Tag Archives: Marvel

X-men Origins : Wolverine (Theaters)

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There seems to be this ever growing Hollywood trend of releasing prequels after a series comes to a close. In almost all cases (besides Star Wars), the prequels have been actually better than their predecessors. I found this to be the case with Marvel’s latest release, X-men Origins : Wolverine.

Marvel had greatly disappointed me with X3 : The Last Stand, so I had actually expected this film to flop at the box office. However, after the final credits rolled, I must admit that I was actually wrong. Fans of of the X-Men franchise should appreciate this film, and although the storyline wasn’t anything to brag about, it should be good enough to hold its own with most of its fanbase. The script had a good balance of action and drama, and rather than being a mindless action film full of high budget special effects which I had originally expected, there was actually some decent dialogue tied into it.

The real meat of the origins story is definitely the love/hate relationship between mutant brothers Wolverine and Sabertooth. Liev Schreiber is very convincing as Saber, and after watching this film, I was completely satisfied with his casting. Most movie goers are already familiar with the Hugh Jackman casting. He really needs no introduction, and from a fans perspective, he definitely was born for his role as Wolverine.

My biggest disappointment with the origins film has to be the under utilization of Gambit. He is such an incredible character, yet he completely lacked screen time. With just a little more than five minutes on the bigscreen, I couldn’t help but be a bit disgruntled.

Overall, I think X-Men Orgins : Wolverine is the perfect film to kick off an exciting summer of blockbuster films. If your a fan of the X-Men franchise and appreciate more than just an adrenaline rush of action, this is a must see in theaters.

Punisher: Warzone (DVD)

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Back before Tim Burton’s Batman, superhero flicks were viewed as “B” movies at best. They were often filled with cheesy dialogue, over the top action, and cliched caricatures for characters. With modern comic movies, particularly the recent Watchmen, The Dark Knight, and Spiderman series, movie going comic fans have come to expect so much more. Comic films have come to be viewed as an artistic medium that can easily rival their source material.  With the release of Punisher: Warzone, Marvel seeks to capitalize on the success of the previous Punisher film (and hopefully erase people’s memories of the even older Dolph “I must break you” Lundgren version).

In the previous Punisher film, the origin of the Punisher, aka Frank Castle, was the main focus of the film.  In this new film, the Punisher is already established and his slightly different origin is told via flashback sequences while the majority of the movie focuses on his current war on crime. While raiding a mob facility, he inadvertently kills an undercover FBI agent who he mistakes for one of the bad guys. He also goes about murdering everything that moves within a mile radius and extremely disfigures one Billy the Beaut, who goes on to become the arch villain known as Jigsaw due to his patchy reconstruction of a face.  The rest of the movie follows the Punisher as he attempts to stop Jigsaw as he seeks out the widow of the undercover FBI agent, whom he believes knows the location of a briefcase full of money entrusted to her late husband. That’s pretty much the plot of the film.

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Iron Man (Theaters)

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iron_man_ver4Iron Man now ranks at the top of the charts in regards to my favorite Marvel films released to date. The adaptation from comic book to feature film was on the money and it was released at such a perfect time to help kick off a summer filled with blockbuster movies. The film started off a bit slow, but it was needed to retell the birth of a new superhero.

I was extremely impressed with the cinematography, in particular the CGI suit worn by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) in the film. The movements were crisp and clean, and the armored suit was a thing of beauty. The soundtrack was also perfect for the feature, and the Black Sabbath tune stuck out in my head long after I left the theaters.

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