#also keep seeing sets of Hugh Jackman from Deadpool & Wolverine

[nightofthelivingmeme]

Noticed my husband’s grays were more prominent yesterday.

I am unwell; I am feral.

I am chomping on a log. (He was sleepy so I let him take a nap on my thigh last night but uhhhh hope he slept well.)

[starkwlkr]

Omfg I need like early on in the relationship between Hugh and marvel!reader where their relationship isn’t public and their papparazzi of them on set together coz they’re visiting eachother and everyone’s thinking xmen X mcu when in reality it’s just them together dating

no spoilers! | hugh jackman

an: ok since their first son was born in 2000 (it’s canon idk what date but it’s canon now lol) and the mcu started in 2008 I’m going to change a few things JUST TINY THINGS like the mcu being in development early on and marvel actress!reader being casted in the early 2000s. does that make sense?? idk this is fanfiction

2005

Getting a call from Marvel was something you never expected. Like many people, you grew up reading the comics and watching the tv shows. But now you had the chance of a lifetime. You were being offered a role in the first movie in the Marvel cinematic universe.

After having a meeting with the marvel executives and your manager, you were asked to keep the news of your casting a secret. The media was already wondering who was going to portray what heroes on the big screen and your name was being thrown around.

While your relationship was still a secret, you often visited Hugh on set of X-Men with Alex and Reese. You tried to keep your little family from the media as much a possible. You would watch Hugh get into his costume and do his stunts. You were always amazed at how much fun it would be to portray a superhero and now you were finally going to be able to.

A few months after you met with Marvel, you found out you were pregnant with your third baby. A girl. Thankfully you weren’t set to film yet since the film was still in development. When it was finally time to film ‘Iron Man’, you were more than ready. Your kids were a bit older so they finally got to watch you beat up bad guys like their dad did.

It was during the filming of ‘Iron Man 2’ when your secret was finally revealed to the world. You didn’t really know how it even happened . . . Your guess was that paparazzi somehow snuck in. Hugh was always careful when visiting you on set. Rumors were already circulating on the internet about a potential X-Men and Avengers team up. It didn’t help that Hugh was sporting his signature Wolverine hair when he visited the set. At least the kids weren’t with you.

“You look much better than me,” Hugh looked at your costume. He couldn’t stop staring, it was starting to make you weak in the knees. “at least you get comfortable suits. Remember the black suits from X-Men? The most uncomfortable shit ever.”

“The kids thought you looked cool.” You reminded him.

“Okay, that makes me feel better.”

As you and Hugh talked, some paparazzi were secretly taking photos. All they could think about was how well they were going to get paid for the exclusive photos. The X-Men joining the mcu? That was big news!

When the photos were published on every magazine, you couldn’t help but laugh. What a way to reveal your relationship. You definitely didn’t want to share the news this way, but you also didn’t want to lose your job.

“Maybe in a few years it’ll come true. You, me, X-Men and the Avengers.” He told you, giving you your morning coffee. The kids were still sleeping so you and Hugh took advantage of the quiet morning. You set the magazine down on the table and drank the coffee.

“It would be nice. Imagine what the kids will think. Mom and dad beating up the bad guys together,” you smiled at him. He took the opportunity to give you a kiss. As he pulled away, you whispered to him. “or it could be me kicking the wolverine’s ass.”

You and Hugh’s characters wouldn’t share the screen until 2024 when Deadpool & Wolverine premiered. Your kids were more than excited to see their parents fighting together.

@kellyxo1 @barnes70stark @ru-kru @flyestvenustrap @evasmlp

[lazerv4]

Deadpool & Wolverine

Just my raw thoughts not a review or anything

BE WARNED, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS

It’s been a while since I left the theater immediately wanting to rewatch the movie I just saw but Deadpool & Wolverine somehow managed to succeed at the task with flying colors and while it’s easy to tell it’s not for everyone, if you are a chronically online person that likes Marvel enough to keep up with rumors and developing projects, this movie is a love letter to you. The movie begins with the thing that had everyone worried the most, how will this movie work while also not tarnishing Logan, well the answer is Deadpool find Wolverine’s skeleton and proceeds to use it to kill like 100 TVA guys as he dances to Bye Bye Bye by N*Sync in probably my favorite action set piece in MCU history (maybe it’s recency bias but I really did like it a lot), it's ridiculous, it’s funny and fully gets you on board with the tone of the movie while also dropping the opening credits in a memorable set piece which I would compare to the iconic Devil Trigger opening of Devil May Cry V just with a very different tone. After this opener we flashback to catch up with Deadpool and see him very down on his luck as not only has he given up superheroing but Vanessa left him and he now works a dead end job as a used car salesman, the movie doesn’t linger on this for long as we get to a small celebration of Wade’s birthday with all of the Deadpool cast from the previous movies making an appearance before the TVA interrupts and takes The Merc With A Mouth to their headquarters to give him the signature new costume for a new sequel and pitch him the idea of joining the MCU which he seems on board with until they mention his universe being destroyed which upon further explanation we learn is because of the loss of their “anchor being” which is a person so important to that universe that without them it starts to slowly deteriorate until death in this case that would be James “Logan” “Wolverine” Howlett as portrayed by Hugh Jackman through all the previous Xmen films ending with his death in Logan.

And so begins Deadpool’s journey through the multiverse to find a replacement Logan in a roguish attempt to save his universe stumbling upon many iconic points in Wolverine’s history such as the X hanging, the Hulk fight and what I thought was General james Howlett but sadly I was wrong, that said we still get a few other versions of Wolverine like a height appropriate version of Jackman as well as a surprise cameo version played by Henry Cavill. All this comes to an end when Deadpool find a drunk Wolverine fucked up enough that he can take him back only for the TVA representative Paradox to explain to him that this is not how this works, that is in fact the worst Wolverine and he wants that universe destroyed ASAP so he is gonna hurry this along by sending them both to the Void from Loki. The bulk of the movie takes place here and it’s mainly an excuse to have a ton of memorable cameos as right of the bat we meet Chris Evan as Johnny Storm reprising his role from the 2005 Fantastic Four as well as almost every minor villain in the Xmen franchise until they are taken to meet our main villain Cassandra Nova who is played expertly by Emma Corrin and has some wicked powers that enhance her presence. Skipping a little both Deadpool and Wolverine escape the grips of Cassandra fight a lot and then meet the resistance compromised of Dafne Keen’s Laura/X-23 from Logan, Wesley Snipes’ Blade from his late 90s early 00s trilogy, Jannifer Garner’s Elektra from Daredevil and her own movie in the early 00s and Channing Tatum as Gambit from a doom project film that just never happened after being stuck on development hell for years. This dumb group of misfits is the heart of this movie, as they start an assault on Cassandra Nova to help Deadpool and Wolverine we get a showcase of what makes them all so great or in the case of Gambit what could have made them so great as they touch on every aspect that made them cool with Blade even repeating his iconic ice skating line as well as fixing the issues the character had previously like with Elektra in just a great action sequence that is also gonna be an all timer before they are teleported back to their reality by an unwilling Cassandra who happens to have one of the teleporting rings from Doctor Strange which she uses to also come to their reality so she can absorb the timeline destroying bomb and gain even more power because she is just a girl boss like that I guess. To do this, she employs like a good 50ish Deadpool variants that we know get to see our main duo fight with Jackman finally putting on the iconic cowl which just makes it so much better as they manage to kill all the Deadpools before realizing that they also have Wade’s signature healing factor which means we are stuck here forever but then the unexpected happens as Peter shows up and apparently all Deadpools love their Peters and he begins to be celebrated which allows our main characters to go and try to stop Cassandra. Upon finding Paradox the duo learns that the only way to stop the telepath now is by fusing the dark matter and the normal matter reactor which would kill them so they prepare for the worst before Deadpool tricks Wolverine into staying outside and goes for the sacrificial play as he struggles to make it before Logan manages to break in and gives Wade his hand and stabs his claw into the reactor triggering the reaction which causes an epic orchestral choir version of Madonna’s Like a Prayer to start playing as we see both our heroes hanging on as the machine starts to beat Cassandra and eventually kills her before it all blows up and the timeline’s health is completely restored. The movie has a dumb little fakeout trying to convince you they both died but it’s short because we know they are built different and they come back to wrap up the film before deciding to get some shawarma and then Deadpool asks Wolverine if he would just like to stay with him to which he agrees as we see both sharing another meal with Blind Al before the camera turns to their masks and the movie wraps.

The audience for this movie might be niche but as someone that is (un)fortunately in it I had a blast and loved every second of it, I can more easily look past all it’s flaws and weird inconsistencies like wtf even are anchor beings because the movie was made for the very obsessive rumor crazed fans like me to have a good time and I would be lying if I said getting something like this wasn’t incredible. I loved this movie and will probably continue to even if I do start noticing more of it’s flaws. It might not be the highest most intrinsically made piece of filmmaking but sometimes you don’t need that and just a lot of heart will take you there and this movie has that in strides. The credits go through a lot of b roll and blooper footage from all the Fox films in a nostalgic but also sort of reverend way mourning the past but also celebrating all that it did, the Fox universe was not perfect but it definitely got the perfect send off.

[doamarierose-honoka]

Deadpool & Wolverine is set to feature some unexpected reunions aside from the titular characters. One of them was just revealed in the final trailer, as Dafne Keen was officially confirmed to return.

Keen played Laura/X-23 in 2017's Logan, and she will reunite with Hugh Jackman after seven years in the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine. Following the news, Hugh Jackman just shared a "now and then" post on Instagram, showing a selfie of him and Dafne Keen and also a video of the two from Logan. The actress was 11 when she starred in the superhero film.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Hugh Jackman (@thehughjackman)

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A post shared by Dafne Keen (@dafnekeen)

Two days ago, following the release of the news, Keen posted a photo of the comic character saying, "I want them to see the Wolverine coming." She tagged the upcoming film, writing, "Let’s f*cking gooooo!" Jackman liked the photo, sharing the same sentiment as Keen's caption in the comments.

Rumors about Keen's return to the superhero world started last September. However, the actress played coy when asked about her participation in Deadpool & Wolverine. "What goes through your head is, first of all, how cool that something is that big that it seeps and it bleeds into other projects," she replied when asked whether she was in the film. She noted "how cool it is that I got to be a part of something that had such a huge legacy that, almost 10 years later, I'm still being asked about, and that just feels pretty huge." Rather shockingly, the ever-secretive Marvel Studios decided to give away the secret of Laura's return in the film's final trailer.

Dafne Keen Credited an MCU Actor for Keeping the Marvel Secret

Marvel is famous for trying to keep many secrets and allowing fans to discover them in theaters. Many actors spoke about the pressure of keeping secrets, and some, like Mark Ruffalo and Tom Holland, often fail not to spill the key elements in the films. Others, like Andrew Garfield, could write a PhD on keeping secrets.

Speaking about keeping her cameo in Deadpool & Wolverine secret, Dafne Keen noted, "I had a great time keeping it secret. I had to do a bunch of press for a job that I just finished," Keen explained, referring to her role on The Acolyte, where she plays the Jedi Jecki. "I got asked in every interview, and I just got to lie, which was really funny."

