the reveal did draw some breath in the cinema.
The continuity with the other 3 films is also not bad. Yes, Sabretooth is played by Tyler Mane not Liev Shreiber in the first film, meaning he looks pretty different, but thats just about passable in the grand scheme of things (one could argue that since he was becoming more and more animal he turned into one….) And while we’re on the subject of Sabre, Liev Shreiber definitely has a lot to do with what makes this movie great. He’s the perfect foil for Jackman and makes a chracter that has been pretty much sidelined in the films so far into a memorable legend.
As for our other mutants, Wolverine falls into the same trap as Last Stand by introducing lots of exciting new powers and then not using them. Dominic Monaghan’s Bradley (AKA Chris Bradley AKA Bolt-although we’re never told that) is in the film for less than five minutes, while Wraith (Will.I.Am) and Blob (Kevin Durand) get little more to do. The most under used though, is Taylor Kitsch’s Gambit, a character there’s been much furore over in the lead up to the film and who could have been better used. I didn’t think I was that bothered by Gambit, but Kitch’s charismatic performance meant I was sad not to have him on screen for longer. Having said that, focussing on these other characters would have dragged the story away from its focus, and then we’d probably be criticising it for being to long.
One new addition who seems to have caused outrage across the comic book geek community is Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) I’m not close enough to the comics for the change to his character to really wind me up, and I actually thought the transition was kind of cool (minus the claws which were lame) but even I know that that’s not what was supposed to happen. However, for those of you that are getting really worked up about it, you might be interested to read this, which explains how in the upcoming Deadpool spin off, he’ll be less Frankenstein and more the “Merc with a Mouth” we all know and love. What I do find confusing is the ambiguity over who actually played Weapon XI, Ryan Reynolds says it was him, imdb begs to differ, so if anyone can clear that one up for me…
I have read a lot of criticism for Wolverine, but I’m yet to find any I can truly agree with. I think Jackman is great in the role, and while the current film may have had less of the wisecracks that we’re used to, there were still enough to keep the audience laughing. The whole point of the film is that this is the Logan before; the one we’ve seen in later films (and comics) is the one who has had to rebuild his life out of nothing, so of course the character will change slightly. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a film and instantly wanted to start again, but that was true for Wolverine. In fact, it’s worth going again, not only for the film but for the after-credit sequences of which I know there are at least two (I had the Wolverine one, I’ve not seen the Deadpool).
If you haven’t already, ignore the critics and go see Wolverine, it’s definitely worth it. If you have, go again. I know I want to.
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