X-Men Origins: Wolverine...
X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Lots of action, lots of movement, many close-ups of Hugh Jackman breathing heavily. Not a bad thing. It isn't the X-Men movie I really want - I'll never get that - but it was fun in many ways. They played fast and loose with the canon I know - but the comics have done that, too. What a feared most was that Gambit would be sleazy or evil. And he isn't.
I loved Gambit. Love the personality - even the plot background given, apparently eliminating the Sinister connection, but connection him to Stryker's similar mutant projects. I loved his acrobatics (and wanted more) and his coat and his staff and the use of his powers, especially the fiery playing cards fanning and zipping from his fingers. Dare I hope there'll be a Gambit movie one day?
Okay, there's a flaw: where was that delicious Cajun accent I wanted to hear? Can Gambit be Gambit when he doesn't talk the Cajun talk?
No, not really. But he's still fun, and looks pretty darn good, and has the right manner and the right morals, and his scenes were sheer joy.
I fell in love with Lynn Collins in The Merchant of Venice. Loved her here, too, though she is nothing but a refrigerator woman, and deserves something better. Like a really good script. But all the same: I loved Kayla Silverfox while she lasted, and they could have done a lot worse by her.
Not to harp on it, but one of the things I have loved about X-Men in the past was its magnificent female mutants - full of strength and personality. You wouldn't know it from any of the movies, including this one.
In the earlier movies, Brian Cox was excellent as Will Stryker and Danny Huston seemed mild in comparison. I liked his fate, though.
Dominic Monaghan was excellent, but I found myself thinking that I'd cast him as Wade Wilson, myself. And I wouldn't waste Wade the way they did. I don't look for canonicity or even consistency - there's precious little of that around. But I do look for good use of good characters. In the very beginning of the movie, Wade's smart-ass dialogue was great, though underplayed. But then he gets conflated into Weapon XI, not Deadpool. And Weapon XI is a voiceless zombie, a killing tool without personality. I like the in-joke that Stryker had to silence Wade's smart mouth, but - that's a crime against movie-making, a pathetic editorial choice. If they wanted Wade Wilson, they should have followed through with Deadpool. If they wanted Weapon XI, they should have used Weapon XI.I nstead of creating a shocking surprise, they engineered a disappointment.
I might... I do... complain that Wade was too good looking, and the intriguing cancer problem eliminated. But this is a show in which the lead was transformed from an ugly mutt of 5'2" to Hugh Jackman. One makes allowances for the sake of aesthetics.
I liked the first scenes, where Logan witnesses his father's death. The kid playing him was great. As was
Loved the second time Stryker (an American Colonel) tells Logan his country needs him, and Logan says, "I'm Canadian." They remembered!
Scott Summers was a waste, but it was nice to see his first meeting with Professor X. And the cameo by Patrick Stewart was a delightful surprise.
I wished, fervently, that they hadn't made Victor Creed and Logan half-brothers. Because otherwise it would have been so very delightfully slashy. (Mind you, we still have, as always, the possibility of Wolverine/Gambit slash...!)
Was it just me, or did Creed seem watered down, more human, not nearly as nasty as he is in the comics?