She also credited Andrew Garfield for inspiring her to keep the secret. The actor appeared in 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home after repeatedly denying his involvement in the film. "All the inspo comes from Andrew Garfield," Keen says. "He is the master at this."

Keen is far from the only actress to cameo in the highly-anticipated superhero film but fans will have to wait until Deadpool & Wolverine comes out in theaters worldwide on July 26 to find out who else will be joining the Merc with a Mouth and Wolverine.

Source: Hugh Jackman on Instagram

[banjodanger]

X-Men Origins: Wolverine(2009)

I’ve got a lot to talk about, so I’m going to jump right in with a very unpopular opinion. This may SHOCK and OFFEND certain readers, but I’m not one to shy away from speaking my mind. More sensitive readers should beware, however, because I’m not going to shy away from rattling cages and saying what NEEDS to be said!

So, ready yourselves, because...

Origins is not the worst X-Men movie.

There. I said it. PBBBBBBTTTT!

I’m not arguing that this was a good movie, hell, there’s a good argument that this isn’t even a competently made movie. But this movie is also responsible for some of the absolute best movies to come from Fox’s X-Men. First Class and Days of Future Past are two of the absolute best movies of this series, and it’s doubtful the other two Wolverine solo movies would have aimed as high as they did if this movie hadn’t been so widely mocked. If you go back to watch this movie, try to keep in mind eight years later this series would get nominated for a screenwriting Oscar. Whatever your opinion of awards, that’s a hell of a turnaround, considering the story this movie tells is like three separate stories stapled together. Finally, however much this movie misunderstands Deadpool, it was right on in casting Ryan Reynolds and eventually gave us better Deadpool movies than we could have hoped for. It shouldn’t go unnoticed that both of those movies use Origins as a solid foundation for jokes. I’m not going to talk too much about Deadpool in this movie, because I plan to cover it in more detail when I get to the first movie.

But I’m not discussing those movies, I’m discussing Origins, and Origins is not very good. The CGI looks cheap and outdated, not just by the standards of the time it was released but by the standards of five years previous. And the movie makes said terrible CGI hard to ignore because, to quote the philosopher Michelle Branch, it is EVERYWHERE. Most people are quick to bring up Wolverine’s claws effects, and they should because they somehow look worse than any of the three previous movies and it’s the most easily noticeable. I’m not expecting them to have Hugh Jackman actually fighting and jumping around on top of a nuclear vent but it looks like they’re doing it in front of computer wallpaper. That hill outside the Hudson’s farmhouse literally looks like the default Windows XP desktop. I’m surprised Agent Zero isn’t hiding behind the recycle bin. This isn’t to say I don’t expect lots of CGI in my comic book movies,but I expect better when someone is dropping over one hundred million for a guy with metal claws to fight a mute with impossibly long sword fists.

I could ignore all the bargain basement effects if there was a good story, but there isn’t one. There’s about two or three stories and they’re all bad. Gavin Hood wanted to make a throwback sevnties-style revenge movie, completely self-contained and R-rated(Hey, does that sound familiar?), but the producers wanted extra characters they could spin off into their own films. And as much as I want to excoriate them for that, I can only get but so mad. This was a big franchise that was approaching ten years since its first film. They were looking towards the future and that’s what their job was. The problem is that failure to find a common ground comes through on the screen. Some of the strongest scenes are between Logan and Victor, to the detriment that most of the other characters who come off as unnecessary cameos. That boxing scene between Logan and Fred Dukes could be a thirty second phone call without really losing anything.

It’s disappointing, too, because a lot of the performances in this movie aren’t bad. Believe me, I wanted to hate Will.I.Am. I was going to drag him and talk about all the terrible music he made but...he’s not bad in this movie. I’m not going to say he missed his calling by not becoming an actor full-time, but I enjoyed his performance and wish the movie had used him a little bit more.

My humps is still one of the worst goddamned songs ever.

Gambit was great in this movie too. Taylor Kitsch had this bizarre run of putting in good performances in hated movies. After this, he did John Carter then the second season of True Detective. That’s a shocking run of bad luck, and too bad to, because he’s good in all three. We missed out not getting at least one more movie with his take on Gambit, because he gets maybe fifteen minutes of screentime but he manages to be memorable, charismatic and charming.

Helicoptering with a bo staff still isn’t part of his goddamn power set though.

And I’m not going to forget Liev Schrieber, who makes an absolutely compelling villain. The only problem with his character at all is that he puts such a great performance that it stretches belief to imagine this is the guy that becomes a silent henchman in the first movie. There’s simply nothing in his performance to suggest they’re the same person. It would be like if the twist of Phantom Menace was that Darth Vader was originally Jar Jar Binks, or if they hired Nora Ephron to write a Hellraiser prequel. 

Even the Scott Summers we get in this movie is pretty good despite looking like a guy that steals copper wiring out of abandoned gas stations. Although I really question why Gambit watches them run off and I guess just assumes they’re being abducted by a good guy.

That leads me into the whole problem with prequels. Things happen in this movie and characters seem to live simply because earlier movies dictate that we have to see them again. It simply does not make sense for Kayla to leave Stryker alive. She has every reason to kill him, but she doesn’t, because he needs to be the villain in X2. Gambit doesn’t chase after the kids because they didn’t want to have him interact with Professor X. Sabretooth survives because he has to fight Wolverine on top of the Staute of Liberty while making no reference to their apparent relationship as siblings, or any words of any kind. This movie is awkwardly shoehorning itself into the lore established by the previous movies and it results in characters saying and doing things that go against what this movie seems to lead up to. The ending of most of those seventies revenge flicks was a bloody murder. Here, Stryker hurts his feet a little. It’s just not the same thing.

Ok, are you ready for the problematic parts?

Let’s start with Native American representation, because it ends up being a pretty big part of this movie. Lynn Collins’ Wikipedia says she claims Cherokee ancestry, so I’ll give the movie credit on that, but as near as I’ve been able to suss out, the myth she tells does not exist outside of this movie. First off, Wolverines do not howl. At all. They’re not wolves, they’re related to weasels. They’re small, vicious bastards. That information was readily available in 2009, by the way. Furthermore, the information I can find says that the moon in Native American mythology is predominantly gendered as male. Now, that’s not a blanket statement. This was the research I was able to conduct, and mythology, as with a lot of oral traditions, are a pretty mutable thing. Given that I was unable to find any mention of this myth that didn’t quote it from the movie, I feel pretty comfortable calling this myth nonsense.

Hey, what’s your tolerance for fatphobia? Because that’s going to impact how you feel about Blob’s character. Look, from his very first appearance he’s been a fat joke. That’s it. He’s a rude fat guy whose mutant power is being fat, hell, part of his power set is described as a “personal gravity field.” So while I can’t blame the movie entirely for this character being problematic, you’ve got to ask why they chose this character as the one that had to stay true to the comic book. He was in poor taste when he was created, when this movie was made, and now. And I absolutely can blame the movie for making him a fat joke.

At least they didn’t go the Ultimate comics route and straight up show him eating another character. Small blessings.

On a more final note, there’s that very strange character choice in the beginning credits. I know that they want to illustrate early that Wolverine doesn’t view violence the same way Sabretooth does, but why would they choose nazis as the villain in that moment? Even if they weren’t the most enjoyably killable villains in history, the last three movies have made the atrocities of the Holocaust a huge emotional linchpin of a major character. So it comes off as a genuine shock that this movie would use, in its introduction, a moment of sympathy for these very same villains. So you needed to show Wolverine with sympathy? Have a bar fight in France after liberating the country. Have them fight in the Korean war. Maybe Wolverine mourns a kid shot on the front lines. There’s a hundred choices that don’t involve Wolverine getting sad over a bunch of nazis.

So, why don’t I think this is the worst X-Men movie? I’m clearly not calling it a forgotten classic, and I’m not recommending you watch it unless you’re a weird completionist blogging about your arrested development on Tumblr. Sure, there’s some forgotten performances in here that deserve some consideration, but the movie is mostly a mess, a result of too many cooks with diverging visions. There’s a good revenge flick here, but it gets buried and muddled by a desire and knowledge that this movie has to simultaneously explain the past that led to the first movie and set up future installments. It tries to do too much and ends up not doing much of anything. I followed up on some of the people involved in this movie. Obviously Ryan Reynolds had the last laugh, but it still took seven years and a leaked teaser. Hugh Jackman learned from the mistakes in this movie and the rest of the Wolverine movies are pretty great. Gavin Hood, who got this job after being nominated for a foreign language Oscar, directed another big-budget flop with Ender’s Game. However, earlier in 2020 he apparently bought a four million dollar house so I don’t feel bad for him. Also, the flop of Ender’s Game could possibly involve Orson Scott Card being a vocal and unapologetic homophobe. Seriously, what is it with beloved fantasy authors and hate towards LGBT groups? You can conceive of wild, uncharted space and magical realms but the idea that two guys love each other is too far out?

Next in the series, from failure comes success, as we meet Xavier and Erik as frenemies and launch a million slash fictions.

[thorofasgard007]

Casting my WIP:  “Blade of Penance Volume I:  Bore of Great Sacrifice”

Haven’t posted anything in a while thought I would put up a fun game for us aspiring authors out there.  My first draft nears completion.  Just a the final fight, “mop-up” and a couple appendices to write.  Hoping to be done this week while I am on vacation. *fingers crossed*

Anyway, I saw a YouTube video posted by an authortuber I follow named Kim Chance where she went through the dream casting of her newest book Seeker (soon to be released here is the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5Rmhm8HhE8).  I was thinking while I was running some errands earlier today I should do something similar.  If my novel(s) ever get made into a movie whom would I cast as each character?  So I decided to post that here and see what other authors/aspiring authors would cast as their characters.  Name the character, a brief description of them, then the actor/actress and why you would cast them.  

Here are the rules:  #1)  You have to use the actors/actresses as they are TODAY.  No using “Early 80′s Arnold” or Clint Eastwood like he was when he played Dirty Harry.  It also goes without saying you can’t use actors that have retired from acting or passed away.  #2)  If there is a seminal movie/tv show in your genre you cannot use actors from that franchise.  Since this rule can really make things difficult you can use up to TWO exceptions to rule #2.  Since my WIP is epic fantasy both actors from Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies and Game of Thrones are disqualified.

Okay here we go.

Dorath:

The father of my hero Kaaldor.  A former general and hero of the Battle of Gos.  The last scion of the House of Dranus who’s progenitor alongside Ka’Reyus The Elven Warrior King lead the Great Liberation against the Dragon Rule of Rab Yangin 500 years ago.  Few either human or elf could match his skill with the blade save maybe one.

At first I thought of The Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment:  Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.  I even used his physique as a bit of a template when I was doing up his character model.  However in the end I thought he should be cast a bit younger (Don’t hit me with the People’s Elbow Rock.)

Therefore I will use one of my exceptions early and go with Aquaman, aka Kahl Drogo, Mr. Jason Mamoa.

Ka’Reyus:

The Elven Warrior King and Grandfather to my hero.  Unquestionably the greatest warrior alive.  Has gone unmatched in swordsmanship for over 500 years.  Single headedly fought and slew three dragons at once.  Him and Dranus (Dorath’s ancestor) tag-teamed to slay the corrupted dragon lord Rab Yangin to free the continent of Kalis from drake rule.  Is Dorath his equal as a warrior??? SPOILERS :)

For him I batted around a few choices including Liam Neeson and Russel Crowe of course cgi would have to be used to size them down because as an elf Ka’Reyus was only 5 feet tall.

I finally decided on Wolverine himself (aka Jean ValJean, aka PT Barnum) Hugh Jackman.

(Yes this is an older pic... but I wanted one of him as Wolverine :) )

Princess Almelphia:

Mother of Kaaldor.  Only child of Ka’Reyus.  The unchallenged beauty of Elvendom.  All the nobility compete for her attention not only for her beauty but that whomever she chose as her husband would be the likely successor to the elven throne.  She is also is the only member of the royal house with any magical ability, even though it is just limited to reading the memories left behind on things/people that she touches.  While my hero was growing up she always called him her “little champion” and he did everything he could to live up to that title.

She was a tough choice.  If I wanted to use my second exception I would have chosen The Khalessi herself Emilia Clarke but considering Jason Mamoa is Dorath… that may be a little much.  I also considered Miranda Otto (aka Eowyn) but again didn’t want to use my second exception.  Therefore I decided to go with Jenna Coleman aka Clara Oswald from Dr. Who, and Queen Victoria on Victoria.

Here she is from the “Robin Hood Episode” of Dr. Who so you could see how she would look in a fantasy setting.

Ka’Vatch:

Lifelong friend of Ka’Reyus and Elvul Ka’s(the elven nation’s) foremost smith.  Him and Ka’Reyus both learned their weaponry by working his father’s forge.  Growing up Kaaldor learned from Ka’Vatch at the same forge.  To be a great warrior you must both know your weapons and then know yourself.  The weapons part started with Ka’Vatch after an 8 year old Kaaldor hid in his smith from bullies that didn’t like that he was half human.

For him I thought about Michael Ironside.  Granted you usually see him as a bad guy (and he plays a great villain, especially with his voice work... if they ever do a live action version of Darkseid they should have him reprise the role from his voice work on Superman: TAS etc).  However age is a factor.  Therefor I chose Josh Brolin aka Thanos… aka Cable.

Ka’Draoi: (pronounced Ka’ DREE, gotta love Gaelic)

Grand Thaumaturge of Elvul Ka’ and one of the world’s most powerful wizards.  He draws his power from the Blue Flame like all elves and fought along side Ka’Reyus and Dranus in The Great Liberation.  Being such a long time friend of the king he can often get away with breaches of proper decorum and has been known to have a bit of a ...shall we say “unique” sense of humour.

My original choice for this role was of course Sean Connery... but he has been retired from acting for some time.  I thought about Terrance Stamp (aka General Zod from Superman II, my all time favourite movie villain) but decided against it.  I didn’t want to use another exception or to be seen as him being a Gandalf clone so no Sir Ian McKellan.

In the end I chose another James Bond Pierce Brosnan, he can command the regal presence and wisdom Ka’Draoi needs, plus have the comic timing to pull off the sense of humour needed.

Ok.  That covers Kaaldor’s family and the elves.  Now lets move on to some more human characters.

Admiral Jagaran:

He is the Admiral of the Palan fleet (the main villain nation of the story) and in command of its new flagship The Jorgmundr (a ship completely made of dragonbone).  He is a very skilled warrior, especially at see and a cunning strategist.  He always takes the most straightforward path to victory whether it is an honourable choice or not.  However he has been known to let his ego get the better of him.

My first choice was Peter Wingfield.  Highlander fans will recognise him as Methos from the 90′s Highlander TV series.  (As a point of trivia I watched some of Methos’ sword fights on the series to map out some of this character’s move sets).  However he has apparently retired from acting and at last report was pursuing a career in medicine.

So instead I went with Rome’s Ray Stevenson, he has been in many other things but I mostly know him as Titus Pullo on Rome, Volstagg from the MCU and as Frank Castle in Punisher: War Zone (I should dust that one off I haven’t watched it in a while)

Anonyus:

The Mage assigned to the Jorgmundr.  Although he technically outranks Jagaran as he is a mage his role on the ship is similar to that of a “political officer” on the old Soviet ships.  He is your classic sadist that makes King Joffrey and Reese Bolton look like boy scouts.  He prefers to invoke fear in his adversaries of what he may do than to actually inflict the pain.

For him I went back to the MCU and chose Tom Hiddleston, aka Loki.  I just love him as a villain.

(Point of trivia... he originally auditioned for the part of Thor... go fig because he was so good as Loki.)

Armorton:

The chief slave-driver on The Jorgmundr, and a sadist son of a... gun (trying to keep this PG) in his own right.  He takes perverse pleasure in publicly and brutally executing slaves that can no longer work in the bowels of the ship... or just make an example of.  As he is more a hand to hand brute than a swordsman I went with a wrestler/actor for him.  Dave Bautista from Guardians of the Galaxy (gee I am pulling a lot from the MCU) and Spectre, also a former WWE Champion.

Ok... let’s get away from the villains for a bit.

Dex:

The classic dashing rogue.  Thinks he is “the pyres” gift to women and even names his lockpicks after his conquests.  Never met a maiden he didn’t want to hit on.  Or a full coin-purse he didn’t want to cut.  Always ready with a witty retort but also willing to help when he sees something unjust.  Kaaldor sometimes sees him as his best friend... and other times wants to punch him.  But they somehow make it work as they defend the village of Belieret from the warlord Tyv.

This character needs the comic timing that only Ryan Reynolds can provide.  I have been a fan of his since he was in Blade: Trinity (not as bad as everybody says) and he was dead on casting as Deadpool.

Klok:

A Baegian merchant that is one of the few in Belieret willing to learn how to fight to protect his new home.  His own brother betrayed him when the Baegian King became a vassal for Q’Rab The Sorcerer King of Palis and Klok began to speak ill of the new regime.  He couldn’t let hit happen again with Tyv.

I have chosen a bit of an odd choice.  A TV actor named Alimi Ballard.  He has been on many TV shows but I mostly remember him as David Sinclair on Numb3rs.

Ok lets do some more villains then we will go for the Hero and Heroine.

Tyv:

The warlord that is pulling the old extortion racket on the village of Belieret.  He blames Ka’Reyus for ***SPOILERS***.  Little do the villagers know he is just a cog in the machinery of one of Q’Rab’s plans.  In the meantime he plans to take his revenge on Ka’Reyus by sending him Kaaldor’s head.

For this I am going cast Clancy Brown, mostly because he played my #2 all time favourite movie villain The Kurgan in Highlander.  You would also recognise him from The Shawshank Redemption and Starship Troopers.  He as also done a lot of voice work, including Lex Luthor for Superman: TAS, Savage Oppress on Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Mr. Krabs on SpongeBob SquarePants (lol).

Hespera:

Apprentice to the Sorcerer Q’Rab and Master/Mistress to Anonyus.  She suffers no failure and many of her apprentices have felt her wrath.  None have lived to tell the tale.  Her vanity is her weakness and although devoted to Q’Rab for centuries she has been known to have her own machinations to undermine his plans.  You only briefly see her in the first book... but I plan to have her take a much larger role in book 2.

For her... if she is willing to be a redhead my first choice is Wonder Woman herself Gal Gadot.  She can be both regal, the flirt to ensnare men but then switch gears to be something menacing all at once.

(come on I had to choose a Wonder Woman pic... all the world is waiting for you... and the powers you possess :) )

Q’Rab:

Sorcerer King of Palis and has ruled for over 200 years.  He draws his power from the Black Flame and rarely gets his hands dirty himself but is always a Master of Puppets pulling strings from afar.  All under his rule are fanatically devoted to him.  Whenever he is mentioned they finish the sentence with “May his reign be eternal”.   It has yet to be determined who is the more powerful wizard if him and Ka’Draoi were to meet in a duel, and the true goal of his plans while he is at war with the nation of Corlot are ****SPOILERS****.  His origins are ***SPOILERS***.

For him I went with a bit of an odd choice, I needed a classical type of actor but one that wasn’t your standard English baddie.  I went with Alexander Siddig.  While best known as Dr. Bashir on Star Trek:  Deep Space Nine, he also has a long movie and TV career including 24, Gotham on the small screen and Kingdom of Heaven and The Nativity Story on the big screen.  If he can pull off both The Angel Gabriel and Ra’s Al Ghul he can pull of Q’Rab.  (Note:  As he was also Doran Tyrell on Game of Thrones... he is my second exception)

Ok... you are saying enough with the villains.  Fine lets get to the main event.  My hero and heroine.  First the Heroine:

Renna:

Daughter of the captain of The Divine Lady, the ship that Kaaldor is a passenger on when The Jorgmundr strikes.  While able to fight for herself knows when she is out of her depth and instead fits into the facilitator role to get Kaaldor what he needs to win.  She can also act as the diplomat to Kaaldor’s brute force as she knows not every problem can best be solved by the right amount of smashing.  She is not the damsel in distress like Lois Lane that always needs a Superman to rescue her, but she also knows she doesn’t have to be Xena to be strong either.

This one was a hard choice... The aforementioned Jenna Coleman was a strong contender at one point.  I also considered Rosa Salazar (loved her in Alita Battle Angel) however in the end (maybe because I just did a binge watch of Cobra Kai over the Labour Day Weekend) I chose Mary Mouser (Samantha LaRusso on Cobra Kai).  Her look is the right combo of innocence, beauty and strength which is what you need to play Renna.

Finally.

Kaaldor:

The hero of the story.  Half-elf and half human.  Trained by his grandfather since he was eight years old to be a warrior without equal.  He was even able to fight Ka’Reyus to a draw.  Though of the elvish royal family very few fully accept him as part of elvish society.  He can never let an injustice stand and sometimes gets himself deep in a bad situation by acting without thinking.  But still is the one willing to act when others are too scared to.  In the end he must complete his quest to ***SPOILERS***

For him I originally thought of Daniel Cudmore, I best remember him as Colossus in X-Men 2 and X-Men 3 (boy did three SUCK).  However in the end thought a Hemsworth was a better fit.  Not Chris (Thor)… but Liam (Expendables 2, The Hunger Games).  (Note:  He will probably have to bulk up a bit as when I wrote the character I was thinking “Early 80′s Arnold”)

Well There you go... It was a lot of fun going through this.  For all you authors/aspiring authors out there... lets see your own lists.  Use the Tag below. :)

[praphit]

The X-People: DP Degrees of BS

Frickin Phoenix!

(What does that even mean? “Every hero has a DARK side?” She kills people! Are all of our heroes murderers? - but I’ll get to that later.)

I'm mad! That's right, people! I'm mad at MYSELF! Why? Well, I could have taken the kids to go see "The Secret Life of Pets 2", so we could laugh our asses off (Idk what kids I'm talkin about - just randomly picking kids up off the streets and taking them to see movies... prob best I didn't do that). 

I could have seen something cultured like "Late Night" or "THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANSISCO"; which I admit is a stupid title, but it seems like it's a good movie. But, no, people! My comic book geekiness would not allow it!

Instead I went to see this bullshit right here - “X-Men: Dark Phoenix”. 

Don't look at me that way, Sansa! You know dag gon well this movie is some ol' bullshit!

You know! The rest of your acting squad knows, the director knows, the writers know - I knew from the first trailer! I knew from the first time they announced that they were taking another crack at a cinematic Phoenix story. Why?? Cuz we've done this before! Yep! 

There it is! - and it was terrible! 

What’s going on with that poster? Apparently, they didn’t have any confidence in that movie either. Why is Wolverine running at me like Sonic the Hedgehog?

I tried to find a better poster, but...

Here they look like they’re posing in some 80′s rock video. TAKE THAT STAND:)

I was mad back then with the first trailer, because I knew that this moment would come. And I actually really liked the first two movies of these particular X-Men. It was Apocalypse that ruined everything. 

People thought that movie was so bad, that it erased all the good that this franchised has done (even going back to the older X-Men):

The ground-breaking 1st movie (tho it prob doesn't hold up),

(Creepy old Magneto is coming for dat ass!)

Wolverine 

(it's hard to imagine anyone playing him better than Hugh Jackman. And he should have won an award for how cut he got... and he was so modest. If I ever  end up looking like that, WHEW! - ladies look out:),  

I loved Patrick Stewart as Prof. X, James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender's intense hot & frigid bromance (though we never got our make-out seen:), Quicksilver (man, I wish we could get more of him), "Logan" (excellent comic book movie), and I'm not sure if we'd have Deadpool without them ruining that first Wolverine movie. Not to mention that they marketed the hell out of this movie franchise and made so much money! But, then this guy showed up and effed it all to hell!

("Everything they built will FALL... ")

- you ain't lyin, jack!

And while that movie was terrible, it wasn't as bad as everyone said. Bullshit sure, but... there are different degrees of bullshit. Apocalypse was forgettable BS, sometimes there's BS that makes us laugh, or think, or cry - what type of bullshit will Dark Phoenix be? -  Let's take a look:

This movie kicks off with the X-Men in space. Yep! SPACE! Since when are the X-Men astronauts? Which movie did they get training for any of that? How did they build an X-Jet for space travel? Did they learn it on YouTube? And even if that were the case, how's the government allowing this? If a group of talented minorities built a functional space craft, do you think President Trump would allow them to come and go as they please? Shiiiiiii In the movie they don't even test it first. Xavier just says that they'll be fine, and sends the kids off.

I think that there needs to be an investigation. Prof. X is trying to kill these kids. He keeps sending them on missions that they shouldn't come back from:

X-Men: "But, professor, we don't know how to disarm a bomb!"

Xavier: "You'll be fine."

X-Men: "But, professor, the X Jet isn't built for deep sea exploration, we don't even know where we're going!"

Xavier: "Y'all will figure it out."

Then, as they come back, he's counting to see if they all made it - "Ten kids left, and coming back, I count... ten DAMMIT! But, wait, one is injured... doesn't look like he'll pull through. YES! (as he drinks some bourbon - which he does at an alarming rate in this movie... prob to block out all the kids he has killed).

While we're on the topic of him - did the movie "Split" ruin James McAvoy's take on Prof X for anybody else? This is all I kept seeing when he was on camera.

But, as you know, cuz they did this exact plot in "X-Men: Last Stand" Jean Grey gets possessed by some space entity while they're up there, and becomes Phoenix.

Jean (played by Sophie Turner, who actually does a good job) is found to have done something horrible. Xavier (and this is no spoiler, cuz again X-Men: Last Stand") blocks out the bad stuff she has done to try to protect her, this eventually wears off, and now we get DARK 

...wait, sorry.

Now we get DARK PHOENIX! 

There we go!

(”Where’s my money?!”)

Now, Jessica Chastain is in this as well seen here, experimenting with bleach,

 who's leading a group of aliens to manipulate Jean (I'll get to them later). But, if JC is in the house, you can be sure that a women's rights message will be in there somewhere (#drinkinggame) And BOOM, there it was - "Don't let some MAN in a chair tell you what you are? - what you can and can not be! Don't let him controoool you!" 

I'm all for girl power, buuuuuut she HAS been on a bit of a carnage streak, and she has been killing people, annnnnnd isn't Jessica Chastain also trying to control her? But, imma let all that go... what do I know?? :)

I gotta be honest, I was digging the first half of this movie. They were capturing everything I love about the X-Men: social issues, political issues, teen struggles. They have lots of real drama going on amongst themselves. There are times when you'll cheer the X-Men on and times when you'll agree with some of the humans that THEY GOTZ TO GO! I love the flaws of the X-Men; it makes them relatable. I even love the struggle with having so much power, and yet having to try to walk a line of morality - which they suck at btw.

The professor sucks at it the most, which made me kinda sad, actually. BUT, to be fair, he has the power to control people's minds... would any of us with that power be able to consistently resist certain temptations?? Def not giving him a pass though. He does a lot of messed up stuff (some things they draw attention to, and others that they don't). Some things that made me cringe, even though MOST of what he was doing was out of love. I can't depend on none of my fave leaders anymore - not even the fictional ones.

We were getting into some deep stuff! BUT, then it was as if some big shot walked on the set and reminded them that they have a "Blow shit up" quota to meet, and that the plot points were slowing them down. Soooooooo, they burn the script and start blowing things up. Some people might say "Praphit, this is a comic book movie, how much script can you expect?" If this were 20 years ago, I'd agree.

Plus, it's more the fact that nothing makes any sense at this point.

Magneto (who's always the voice of reality in these movies, in my opinion) wants to kill Jean (for very good reasons), but he knows that he can't take Phoenix by himself, so why is he trying? He's a smart dude; why not come up with a better plan? Prof X wants to talk to Jean, to reason with her... the problem with that is that they just tried that a few days ago, and that couldn't have gone any more terribly than it did. The aliens in this movie (which lack all personality btw), who's objective is to control Jean, also know that they can't really do that or take her out (which was plan B), so... what the hell are we doing? The aliens are supposed to be the smart ones!

Prof X should have just controlled everyone's minds, and played a big game of immoral chess to take Jean out - that would have been a cool movie. But, this (though the effects are VERY COOL:) simply became a shoot-out! Not to mention, that right before all of this awesome, but confusing damage takes place, they have a big speech about restraint and not doing harm. Literally, a minute later, the X-Men are blowing buses up!

But, all of that is not even what makes this movie bullshit (grade: D+ btw). What makes this movie bullshit is the fact that it's the last one before Disney takes over.

You'd think that they would have given it their best, so that they can go out making us miss them! But, it felt like half way through the movie the team was told that this is all over, and that Mickey Mouse is coming to collect, but instead of going out with their best, they said to themselves "bleep it" and mailed-it-in.

The way that the final battle scene ends doesn't make any sense. It's one of those scenarios where "If you could do that... why didn't you do that earlier and save more destruction?" and a lil bit of "Well, if you had THAT much power, then none of these other altercations should have even been close."

The way it ends after that too! Man! It's like they just fast forwarded through the parts they didn't feel like acting out. This is the last one, people! Just lazy!

Yeah you!

I've got a spoiler, sooooo if you don't want it, skip through the text after Patrick Stewart - and start reading again when you see his handsome face again:)

(this is back when I learned to love this man)

So, Jean is... gone (possibly dead), and the X-Men name the school after her "Institute of Jean Grey" or something like that. Also, Prof X steps down (maybe due to guilt of his misatkes with Jean, who knows for sure, cuz they didn't act it out), and leaves Beast in charge in with the other teen X-Men to instruct the 'young kids at the school. "Other TEEN X-Men" Did they just make these kids professors? And what qualifies Beast (at this stage in his life) to run the school? Plus, Jean Grey was kind of a murderer wasn't she (and this wasn't a secret from the rest of the world)? Come on,kids, let me sign you up for "Ted Bundy's School for gifted youngsters" Would you be onboard for that? Hell no!

(Here’s PS fresh off a bender. “I promise, Timmy, I’ll try to think about never touching the sauce again, but this hair says that I will.”)

So... I'd say, entertaining bullshit. The effects (especially) at the end are great! But, the rest... and to go out like this... ugh.

There's a cool quote in here from Mystique (played by J.Law) who clearly didn't want to be there. It was a quote about how the women in the X-Men seem to be sticking their necks out and saving the day way more than the men, and that  maybe Xavier should change their name to “The X-Women”. I thought that was not only funny, but a damned good point. I say do it!

I'd love it if you had a a big strong manly man of the team go ahead of the action and stand up to the enemy, and when asked "Who are you?" he replies

"We're the X-Women."

[aion-rsa]

WandaVision: What Big Marvel Cameos Could Happen?

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This article contains spoilers for WandaVision and the broader MCU.

During a recent interview, WandaVision star Elizabeth Olsen teased that we’re about to see a Mandalorian-level cameo happen in the Marvel series. Without fully spoiling the cameo she was referencing, it was a fan favorite from the Star Wars franchise who emerged in Mando’s Season 2 finale.

WandaVision featuring some notable guest stars hasn’t been a massive secret up until now, and a report that arrived way, way ahead of the premiere suggested that Evan Peters was about to enter the Marvel Cinematic Universe, though it wasn’t known if the actor would play the X-Men version of Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver or not in the Disney+ show.

Olsen’s WandaVision co-star Paul Bettany built yet more hype around one particular addition to the series – possibly someone different to who Olsen was thinking of – and it didn’t really seem like he was talking about Peters.

“I work with this actor that I’ve always wanted to work with and we have fireworks together, the scenes are great and I think people are going to be really excited,” Bettany told the Lights Camera Barstool podcast. “I’ve always wanted to work with this guy and the scenes are pretty intense.”

Bettany also acknowledged some surprises from WandaVision had already leaked, but that the series was building up to a massive finale. “There were more special effects requirements for our TV show than there were for Endgame.”

WandaVision creator Jac Schaeffer wasn’t keen to reveal who either Bettany or Olsen were referring to, but confirmed to TVLine that “there are so many surprises left in store” and that fans should settle in “because there’s more coming.”

Let’s have a look at some big potential cameos that could happen in WandaVision’s second half. Judging by Bettany and Olsen’s comments, they could be brand-new to the MCU or returning stars.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Quicksilver

Though Evan Peters’ inclusion in WandaVision is practically a dead cert at this stage, the opportunity to bring Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s MCU version of Pietro Maximoff back for a cameo in the series could result in a much deeper connection to Wanda herself. The seeds of a potential Pietro return were sown in episode 3 of the Marvel spinoff series when Monica Rambeau – posing as ‘Geraldine’ – accidentally jolted Wanda out of her sitcom daze and back to reality by mentioning that her twin brother had previously been killed by Tony Stark’s villainous murder-bot, Ultron.

Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange

We’ve been told that the events of WandaVision and Marvel’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness are directly connected, so the most reasonable assumption when it comes to a big upcoming cameo is that Stephen Strange will arrive at some point to tackle the mystical wildness going on in Westview.

But since there’s been chatter about Cumberbatch appearing in the show for some time, Strange being part of the proceedings wouldn’t be either a massive surprise or a particularly thrilling reveal at the end of the day, would it?

Hugh Jackman as Wolverine

Logan was confirmed to be Hugh Jackman’s swansong as his iconic X-Men character, but how hard would Marvel Studios have to push to get him back in action as Wolverine in the MCU? Kevin Feige hasn’t really shown any signs of tackling the X-Men again just yet, nor in fact mutants in general as part of the MCU’s reality, so Jackman reprising his role here would be firmly placed in the “unlikely” column.

Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool

Could Ryan Reynolds make a tongue-in-cheek cameo as Deadpool? It does seem like a longshot. The meta setup of WandaVision is arguably the perfect place for Wade Wilson’s antihero to pop up and deliver a few fourth wall-breaking lines to camera, but the chances of Deadpool appearing so far in advance of his own MCU sequel feel fairly slim. Still, we’d love to see the Merc with a Mouth take stock of these strange sitcom scenes – where would he even start?

Michael Fassbender/ Ian McKellen as Magneto

For quite a while in Marvel Comics, Wanda Maximoff was thought to be the daughter of on-off X-Men villain Magneto, played by both Michael Fassbender and Sir Ian McKellen in Fox’s movie franchise. Wanda’s backstory has since been retconned, but there’s a sly joke about Evan Peters’ Pietro Maximoff being Erik’s son in the X-Men films. Could they re(re)retcon Scarlet Witch’s origins to bring back Magneto in WandaVision?

Er, we can likely put this on the Probably Not pile.

Mads Mikkelsen as Kaecilius

Kaecilius bid the world an unhappy farewell during the climax of Scott Derrickson’s Doctor Strange solo movie. The former Master of the Mystic Arts accidentally got his wish granted to live out the rest of eternity as part of Dormammu’s non-stop torment party in the Dark Dimension thanks to Doctor Strange’s time loop shenanigans, but fans of the actor who played the villain – Mads Mikkelsen – thought that dispatching him so early on in Strange’s evolution was a bit of a mistake. After all, why have just one injection of beloved Hannibal star Mikkelsen on screen when you can have, well, a lot more than one?

So, could Wanda messing with reality give Kaecilius an opportunity to escape Dormammu’s clutches and finally have his revenge? Hmm.

Patrick Stewart/James McAvoy as Charles Xavier

Much like Magneto, Charles Xavier has ties to Scarlet Witch in the comics, and if Wanda breaks down the walls between realities too far, we could start to see them bleed into each other, paving the way for an X-Men introduction in WandaVision. It’d be delightful to see either of these Professor X actors make a cameo during the show’s final episodes, but much like Magneto it could be quite far-fetched.

Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man

Robert Downey Jr appeared confident that he was completely done playing Iron Man in the MCU when Phase 3 wrapped up in 2019, but there could surely be no bigger surprise cameo in Disney+’s first Marvel spinoff series than an unlikely return by Tony Stark.

The question is, how could Iron Man possibly come back in WandaVision after he sacrificed his life at the end of Avengers: Endgame, and would it conceivably lead to more appearances by Downer Jr down the road?

Speaking of further appearances from someone we thought had left the MCU for good…

Chris Evans as Captain America

Deadline had some surprising news back in January when it published an exclusive report that claimed Chris Evans was in talks to reprise his role as Captain America in the MCU. It was teased that Steve Rogers could return in various future Marvel movies and shows as a sort of mentor for some of the other characters going forward.

It’s arguably way too early for Evans to show his face in WandaVision, and since Olsen and Bettany indicate that their show’s big cameos have yet to leak, Evans being “the one” should be put on the furthest backburner for now.

Keanu Reeves as Take Your Pick

We don’t yet know if WandaVision’s huge cameo will be from an already-established MCU character, though reports likening it to that of The Mandalorian’s season finale showstopper certainly indicate that it could be. This could all be a little sprinkle of distraction from Olsen and co., however, and a way to keep our minds off the introduction of a new villain who will connect the series to Doctor Strange 2.

Mephisto, Grim Reaper and Nightmare could all be nefarious additions to the MCU in Phase 4, and who better to play one of them than everyone’s favorite puppy avenger, Keanu Reeves? Reeves was close to joining the MCU in 2019’s Captain Marvel as Yon-Rogg before Jude Law landed the part. Has the in-demand actor continued to hold out for a meatier villain role?

Tom Cruise as Iron Man

Rumors that Tom Cruise has been desperate to join the MCU have been circulating for what seems like aeons. We doubt the man’s hurting for cash, but he did have designs on the Iron Man role before Downey Jr laid his claim, and there were definitely whisperings around the time of production on WandaVision that Marvel was trying to tempt Cruise aboard as an alternate reality version of Tony Stark for an appearance in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Since WandaVision sets up the events of the now-filming sequel, could it be Cruise’s brief appearance that Olsen and Bettany are excited about us seeing? Bettany did describe filming with the actor in question as “intense” and that certainly lines up with the experiences other people working with Cruise have had to date.

Have you thought of any other potential suspects who aren’t listed here? Let us know in the comments.

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[arichhipster]

Movie Review - Wolverine

WOLVERINE REVIEW

Let me start by saying that any awful surveys you've seen about X-Men Origins: Wolverine ought to be totally disregarded. Any individual who likes comic books, comic book motion pictures, activity motion pictures and blockbuster popcorn flicks by and large will appreciate this film. My desires were not that high for this film with all the negative press encompassing it, yet I'm glad to report that I truly delighted in it. Indeed I preferred it better than any of the other X-Men motion pictures and I'm a major enthusiast of those https://new-solarmovie.com/other-brand/primewire First up the acting was okay. Hugh Jackman as consistently plays the character he was destined to play with extraordinary expertise and effectiveness. Regardless of whether it is a delicate second for Wolverine or one including his trademark berserker anger, Jackman attracts us and causes us to accept what we are viewing. Truth be told, whenever he is on screen (the greater part of the film); you can't remove your eyes from him. Liev Schreiber gives a splendid presentation as Victor (Sabretooth), Wolverine's turned, crazy sibling. Schreiber has such an underhanded flash in his eyes that his evil for all intents and purposes dribbles off the screen. He might be truly outstanding on screen antagonists ever. An exceptional whoop for Ryan Reynolds as blade employing freak, Deadpool. His job is brief, however he makes its best and leaves you needing for additional. Ideally it will pay off for Reynolds and crowds all over and Deadpool will get his own film similarly as the gossipy tidbits have proposed. The remainder of the cast including Danny Huston, Dominic Monaghan and Taylor Kitsch, to give some examples, give fine exhibitions also.

Executive Gavin Hood shows incredible specialized aptitude and furthermore works admirably of keeping the film moving along at an energetic pace. To the extent the activity groupings go, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is on its game, no doubt. There are many significant activity successions and battles and in a word they are on the whole AWESOME. Each battle is arranged splendidly and they are a rush to view. It nearly felt like there was more activity in this film than the whole X-Men set of three consolidated; the film is a remarkable instinctive surge. To the extent the storyline goes, Wolverine was perfect, simple to follow while likewise being devoted to the source material and it included many curves too. Indeed an enormous piece of the characters back story is told in the initial couple of moments of the film in an amazing montage that makes way for the developing quarrel between the two siblings. The film truly prevails on all levels. Is it the best comic book film I've at any point seen? No, however it is an incredible treat regardless.

I don't generally have any speculations with respect to why the film is being panned by such huge numbers of pundits other than that maybe they were searching for Wolverine to waste time or think outside the box of superhuman flicks of the past like The Dark Knight and Watchmen did. It doesn't. Truly however, does each new superhuman film need to kick off something new? That appears to me like an inconceivable standard that will leave you disillusioned 90% of the time. To summarize it, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is as fun and energizing as Iron Man or any of the Spider-Man or X-Men films; and that as I would see it is exceptionally regarded organization undoubtedly.

[davidmann95]

If you were asked to work out how to use Wolverine when/if they introduce a new actor in the role, may I please ask what spin you'd put on Logan? (My inclination is to go in a "Team Pet" direction - Wolverine doesn't talk much, but he's usually doing something interesting and probably deeply violent and/or inappropriate in the background like any good Mutt!).

Were they to bring him back at FOX, then yeah, I have to imagine that’s largely how they’d go about it - they aren’t going to find anyone who can out-Jackman Jackman, and whatever emotional arc they might try and put him through in the main X-movies would inevitably feel petty-ante after Logan - so keeping him largely in the background as the team wildcard the way he was originally intended would probably be the smartest way to go. Generally silent, but when you see him you can be sure he’s going to make his presence known in a big way.

What I consider far more likely though is that FOX realizes they’d almost certainly be courting disaster by inviting that comparison, and they’ll either hope they can bank on Dafne Keen being able to support a new set of Wolverine movies as Laura Kinney, or even more plausibly double-down on Deadpool as their new official cash-cow lead. While I’d by no means rule it out, I personally don’t think we’ll be seeing Logan on the big screen again until the X-Men finally join the MCU, whether that’s five years from now or twenty.

And when that inevitably happens someday, it has to be with Enemy of the State.

The thing is, the Marvel movies are kind of going to be painted into a corner whenever they get the X-Men back. Not just because the core prejudice/disaffected youth metaphors are going to be tough to do effectively under Disney’s supervision, but with Wolverine specifically. They can’t go the route again of having him meet the X-Men and getting his cynical heart warmed, but he’s too big a deal to not be the center of at least the first of those flicks he shows up in (hence why the first MCU X-Men movie cannot have him in it if it wants to stand on its feet as a franchise in its own right), and aside from pining after Jean or mentoring a kid - both of which have also already been done onscreen - that’s the main aspect of him as a character intrinsically tied into that group. You can’t introduce him incidentally in a big ‘event’ movie the way they did with Spider-Man either: while we know he’s a big deal, in-universe Pete’s small potatoes, making it easy to quickly slot him in with the justification of “Iron Man needed some spare superheroes, so he called the kid,” whereas Logan brings so much history and mystery and brutality and fiery passion to the table he couldn’t help but at least somewhat dominate the proceedings by sheer force of personality, if only because he wouldn’t accept being kicked to the side during the finale the way Parker did. But at the same time he kind of has to be in a movie of that scope at the start, because he’s frankly a much bigger deal than the rest of the X-Men put together and their rep as a franchise has taken a beating to boot, while another solo movie wouldn’t be a grand enough entrance.

So with those terms in play - they can’t rehash the past, and he needs to be introduced in a major way benefiting his status, preferably in a way defines him relative to the MCU as a whole and the X-Men in particular - it has to be with Enemy of the State, Mark Millar and JRJR’s story of Logan getting brainwashed by Hydra and the Hand and being sent after his friends before of course regaining control and wreaking bloody vengeance. It immediately proves his boda-fides as a terrifying badass even within this preexisting world of superheroes, it lets Marvel do some housecleaning by letting him axe a few second-stringers (he could slice-and-dice some of the nobodies on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and maybe ice Iron Fist since he seems pretty universally disliked), and most importantly it lets him regain weight going forward as the unpredictable loner. The previous movies tried to bank on the idea that maybe he couldn’t be entirely trusted between the bloodlust and Weapon X programming, but deep down we knew Hugh Jackman’s was a face we could trust: here, he joins the X-Men having already gotten the blood of their allies on his hands, and the idea that he might snap again is genuinely convincing and concerning given we’ve already seen Marvel go there, with the eventual catharsis of him finding a home with them being enormously more effective for it. Plus, the conflict over what to do with him would be an excuse to keep the Avengers and X-Men in their own separate corners outside the big event movies for awhile, and maybe even justify a very loose Avengers vs. X-Men adaptation down the line (granted his role in there would be pretty similar to Bucky’s in Civil War, but I suspect the MCU will have gone through a reboot by the time they get Wolverine back, so I think by then they’ll have a licence to retrace their steps a touch; it’d certainly be no more egregious than getting the Doctor Strange movie we got less than a decade after Iron Man).

[thebiasedlens]

My Review - Logan

Is Logan,

a). The best Wolverine movie? b). The best X-Men movie? c). The best superhero movie?

Answer: All of the above.

Irrespective of whether you agree or disagree with me on that, what you will agree on is the fact that Logan is the X-Men movie us fans deserve.

No, it does not have excessive violence like some critics are saying. In fact, for the first time, it has appropriate amount of violence an X-Men movie is supposed to have. X-Men movies were never meant to be PG-13. The comics have always been R rated, and the movies should also be R rated. And thanks to Deadpool, for the first time 20th Century Fox has allowed it to be so.

So if you move past the violence, you will see that director James Mangold has paid attention to small details. Like when Wolverine stabs someone, the claws come out from the other side. There is blood splatter. And yes, the wounds heal, but the blood stains remain. Details like these makes Logan the much needed and munch deserved X-Men movie for us fans.

Logan is not your usual superhero movie. It is dark, yet poetic. The world is not getting destroyed by Aliens or Supervillains here. This is a more intimate, personal and human story. And that is such a welcome change. The cinematography immaculately captures the loneliness of this broken Logan. The action sequences are choreographed rhythmically and showcase Logan's anger and frustration. And the special effects are just top notch. The editing is seamless and helps the screenplay to flow.

It is set in the near future, where Logan is now old, not healing as fast, but there is still fire in him. It’s dim, but it’s still lethal. He is keeping it alive to take care of Charles. And to ignite that fire comes X-23. Who is she? Why does she need Logan’s protection? Who are the bad guys after her? To get answers to these questions you will have to go see Logan. It is a movie that deserves to be experienced.

17 years ago I went into a theater to watch this new movie called X-Men, not knowing that I'm about to fall in love with a new universe like no other. Cut to, its 2017 and I now have to say goodbye to my favorite superhero portrayal by an immensely talented actor. The X-Men Universe will not be the same without Hugh Jackman in it. He is, and shall always remain, The Wolverine. Logan is a perfect goodbye.

5/5

3 things- 1. Go watch it in Dolby Atmos at AMC if you can. Otherwise, go watch it in IMAX. 2. Get to the theater early. You don’t want to miss the beginning. 3. There is NO post credit scene.

[lemonvampire]

Logan Review (spoiler-free)

There’s a lot to be said about what Fox Studios have gotten wrong with the X-Men film franchise over the years, particular in comparison to their counterpart in the Disney/Marvel Studios’ Marvel Cinematic Universe. Once a pioneering film series that helped pave the way for the more colorful and comic-accurate portrayals in the MCU, the X-Men films began in the much more cynical landscape of Hollywood in the late 90s/early 2000s, when the idea of colorful heroes in “yellow spandex” was something to be sneered at and even derisively mocked in the first film by a po-faced James Marsden grimacing inside a restrictive but oh-so-serious black leather jumpsuit as he quips to the fresh-faced visage of a young Hugh Jackman in his star-making first appearance as Wolverine. The one thing that these films have gotten absolutely right in adapting their source material however, in a way that the MCU hopefully never will, is the comic series’ complete lack of consistency and continuity, and tendency to lean heavily on retcons. After the disappointing third entry and abysmal first spinoff for Jackman’s Wolverine, the series was “rebooted” with the much more colorful and well-received (by everyone but me anyway) X-Men First Class, which marketed itself as both a reboot and a prequel and didn’t really achieve either particularly well, keeping itself completely tied to the characterizations set up in the first three and even including cameos from Jackman and Rebecca Romijn. Following off the success of First Class, Hugh Jackman got another chance for a solo project with The Wolverine, before returning along with the rest of the series veterans to star in series highlight, Days of Future Past, which served to wrap up all the continuity snags of the franchise and give the original cast a proper and heartfelt sendoff. But Hugh Jackman, who by all accounts loves this particular role with a genuine affection that has shown through in even the worst entries, had jus one more left in him, and has returned to cinemas to give the character of Wolverine a final, heartfelt farewell before hanging up the claws for good, and has brought the equally talented and passionate Patrick Stewart along to do the same for Professor Charles Xavier. Loosely inspired by the Mark Millar comic, “Old Man Logan,” Logan tells the story of a near future where most of the mutants, along with all of the X-Men, have been killed and there are no new mutants being born. The surviving mutants have found themselves growing steadily weaker, their powers somehow degrading, including a now-aging Logan and a decrepit Charles Xavier, who Logan is caring for while he’s fighting off dementia and seizures that cause his still immensely powerful telepathy to be a danger to those around him. The situation is incredibly bleak for the two of them, with Logan working as a limousine driver to try to save up enough money to buy a boat for the two of them, presumably in the hopes of taking them both out to the middle of the ocean where Charles’ deteriorating condition will finally claim the lives of both men without hurting anyone else. But this plan is changed when a desperate woman brings a little girl, Laura, into their lives. Laura is a new mutant, born in a lab and experimented on to be developed into a weapon, exactly as Wolverine had been experimented on. In fact she’s Logan’s daughter, a clone made from his DNA, with the same healing powers and with adamantium claws grafted into her arms and her feet. Despite his initial refusal, Logan is persuaded/forced to take Laura, along with Xavier, to a location in North Dakota, where they can escape the mercenaries that are hunting her. As the final outing for Hugh Jackman in the role that made him famous, this was the perfect film to go out on. Not only does it’s R rating allow Jackman to finally “cut” loose and deliver the kind of violent action that Wolverine is famous for (seriously we’ve had eight other movies featuring a guy whose entire gimmick is having knives come out of his hands that were severely restricted in the amount of blood and violence they could show), but it also closes out the character’s story arc with a genuinely somber, reflective tale of loss, hope, and redemption. Wolverine is a character that people love for his gritty, tough-guy persona, but it’s a persona that only really works because it’s steeped in tragedy. Wolverine doesn’t work without proper pathos, and can easily fall victim to that pathos straying into desperate melodrama, as evidenced by his first solo film, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, where he spends much of the film screaming comically to the heavens over the bodies of characters we never have reason to care about, before tearing through villains we also have no emotional connection to. It’s a tight rope to walk, and this film, directed by James Mangold, finally walks it like a professional. The tragedy in this film is thick and genuine, as presented in the soulful, regret-filled performances of Jackman and Stewart as well as the surprising newcomer performance of Dafne Keen as Laura, AKA X-23. As child actors go Keen is a revelation. She’s called upon to give a wide-ranging performance which she delivers on a level that has her slipping into this particular character even more perfectly than Hugh Jackman originally fit into his role as Wolverine. Despite her age she looks perfect for the part, like a younger version of Josh Middleton’s artwork from NYX brought to life, and she nails the quiet, fuming rage and tragedy of the character in a way that informs the character even better than the writing in the comics. For a film meant to be a final solo outing for both Hugh Jackman and Wolverine, the strength is in its ensemble cast, which is firing on all cylinders. Patrick Stewart gives the most human performance he’s ever delivered in the role of Charles Xavier, and one of the best performances of his stellar career. Boyd Holbrook delivers an electrifyingly charismatic performance as the main villain of the piece, along with Richard E. Grant and Stephen Merchant in their supporting roles. And of course, Jackman himself gives the kind of performance in the lead that we’ve been waiting to see since he first appeared in 2000’s X-Men. He’s more ferocious, more troubled and more sympathetic than we’ve ever seen. This film is, without a doubt, the best Wolverine movie, the best X-Men movie, and one of the best superhero movies ever made. It belongs right alongside the likes of The Winter Soldier, Civil War, Spider-Man 2, The Dark Knight, and Deadpool. This is a must-see film for anyone that is a fan of comic book movies or has ever enjoyed even one of the X-Men films featuring Jackman’s Wolverine. Don’t miss it.

[brentwatchesmovies]

Logan

I've never been the biggest fan of the X-men movies. I look at them like I did the Harry Potter series: I'd go see the newest entry, have a fun time, and almost immediately forget about it when I leave the theater (the one exception being Matthew Vaughn's far superior 'First Class'). In my opinion, Marvel studios and the MCU does comic book movies so much better and more authentic to the source material, with characters who grow throughout the series, and far more hits than misses, when compared to the X-men movies. James Mangold's 'Logan' made me reassess my entire relationship to this series (but more on that below). Not only is it far and away the best X-men movie ever made, it's one of the best comic book films and action movies I've seen in recent memory. I'd compare the effect this movie had on me closest to something like Mad Max: Fury Road. A huge burst of energy, imagination, and great character moments, directed with so much skill and finesse that I was glued to the screen from start to finish.

The plot of Logan is incredibly streamlined and straightforward, and it's a better movie for it. It gives plenty of time to develop Logan as a character and where he's at in life in the near future of 2029. Aside from him, it also focuses on Xavier, and both of their stories are in a totally different and unique place than you'd think when you watched the previous X-men flicks. Logan is incredibly grounded, like it never has been before. The near future setting feels rough and lived-in, with very few mutants still running around (for reasons that eventually become clear). The world reminded me most of Rian Johnson's Looper: recognizable as the future, but a believable progression from where we are now. I've never read the 'Old Man Logan' series, (that I believe Logan is somewhat based on) but it's a perfect foundation and setup to dive into a character we've all become familiar with over the past 17 years (man, we're getting old).

I said above that Logan made me reassess my relationship with this series. I first saw X-men when I was 9 or 10 years old, and it's so effective and powerful to have a character that has been around my whole life wrap up their story in such a satisfying way. I've grown up with these movies; we all have. Logan utilizes the real-world passage of time to add a depth and a weariness to its characters. Without going into specifics, the way that the previous entries (at least the ones with Wolverine) all build to a beautifully realized crescendo in Logan makes me retroactively love this entire series more. There have been ups, and boy oh boy there have been downs (looking at you, X3 and Origins) but this movie re-contextualizes them all to great effect. I never thought I'd say this, but the upcoming Marvel studios films could learn a thing or two from the way Logan utilizes the passage of time in long-form storytelling.

I also wanted to touch on the direction of this movie, especially with the action. In my eyes, this is James Mangold's best movie, and I LOVE Walk the Line and the 3:10 to Yuma remake. With free reign to be as vulgar and violent as he wants (thanks Deadpool!) the action has never been this visceral and realistic. There are two set pieces in particular that are legit all-timers, and I think you'll know what I mean when you see them. Beyond action scenes, Hugh Jackman has never been better. He's giving it his all in Logan, and you can see the blood, sweat and tears of almost two decades as this character right there on the screen. He deserves some form of awards recognition for his work in this movie, but this being a 'comic book movie' may hinder that. All in all, I freaking loved this movie. I didn't touch on nearly enough aspects of Logan, but you get the gist. Go grab some X-fans (is that a thing?) and go see this awesome flick.

That's gonna do it for my thoughts on Logan. I've been busy with wedding planning recently, and will continue to be for a couple more months, but will write when I can. I'm actually planning on seeing Jordan Peele's 'Get Out' tomorrow which I'm stoked for, so there will be some stuff on that soon. As I mentioned in the last review, I made a website that I'll be transitioning to in the future, so keep an eye out for that. Otherwise, please share the blog with any friends you know that might be movie buffs, and as usual, thanks for reading!

[chrismaverickdotcom]

The Logan Supremacy.... (no spoilers)

I’ve kind of gotten sidetracked away from doing movie reviews for a bit here. Sorry about that. I’m still not quite sure if anyone cares. People say they want my take, but it always feels like there’s far more people interested in my political stuff. Anyway, I’ve been meaning to write one for Split for a while (saw it a few weeks ago) and didn’t get to it. So now I’m not sure if anyone is interested anymore. Let me know.

That said, there’s a new superhero movie out. Logan. And of course I have to review that one. So here we go.

I’m kind of wondering if the post award season hard-R superhero movie spot is just going to become a thing with Fox. After last year’s Deadpool (which I liked a lot) and this year’s Logan, Fox seems to have something. Certainly something beyond what they did with Fant4stic and X-Men: Apocalypse, both of which pretty much royally sucked. I’m actually quite happy to say that with Logan, they actually had something going here.

I always try to avoid spoilers in these as best I can. Here it’s going to be quite easy because my thoughts on what made Logan work really don’t have much to do with the movie at all. It’s more about what they DIDN’T do that really works for me.

I’m actually kind of starting to hate movie franchises. It’s not just that they’re cash grabs. All movies are cash grabs. All products are cash grabs. That’s just how it works. Everyone wants to make money. And I understand that you need big tentpole films in order to make Hollywood work. And that’s the honest truth of it. For anyone who likes to say that they don’t care about these big budget extravaganzas, you need to understand that they keep Hollywood running. Without big budget superhero films, there is no La La Land or Moonlight. It’s a sharing of the wealth. That’s just the business. And movie franchises have always been a big part of that. I mean literally always. Go all the way back to the Golden Age of Hollywood. We have Casablanca, Citizen Kane and Singing in the Rain because your great grandparents sat through a shit ton of really godawful Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan movies and that’s not to mention Ma and Pa Kettle or Andy Hardy. Because no matter what you like to remember about the Golden Age of cinema… no matter what La La Land and Hollywood want you to believe… most of it was basically a big shit show. Just like now. In fact, in those days — Code Era Hollywood — it was even worse.

But one of the things that the franchises understood back in those days was that they weren’t TV (or maybe more accurately they weren’t radio). The Tarzan films are not high art, but they all stand alone. They are related, but only nebulously. The order of them doesn’t even really make all that much difference. So long as you saw the first one and know the origin story, you’re good to go with any of the. Frankly, if you missed the first one, you’ll basically figure shit out. White dude with the accent of a caveman, swings from vines and yells a lot. Hell, if for some reason you want to make a Tarzan movie without Johnny Weissmüller, just throw in Buster Crabbe. Who the fuck will know the difference?

And this is how franchises have always worked. After the days of movie serials (which were weekly, like TV shows), Hollywood learned that you couldn’t expect everyone to see every film in the franchise and certainly not to wait a year or two for the next installment of a story. This has been the way of franchises for movie history. Even serialized films like Star Wars didn’t require all the parts to tell the story. That’s why they were able to start with EPISODE FUCKING FOUR and most people never even noticed. James Bond is theoretically one ongoing franchise, but it doesn’t make sense in the slightest. Actors change. Events contradict each other. There’s a soft reboot for the most recent Daniel Craig films which takes them back into being prequels to most of the other ones (or a replacement in the case of the Casino Royales) but even those don’t make sense, because they retain the M (Judi Dench) that was hired in the final Pierce Bronson pictures. But it all just kind of works. Because there’s just an understanding by the viewer that continuity in the Bond Universe only matters when it does. The individual films are consistent in themselves and that is is enough. You can watch any Bond film and its fine. The others may or may not have canon that happened. It doesn’t matter. No one cares. If you’re doing a Bond marathon and you happen o hate Octopussy. Just skip it. I doesn’t matter. The same is true of Tarzan, Andy Hardy or (to a lesser extent) even Star Wars.

But somewhere along the way, this broke. Maybe it was Empire Strikes Back that broke it. Even though i remains the best Star Wars movie, it really doesn’t have a beginning or an end. It’s all middle. But it was certainly broken by he time we got to Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter. Hollywood figured out that they could make us pay to see episodic TV in theaters. And frankly it kind of sucks.

Not all franchises are like that. The success of the Marvel films is that even though they’re sort of episodic, they don’t really rely on each other much. At least not really Avengers: Age of Ultron kind of did, and it’s one of the things that I really don’t like about that movie. It’s one of the big problems with Batman v. Superman. That’s not really even a movie. It’s a lot of set up for other movies that hasn’t been earned yet. What makes the Marvel films work is that when I walk out of the theater, I (usually) feel like I’ve seen a complete and conclusive story — even if it is a story that is part of a larger one. What makes a franchise not work is when each installment is more concerned with locking the viewer in for the next installment OR PREVIOUS ONES than it is with telling it’s own story.

What made Logan work is that it just didn’t give a fuck.

And it was great because of it. Like Deadpool, this is a movie that exists within the X-men universe. But only in the most superficial of ways. It matters in the same way that it matters that any Bond films related or any Tarzan films. Instead of trying to tell an X-men franchise story, James Mangold directed a simple and compelling action movie that happens to be set in the X-men world. In effect it isn’t really an X-men movie at all. It’s a Jason Bourne movie. It’s a John Wick movie. It’s Léon, The Professional, where the part of Léon will now be played by Wolverine.

And it was fucking awesome.

Ot at least it was awesome for what it was. If you like Jason Bourne style action movies, you should love this. It is the story of a reluctant hero, put into a situation which he didn’t choose, where his only way out is to kill a lot of people. REALLY a lot of people. And kill them… like a bunch. Like so much killing. Like if you’re into a movie where dead fuckers are stacking up left and right. This is the movie for you. If you don’t want to see that, you will not enjoy this. Because there is so so so so so so very much killing going on.

And I’m trying to review this for what it is. This is a franchise movie. It is not high art (which The Professional inexplicably is). It doesn’t want to be. It is trying to be the best franchise movie it can be and the best killing spree movie it can be. I am judging it on that merit. The action was fun. The killing was gory. It gives movies like Bourne and Wick a serious run for their money. At the same time, there is enough of a compelling story to gesture towards something like The Professional to make it something more than a mindless action spree. It has heart and soul in a way that most movies in this genre really don’t. There are real stakes for the character and between the killing… oh so very much killing… the film gives you a reason to care for the characters and want them to succeed. I mean, a reason beyond wanting to see them survive to kill some more.

But it didn’t rely too heavily on it’s franchiseness. What you need to know about the other X-men/Wolverine movies. Logan is a guy with claws and a healing factor. Professor Xavier is a guy with mental powers. They’re mutants. Nothing else matters. These things aren’t explained. Much like it’s never explained why Tarzan is in the jungle or talks funny after the first movie. Why does John Wick have a gun? Cuz he’s a dude with a gun. That’s who he is. Let’s move along.

Beyond that, the other movies don’t matter. Frankly, a lot of the events of the other movies are kind of contradicted by this one. And that’s fine. It just doesn’t matter. Like Bond, continuity only matters in this film when it does. And when it doesn’t, Mangold just doesn’t give a fuck. In fact, probably my least favorite part of the film are the time (relatively few times) that Mangold tries to address the ongoing X-men continuity just to keep the geeks off his back. It’s done with a bit of a wink. He lets you know that the film doesn’t really “fit” and he doesn’t care. The Wolverine character pretty much tells you that directly. It’s too much. I don’t need it and it took me out of the movie. It’s a double edged sword I guess. If he didn’t do it, there’d be a bunch of assholes on Twitter saying “but this doesn’t work, because the events of X-men: The Last Stand say this other thing. Mangold is explicitly saying “I know. I don’t care. That movie fucking sucked and this one is better. Deal with it!” And he’s right. He did make a better movie. But it would be even better still if he didn’t have to say that in the film itself. Bond films never apologize for being Bond films.

The particulars of the film are pretty good. Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart are excellent in their characters… and they should be since they’ve had 17 years of practice. Dafne Keen is also very good in the role of Laura. She’s not going to be getting Natalie Portman/Mathilda style accolades… but she was good and I hope she has a future in it. Seeing her fight as an 11 year old girl was cool, though there were some points where it was kind of obvious that she was stunt doubled or CGI’d out in a way that it isn’t as much so with Jackman and that makes her seem a little more artificial in an otherwise very gritty film. The rest of the cast is basically “okay.” I don’t feel like there is anyone else I can really rave about, but no one is offensively bad (and that’s a positive in a movie like this).

So I recommend seeing it. Especially if you’re a fan of Bourne style movies. It is an excellent entry into that genre (generally not one of my favorites) and, assuming this really is Jackman’s final time in the role as he has said, a great send off to his version of the Wolverine character. Just don’t look for much else out of the film than that. Instead, appreciate it for all he things that it doesn’t do.

And it is the best there is at what it doesn’t do… well… maybe not the best… but pretty damn good.

★★★★☆ (4 out of five stars)

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The Logan Supremacy…. (no spoilers) was originally published on ChrisMaverick dotcom

[diaryofanangrynerd]

Well, Hello 2017

Most Anticipated Films of 2017

 Well, hello everyone. I know it has been a while since we have spoken, but the truth is I haven’t really had much to say. I was utterly disappointed with the way that 2016 turned out, film-wise, that I had to walk away from this for a bit. I took a look at my much anticipated list and realized that maybe two of those films were worth anyone’s time, those of course being Rogue One and The Nice Guys. So I figured that this being a new year and with that comes new beginnings, I want to look ahead to a year with so many films to look forward to. (P.S. I apologize for leaving you…it wasn’t you, it was me.)

Honorable Mentions:

John Wick—Chapter 2: In late 2014 an action film snuck into theaters and blew everyone’s mind. Now since then we have all been clamoring for a little more John Wick.

Kingsman-The Golden Circle: Kingsman: Secret Service is another film that took people by surprise and intrigued for more snooty British spy antics.

Justice League: Okay so Batman v. Superman or Suicide Squad didn’t go so well, now DC Comics fanboys everywhere are praying that 2017 will be a better year for their beloved characters.

Wonder Woman: Please see comments above. Wonder Woman’s theme from BvS gets me jazzed though!

Blade Runner 2049: Loved Ridley Scott’s sci-fi masterpiece, however I am just a little skeptical trying to do a sequel 35 years later.

8 Most Anticipated fro 2017

(Yes I understand this list gets bigger and bigger each year!)

#8—Logan

First and foremost, there are very few things in the upcoming cinematic world that is more exciting than seeing a rated R Wolverine movie with Hugh Jackman portraying the titular character. Sprinkle in some Old Man Logan storyline and the “passing of the torch” to X-23 and you have a recipe for a great movie. However, as much as I am excited by this film there are a couple things that worry me about the final product. First is the comparisons to Deadpool and the R rating. Deadpool was a nice addition to the comic book film genre, nevertheless people need to remember the difference in characters and the huge difference in tone Logan will be. Second is the X-Men continuity and where this film will actually fit in the grand scheme of the X-Franchise. If only 20th Century Fox and the producers of these films can get that under control, I believe that the X-Franchise could be as good, if not better, than the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

#7—Spider-Man: Homecoming

Speaking of the MCU, Spider-Man is finally coming home. Tom Holland was one of many bright spots of Captain America: Civil War and the recent Homecoming trailer just added to the eagerness that I have for this film. I strongly think that introducing new villains and not recycling old rogues that we have already seen on screen was a wise idea, but I’m not so sure about the amount of villains was as smart. Though easing Spider-Man into the already vast MCU is a major plus as well. If Holland can continue with the wit and enthusiasm he had in Civil War, then Spider-Man: Homecoming is going to do just fine.

#6—Alien: Covenant

Ridley Scott + Science Fiction + Alien Franchise = Awesomeness! Dare I say more? Now I think that we can all agree that Prometheus was hit or miss with a lot of film goers, but I dare say that Scott’s official return to the Alien Franchise looks as beautifully gruesome as his 1979 classic. The sense is that Scott is returning to the horror aspect of the franchise, but setting Covenant as a prequel, with hopes of other films to follow. I am hoping that Scott is able to capture the magic of the first film, all the while adding something new and fresh to a franchise that is in need of a jumpstart.

#5—War of the Planet of the Apes

Ironically, here is a threequel to a rebooted franchise that a lot of people didn’t think we needed. Rise and Dawn were films, which I feel, quietly good with a lot of film guru’s waiting for that inevitable bad turn. With the first two films surpassing low expectations, I just hope that this isn’t the film that this groundbreaking franchise falls off the high cliff they put themselves on. I love the technology that goes into these films and still holding on to hope that the Oscars finally come in the times and see that even though Andy Serkis plays CGI characters, he is amazing and deserves a little gold statue. I am also excited to see Woody Harrelson as a villain.

#4—Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

In 1997 a film was released that blew my mind. A great mixture of action, science fiction, and comedy; The Fifth Element was a hidden gem of that year. Ever since then I have been clamoring for the day that director Luc Besson makes a film of that quality and have been slightly disappointed since. But this year, Besson has made his way back to the world of Science Fiction and has brought with him a film that looks to be what I have been waiting for. Valerian, rumored to be a pet project of Besson, is about two operatives that try to keep the peace in the galaxy. Here’s hoping for a Multi-Pass!

3#-- Dunkirk

My favorite director is at it again, but this time he is taking on World War II. Christopher Nolan has taken audiences to vast, multilayered worlds that seem to suck us in and change us. I don’t think that following a group of Allied soldiers surrounded by Germans on the beaches of France during the early stages of the Second World War is going to be as mind blowing as Inception; however I know that Nolan is going to deliver a beautiful film with heart and soul. The trailer looks amazing and I can hold on to hope that my director won’t fail me now.

#2—Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Another surprise of 2014 was the comic book film about a ragtag group of misfits out to save the universe. James Gunn’s take on the Guardians of the Galaxy is probably the single best thing to happen to the MCU, with Civil War coming in a slight second. Guardians wasn’t supposed to do well and was only meant to fill the gap between Avenger films and yet it did much more than that. Now with all of the cast and crew back for another adventure in the cosmos, I am over the moon excited to see what these “Guardians of the Galaxy” are up to now. Crossing my fingers for another Howard the Duck sighting!

#1—Star Wars: Episode VIII

What did I tell you all last year? Star Wars will be ever in the top spot of these Most Anticipated lists for a long while. Furthering the adventures of Rey, Finn, and the rest of the new characters of this sequel trilogy, Rian Johnson (Looper) is tasked with expanding this franchise and making it good. Being a big fan of his earlier work, I am honestly not worried. Please just don’t copy the formula of Empire Strikes Back like J.J Abrams did with A New Hope.

 Alright everyone let us all pray that 2017 will be a better year for movies so that I don’t have to stay away from you good people as long as I did before.

[jillmckenzie1]

Feathering the Nest

I like it when something cool comes from something damaged and terrible. For example, the DC Extended Universe. Initially, they were not off to a great start. They had a Superman who was mopey, grumpy, and seemed to save people not because he was compelled to help, but because he was afraid of being written up by his manager. They had a Batman who was not so much obsessed with punishing crime as he was having a psychotic break.*

They also had a Harley Quinn trapped in a movie that didn’t deserve her. Perhaps you recall 2016’s Suicide Squad. It was a damn good concept for a movie, with the idea that a group of supervillains is forced to work together on covert missions too unsavory for the Justice League. All you need to do is find a group of characters with big personalities, let them bounce off each other for a bit, allow them to achieve a kind of victory, and develop a deranged camaraderie.

You’d think the script would write itself, right? Nope! Writer/director David Ayer had a scant six weeks to write the first and only draft before beginning production.** Among the bright spots of the famously troubled film was Margot Robbie’s cuckoo banana pants Harley Quinn. It almost felt like every time Suicide Squad really started to suck, Robbie would save the film through the force of her talent and charisma.

Robbie’s casting as Harley is one of those perfect fusions of role and performer. Much like Hugh Jackman as Wolverine or Chris Evans as Captain America, it’s tough to imagine anybody else playing her. A firecracker performance assured audiences that Harley would be back. She’s back in Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), and it pleases me to tell you that not only is it miles better than Suicide Squad, but it’s also a hell of a lot of fun in its own right.

We can all agree that breakups suck, and we all have exes that are problematic. Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) has us all beat. You see, her ex is The Joker, a psychopathic clown with a knack for mass murder and theatricality. She’s decided that the Clown Prince of Crime ain’t what you’d call a stable domestic partner, and it’s time for her to strike out on her own.

All Harley wants at this point is a) to not be brutally murdered, b) set herself up in a business of some kind, and c) enjoy a truly delicious breakfast sandwich.*** That’s good…except for the slightest complication. As a walking natural disaster, Harley’s beloved Mr. J enjoyed total immunity from the criminal underworld. Harley did, too, and now that the breakup has happened, her immunity is history.

Quite a few people are looking for payback, and the most immediate of her concerns is one Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor). He’s a trust fund guy with designs on controlling all of Gotham City’s criminal element, and he has an unsavory habit of having people’s faces cut off. His henchman Zsazs (Chris Messina) is only too happy to help with said face-cutting.

Things get even more complicated with Gotham cop Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez) investigating the slayings of mob guys by the mysterious Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). There’s also a wildly valuable diamond that’s been nicked by teenage pickpocket Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco), and professional nightclub singer and gifted amateur ass-kicker Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Ball) is thrown into the mix for good measure. As I said, things get complicated.

Birds of Prey works for a number of reasons, and the confident and stylish direction of Cathy Yan is one of the biggest. Unlike early DC films, she’s made a movie that pops with color and energy. Her action sequences are clear, clean, and totally lacking in the maddening choppiness that used to be a standard feature.**** Admittedly, there are a few moments where the hyperactive pacing comes to a wheezing halt, and the film absolutely bludgeons us with needle drops. I can live with that, as Yan’s talent behind the camera outweighs her missteps.

The same goes for the screenplay by Christina Hodson. She’s developing a reputation as a cinematic superhero of sorts, as her screenplay for Bumblebee helped to resurrect the misbegotten Transformers franchise. In theory, her first act structure is a good idea. In practice, it’s clunky, as the narrative constantly loops back and forth upon itself, mirroring the fragmented brain of Harleen Quinzel. I should also mention that The Joker is discussed a lot, yet the Harlequin of Hate only shows up in an animated prologue. However, once everything is set up properly, Hodson’s script takes off like a rocket. Like Deadpool, the film earns its hard R rating with a plethora of f-bombs, violence, and a motormouthed protagonist who loves shoving a middle finger against the fourth wall. Unlike Deadpool, the jokes aren’t quite as dependent on pop-cultural references. There’s a real sense of celebration and positivity, reflected through a cracked lens.

As Harley, Margot Robbie is the engine that powers the film. Whether she’s smacking around assassins with a baseball bat, giving snuggles to an alarming hyena, or acting as a weird-as-hell mentor, Robbie is down for anything with. A character like this could get annoying fast, and she knows just when to crank up her energy or dial it down. A movie like this needs an antagonist who can keep up with the protagonist, and Ewan McGregor is up to the challenge. He’s having a blast strutting around in velvet suits yelling at underlings, and he makes for an entertaining villain.

The rest of the cast keeps up well, but considering the movie zips along at a brisk hour and 49 minutes, some characters are a little lost in the shuffle. We never learn too much about Jurnee Smollett-Bell’s Black Canary, but she’s such a witty and perceptive performance that she’s able to make her underwritten role pop. I also loved the contrast between the manic Harley and Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s deadpan Huntress. She’s a little socially awkward, a little sarcastic, and Winstead effectively sells the desire for a killing machine to have friends to hang out and eat tacos with.

The MCU continues to chug along for now, and it does so due to a strong producer at the helm. The DC films never had that, which seems to have been an accidental blessing. Instead, the studio seems to just throw money at filmmakers and pray that things work out. It has, as Wonder Woman calmed down the skeptics and both Aquaman and Shazam! proved to be stabilizing influences. Birds of Prey is like getting smashed in the face with a baseball bat of fun, and its confident madness proves that when DC takes chances, the sky is the limit.

  *Though I’m not inclined to blame Ben Affleck for the Dark Knight’s poor showing, and I view his Batman as possibly the greatest missed opportunity of the DC movies. Let’s take a moment and pour one out for the dearly departed Batfleck.

**That’ because Warner Brothers had already locked in the release date, and they weren’t willing to change it. Apparently, it didn’t matter since it made $745 million globally.

***Harley, I see you.

****Exhibit A would be The Bourne Supremacy’s apartment fight scene. I love that flick, but by watching its nausea-induced sequence, you’d never know that Matt Damon trained heavily in Jeet Kune Do, the martial art developed by Bruce Lee.

from Blog https://ondenver.com/feathering-the-nest/